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Postgraduate study

(For EU students)

Dr Stephen Bostock FSEDA NTF (with input from Mike Brough)

Keele UniversityPostgraduate Students’ Induction

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Dr Stephen Bostock

A PhD and later an MSc 30 years at Keele, taught all sorts including

PGs in biology, IT, MBA, psychology Supervised PhD and MPhil students and

many MSc dissertations. Academic staff developer/educational

developer Head of the Learning Development Unit –

staff support not student support

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Summary

Postgraduate work versus undergraduate Two approaches to studying Academic work, reflective judgement

Slides:http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/aa/landt/pg/index.htm

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Education and Higher Education1

At school We learn knowledge and skills, but typically Student work is not scholarly, it is not a

personal synthesis of views, it does not acknowledge sources.

At university Simple “bookwork” is not enough Scholarly work is expected, not just more, or

more complex, knowledge and skills.

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Undergraduate and postgraduate

The UK Quality Assurance Agency standards

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Is it 1. UG (Honours degree) or 2. PG (Masters degree)?

“a systematic understanding of key aspects of their field of study, including acquisition of (gaining a) coherent (integrated) and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of a discipline”

1 - UG

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PG equivalent

“a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice”

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“Critical” reflection/ evaluation/ argument

Critical (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary):

1. Fault-finding, censorious

2. Exercising careful judgement or observation

3. Constituting a crisis

4. Decisive, crucial

Which one is most relevant to postgraduate study?

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What is critical reflection?

(A special meaning in sociology for post-Post-modernism)6

1. Not accepting the ideas of experts merely because they are an established authority

2. Not accepting one view of a debate, however well argued, without considering alternative points of view; realizing the contested nature of knowledge

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“a conceptual understanding that enables the student to devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of a discipline”

1 UG

Is it 1. UG (Honours degree) or

2. PG (Masters degree)?

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PG equivalent

“a conceptual understanding that enables the student: to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline”

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“A conceptual understanding that enables the student to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses”

2 PG

Is it 1. UG (Honours degree) or

2. PG (Masters degree)?

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UG equivalent

“A conceptual understanding that enables the student to describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the discipline”

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“Be able to critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete)”

1 UG

Is it 1. UG (Honours degree) or

2. PG (Masters degree)?

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PG equivalent

“Be able to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make informed judgements in the absence of complete data”

“Be able to demonstrate self direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously (independently) in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level”

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In sum

Undergraduate Systematic Coherent Sustain arguments Solve problems Describe and comment Critically evaluate

Postgraduate Critical awareness Forefront of discipline Critically evaluate

research Create hypotheses Creative, original Self directed,

independent

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Approaches to study

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Surface approach

memorizing surface features,(rote learning, parroting )

Deep approach

understanding, relating to existing and everyday knowledge

Approaches to studying 4

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Two ways to study at university4

Approach to study: Surface approachmemorizing surface features,(rote learning, parroting )

Deep approachfor understanding, relating to existing and everyday knowledge

Student learning time Time stress from too much content and assessment

Concentrate on principles and examples, digest, learn to learn

Assessment Rewards remembering isolated facts

Rewards real understanding, being able to solve realistic complex problems

Conception of “learning” Accumulating facts Developing new perspectives

Later, in work Superficial understanding is quickly forgotten, cannot easily learn new ideas

Once understood, recollection lasts and is a basis for further learning. Skills for learning.

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Ask yourself

Am I using a deep or a surface approach to study in this session?

Now write a few lines to explain the difference between your own deep and surface approaches to study.

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Academic work

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Student views of learning 3

1. A quantitative increase in knowledge

2. Memorization, remembering

3. The gathering of facts and methods for later use

4. An interpretative process for understanding reality – analysing our experiences to better understand the world

5. Personal development

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Academics and postgraduate students

Are well informed, knowledgeable, expert Are aware of others’ views of their subject and how

they are distinct from their own view Acknowledge the ideas and work of others Search for the truth regardless of authority Understand the limits, and partial nature, of

knowledge in their subject domain: “the more you know, the more you realize we don’t know”

Can make critical, reflective judgements in uncertain, complex circumstances; able to solve ill-formed problems in their subject domain

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Are these examples of academic knowledge?

