A framework for the enhancement of postgraduate engineering student supervision at universities of technology: perspectives from the faculty of engineering
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Date
2019-09
Authors
Motsie, Sehlabaka Johannes
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
There have been several concerns that were raised about the quality of postgraduate research supervision in South Africa particularly at Universities of Technology (UoTs). One of the primary challenges relating to postgraduate supervision at UoTs in the faculty of engineering, is the shortage of academics with doctoral qualifications to supervise postgraduate engineering students. UoTs’ which were formerly known as technikon’s, are faced with many challenges when it comes to postgraduate supervision. There are not enough academic staff with doctoral qualifications to supervise postgraduate engineering students and that these universities lack facilities and infrastructure needed for research to thrive. It has been more than a decade since universities merged in South Africa and it is taking a longer time for research to thrive at UoTs, due to the fact that these universities were known for their production of industry related skills or technical qualifications rather than postgraduate qualifications. One of the major problems that is affecting postgraduate engineering throughputs for many UoTs is students not having quality supervision or qualified/trained supervisors. However, the tendency to use structure (Institutional history, rules, regulations policies and procedures) to address the challenges related to postgraduate studies has resulted in policy makers (government) ignoring the role that UoTs’ play in higher education not only in perpetuating some of these challenges, but also in understanding and resolving them. Despite the significant push by the government for more knowledge and innovative workforce, the success rate of UoTs leaves much to be desired. One of the reasons cited for low throughputs in engineering faculty has been postgraduate supervision capacity challenge. Therefore, this study seeks to propose a tailored supervision framework for engineering faculty at UoTs. This research study included 52 postgraduate engineering students and 11 engineering supervisors from two South African UoTs. Data was collected by questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and focused group discussions. Based on the data generated from the study, the researcher proposes a framework for postgraduate supervision based on the principles of academic writing where quality supervision should be at the centre of learning.
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Keywords
Thesis (Ph.D. (Higher Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2019, Universities of Technology, Postgraduate Supervision, Postgraduate engineering students - Universities of Technology, Postgraduate throughputs and research outputs