What LinkedIn User Think My Skills Are

Here is are the top 20 skills LinkedIn users think I have.I did not nominate this list, LinkedIn seems to extract words from my profile. and ask people I am connected to if I have those "skills":

1. Policy
2. Government
3. E-Learning
4. Analysis
5. Research
6. IT Strategy
7. Governance
8. Data Analysis
9. Moodle
10. Strategy
11. Sustainability
12. ICT
13. Higher Education
14. Information Technology
15. Adult Education
16. Management
17. Project Planning
18. Strategic Planning
19. Staff Development
20. Open Source

It is perhaps not so much that I know about these topics, more that these are things I talk and write about a lot and so people assume I must know something about them. ;-)

On-line Courses for Higher Education Study, Research, Teaching, Leadership and Management Skills

The UK company "Epigeum" provides on-line courses for Higher Education institutions to help students and staff with study, research, teaching, leadership and management skills. They use IMS Content Packages which can be installed in Moodle.

Epigeum was founded in 2005 as a spin-out company from Imperial College London, and our London office is still based close to the College's main campus in Kensington.

These days we offer over 50 online courses – with many more in the pipeline. Our courses are organised into programmes grouped around key skills areas in higher education: studying, researching, teaching, and leadership and management. We are proud to say that tens of thousands of staff and students in over 150 different institutions throughout the world now benefit from our courses. ...

Building on ANU Excellence

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where the Vice Chancellor, Ian Young is speaking on "Building on ANU Excellence". This essentially an update of his presentation "New Strategic Direction for ANU" in 2011. The VC issued an "Invitation to join a discussion forum", including adjunct staff such as myself.

The VC showed several tables indicating that ANU was performing well in comparison to other universities in Australia and world wide. This is in line with the ANU by 2020 Strategic Plan. ANU does well in terms of the excellence of its research and the satisfaction of student's with teaching. However, an area in which there is room for improvement is "Generic Skills". It happens that for my final assignment in the ANU Certificate in Higher Education earlier this year, I looked at how to provide "generic skills" (see: On-line Professional Education For Australian Research-Intensive Universities in the Asian Century and Report on Incorporating Professional Skills in the ANU Master of Computing).

One recent ANU innovation isn "vertical degrees" with students signing up for a bachelor followed by a masters, allowing six months to be shaved off the overall time, while improving the quality. Also "Flexible Double Degrees" will be added, allowing students to choose from a grater range of double degrees.


The VC explained that ANU's funds come from: 24% HECS, 20% International students, 6% postgraduate, 15% research block grants and 35% national institutes grant. Within the university about 60% of the revenue from students goes to the individual colleges, with the rest for the central provision of services across the university. In contrast almost all of the national institutes grants are directed to specific research areas. The research block grants are mostly allocated to the researcher's college. Curiously, unlike undergraduates, where the money is received each year the student studies, the ANU receives the bulk of the money for a postgraduate student only when the student completes (which I assume the government does to encourage completion).

The VC went on to talk about ANU joining the edX MOOC consortium. He said he did not anticipate this replacing formal degree programs. edX will provide a taste of ANU for potential students. This is also a marking exercise, positioning ANU alongside world leading universities. ANU will also look more at on-line education for international and mature students. He expected that young undergraduates will still attend campus, but will do some of their students on-line (called blended mode in the educational jargon). I find in teaching students on-line that the students with more experience cope better. The VC pointed out that one benefit of the interest in MOOCs is fostering a discussion of how to provide high quality education which incorporates e-learning.

A less glamorous but important aspect the VC then addressed was administrative processes. He pointed out a need for clarity but noted this will be difficult due to the ANU's devolved administration. One thing the VC said he would not do is restructure the university but instead make the existing units processes consistent.  An "ANU Services Improvement Program", run by a ANU Service Improvement Group has been set up. To me the obvious solution to this is to provide good quality corporate on-line systems and training for their use.

At question time one issue which came up was how to make more use of the skills of adjunct staff. This was pleasing to hear as one of these.

ICT E-portfolios for Higher Degrees

For the final unit of my Certificate in Higher Education, I am looking at how university higher degree programs can be flexible enough to support both professional accreditation and research. The Certified Member Association for Learning Technology Program, the Professional Practice Subject of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Certified Professional Program and ACS Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Application process all use some form of portfolio.