1. Knowing the times of the buses to Stoke

2. A review of the principles and practice of scheduling in transportation

3. Being able to recite “The Merchant of Venice” (William Shakespeare) from memory

4. A critical review of the literary style of one of Shakespeare’s tragedies

5. An abstraction and synthesis of material from a range of paper and electronic sources to give a coherent view of a subject, with acknowledgements to the sources

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“This type of thinking is required for any useful approach to the major issues of our times [that] require minds that can grapple successfully with uncertainty, complexity, and conflicting perspectives and still take stands that are based on evidence, analysis and compassion and are deeply centred in values” (Nelson 1999 7)

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ComplexityUncertaintyContext

271. I know what I have seen2. If it is on the news it has to be true3. When there is evidence that people can give to convince

everybody one way or another, then it will be knowledge, until then, it’s just a guess

4. I’d be more inclined to believe X if they had proof. It’s just like the pyramids: I don’t think we’ll ever know. Who are you going to ask? No one was there.

5. People think differently and so they attack the problem differently. Other theories could be as true as my own, but based on different evidence.

6. It’s very difficult in this life to be sure. There are degrees of sureness. You come to a point at which you are sure enough for a personal stance on the issue.

7. One can judge an argument by how well thought-out the positions are, what kinds of reasoning, and evidence are used to support it, and how consistent the way one argues on this topic is as compared with other topics.

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Developing reflective judgement King and Kitchener5

Pre-reflective stages: 1,2,3knowledge is absolute and from authorities, certain unless temporarily unknown or uncertain. Beliefs are true from authority or wholly personal/arbitrary if not.

Quasi-reflective: 4,5 Knowledge is uncertain and individual interpretations. Beliefs are context-specific.

Reflective thinking: 6,7Knowledge is individual interpretation based on evaluations of evidence and of the opinions of others. What is most reasonable or probable on current evidence. Conclusions are the most complete, plausible or compelling understanding on available evidence.

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Conclusion

Use a deep approach to study – to really understand

Be prepared to evaluate anything with an independent mind; hypothesize; try to be original

Develop your own interests, direction, and independence

Practise reflective thinking, and commitment to positions you can defend

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Good luck in your studies

Don’t just work hard, think hard.

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References1. Some of the ideas on scholarship are based on a presentation by

Mike Brough, Keele, to the MSc in IT.2. Boyer, E.L. 1992 Scholarship Reconsidered: priorities of the

professoriate Princetown: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

3. Prossser M. and Trigwell K., Understanding Learning and Teaching, 1999, London: SRHE, p.38

4. A good source on deep and surface approaches is Ramsden P. Learning to teach in higher education 1992, London: Routledge

5. King P.M. & Kitchener K.S. 1994 Developing reflective judgement, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

6. Perry, W.G. 1970 Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years, CA: Sonoma State Univ.

7. Nelson, C.E. 1999 On the persistence of unicorns: the trade-off between content and critical thinking revisited. In B.A. Pescosolido & R. Aminzade, Eds The social worlds of higher education: a handbook for teaching in a new century, Pine Forge Press

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Levels of understanding

1. Data, facts

2. Information: data that are useful in a context

3. Knowledge (of concepts, facts) and skills (being able to perform procedures)

4. Functional knowledge: being able to use information to make judgements and exercise skills to solve real, complex problems

5. Wisdom: soundness of judgement (OED), knowing when knowledge is relevant

Having 1 or 2 is clearly not academic or scholarly knowledge but even 3-5 may not be academic.

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Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years, Perry 1970

Mode 1 Dualism - it’s right or wrong Truth is simple and eternal (‘out there’); just the facts, from authorities; memorizing facts and finding right answers. BUT: uncertainty!

Mode 2 Multiplicity – anything goestruth is personal, each opinion is valid so choose one (intuition, feelings). BUT some choices are better

Mode 3 Contextual relativism – critical thinkingusing criteria and argument of the subject

Mode 4 Commitment – recognizing valuesknowledge is constructed, contextual, approximate, and conflicting. Recognizing that commitment to positions involves values, making these explicit.