AN IMPROVEMENT-ORIENTED INVESTIGATION INTO SUPERVISION PRACTICES AT THE CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, FREE STATE: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Postgraduate supervision and research training are core academic activities for most higher education institutions. Worldwide, including in South Africa, there is concern about the quality of postgraduate training in higher education institutions, the length of time it takes postgraduate students to complete their postgraduate studies, and the high percentage of students who terminate their studies. Against the backdrop of these concerns, the quality of research supervision is essential for the successful completion of studies. However, ensuring the quality of the input dimension within South African postgraduate supervision is complicated – the reasons being that the process is entangled with issues of power, desire, and differences in relation to supervision practices, along with rapid higher education transformation demanding more quality and accountability, etc. Therefore it is recommended that the supervision process be monitored for improvement purposes and to address context-specific needs. This article reports on an improvement-oriented investigation into the current supervision practices at the case study university.