The ACS Professional Practice Subject of the Certified Professional Program requires four components:

1. Skill self assessment: the student assesses their own current skills against the Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) framework. Students are required to have reached SFIA Level 4 (generic skills:
   autonomy, influence, complexity and business skills) before commencing the activity.
2. Career plan: the student has to identify three areas to develop over the following five years, with  a plan for development,
3. Professional profile: the student prepares a professional profile in preparation for career advancement,
4. Reflective journal: the student records a weekly reflections on what they have learned, their skills, and workplace experience.

The guidelines allow for 1 to 3 hours per week for up to 52 weeks for the preparation of the Professional Practice.

The ACS "Key Areas of Knowledge" document provides a list of topics for applicants for membership to address in an application for RPL:

ACS Key Areas of Knowledge

1. Technology Resources (TR)
   • TR1. Hardware and software fundamentals
   • TR2. Data and information management
   • TR3. Networking
2. Technology Building (TB)
   • TB1. Programming
   • TB2. Human-computer interaction
   • TB3 & TB4.System development and acquisition
3. Services Management (SM)
   • SM1. Service management
   • SM2. Security management
4. Outcomes Management (OM)
   • OM1. Organisational and Management Concepts
   • OM2. Change management

As these are the topics an applicant for RPL is required to address, it should be possible to use these same topics in an e-portfolio to support membership for students in university programs. However, these topics do not appear to match those which have been used traditionally to define the ICT "Body of Knowledge" (known as the "BoK"). In particular there is no mention of professional skills in communication and ethics. So I should check the latest ACS BoK.

The ACS "ICT Profession Body of Knowledge" (ACS Professional Standards Board, July 2012), follows the '... approach to educational program design that focuses on the development of professionals rather than taking a strict bottom‐up “curriculum‐driven” approach'.  The BoK cites several international standards and frameworks for defining ICT courses and skills requirements, including the International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3), the the Seoul Accord graduate attributes and the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). It should be noted that the ACS has been closely involved in the development of these international programs. The BoK states: "It might be expected that a graduate from a degree program would be ready to assume Level 4 responsibilities in their area of specialisation". 

The "CORE Block" of the Core Body of Knowledge has six sub‐components:

1. ICT Problem Solving (PS)
2. Professional Knowledge (PK)
3. Technology Building (TB)
4. Technology Resources (TR)
5. Services Management (SM)
6. Outcomes Management (OM).

The last four of these (TB, TR, SM and OM) are also in the ACS "Key Areas of Knowledge" for RPL (but with TR before TB). It is not clear why "ICT Problem Solving" (PS) and Professional Knowledge (PK) are not included in the RPL process. Perhaps these are covered implicitly by the requirement for the applicant to provide case studies of their work. These two areas are the ones which are lest able to be covered in a traditional course based program and were the e-portolfio is most likely to be of use.

ICT Problem Solving

ICT Problem Solving (PS) covers modeling, abstraction and design. There are many different forms of modelling used in ICT, engineering and related disciplines which could be applied. It is likely that a student undertaking an ICT program will have covered this topic adequately somewhere, but may need to identify where they did and provide evidence of specific work.

Professional Knowledge

Professional Knowledge (PK) covers:

1. Ethics
2. Professionalism
3. Teamwork concepts and issues
4. Interpersonal communication
5. Societal issues/Legal issues/Privacy
6. History and status of discipline 

These are the topic which cause most difficulty in a traditional course based university program, as they do not fit within traditional technical categories. Teamwork is likely to be covered in a software engineering course, but less so in computer science. Ethics and other issues may be covered by one or two lectures and an assignment at best. The difficulty for university course designers is where to fit these topics.

Mapping of International Curriculum to ACS CBOK  

The ACS BoK includes an appendix Mapping of International Curriculum to ACS CBOK. This has a table indicating what BoK sub-components correspond to parts of the standard curricular of ACM, IEEE and IEEE CS. Notably ICT Problem Solving (PS) does not appear in the mapping. Professional Knowledge maps to the other curricular.

ACM/IEEE-CS Report on Masters Degree Programs in Europe and the United States

Of relevance to any new Australian Computing Masters is the "Report of the Joint ACM and IEEE-CS Committee on Masters Degree Programs in Europe and the United States" by Lillian N. Cassel, Arnold Pears, Michael Casperson Art Pyster, Gordon Davies and Heikki Topi (2012). This report looks at the European standardization of Masters programs under the Bologna model and the different US approach

The report categorises the types of Masters as:

1. Research: Students are assumed to be going to continue on to a PHD. 
2. Continuation/Integrated: Students undertake an undergraduate degree, then a Masters.
3. Conversion: Students enter the masters having an undergraduate degree in another discipline.
4. Professional/Industrial: Students study and work at the same time.

The Continuation/Integrated and Conversion categories match most closely what is proposed for ANU.

The report discusses "Professional Practice", which matches closely the ACS "Professional Knowledge". The ACS "Code of Professional Conduct and Professional Practice" is cited in the report. Also the "problem solving"and communication skills. Unfortunately the requirements for Professional Knowledge and Problem Solving are not detailed. Also the report ends without any recommendations on how US style masters can be harmonized with Europe, which is the issue Australia is now facing.

Computer Science Curricula 2013

The Computer Science Curricula 2013 (ACM/IEEE CS, Strawman Draft, February 2012) includes a section on "Social and Professional Practice" (SP, also referred to as "Social and Professional Issues" in some parts of the report) which matches closely the ACS "Professional Knowledge". This is covered over nine pages in in far more detail than the previously discussed reports. The joint committee which produced the curricula is due to produce an updated draft for comment in February 2013 and the final report in "Summer 2013".

Social and Professional Practice (SP) is allocated 11 Core-Tier 1 hours and 5 Core-Tier 2 hours of the curriculum (no change from 2001  and 2008 versions of the curriculum). In this context "hours" refers to the time required to present the material in a traditional lecture format, not counting other student work. Tier 1 are introductory and Tier 2 advanced courses. The total hours are 305 (163 Tier 1 and 142 Tier 2). So Social and Professional Practice represents 6.7% of the Tier 1 total hours and 3.5% of Tier 2, making 5.2% of the total program hours. Assuming an undergraduate program consists of 4 courses per semester, 2 semesters per year for 3 years (24 in total), then SP makes up 125% of a course.

Comments on the report are being collected using computingportal.org . This allows anyone to sign up to enter a comment, with contributors able to "earn" higher level access. This is part of the "Ensemble" NSF NSDL Pathways project on computing education. However, little use seems to have been made of the system for this report. I have submitted this comment:

The CS2013 Ironman draft refers to the Knowledge Area "SP" mostly as "Social and Professional Practice" but in a few places as "Social and Professional Issues".
I suggest using "Practice" rather than "Issues" throughout. Change:
Chapter 1, Page 7, Line 89,
Chapter 5, Page 33, Line 136

Social and Professional Practice (SP)

Social and Professional Practice (SP) is made up of ten topics:

SP. Social and Professional Practice
	Core-Tier1 hours	Core-Tier2 hours	Includes Electives
SP/Social Context	1	2	N
SP/Analytical Tools	2		N
SP/Professional Ethics	2	2	N
SP/Intellectual Property	2		Y
SP/Privacy and Civil Liberties	2		Y
SP/Professional Communication	1		Y
SP/Sustainability	1	1	Y
SP/History			Y
SP/Economies of Computing			Y
SP/Security Policies, Laws and Computer Crimes			Y

Curiously, "Professional Communication", makes up only one hour of the curriculum. This only about 0.3% of the total course, which appears inadequate, gen the importance of communication to any professional and the problems computer scientists have had communicating.

SP/ Professional Communication
[1 Core-Tier1 hour]
Topics:

• Reading, understanding and summarizing technical material, including source code and documentation
• Writing effective technical documentation and materials
• Dynamics of oral, written, and electronic team and group communication
• Communicating professionally with stakeholders
• Utilizing collaboration tools

[Elective]

• Dealing with cross-cultural environments
• Tradeoffs of competing risks in software projects, such as technology, structure/process, quality, people,
• market and financial

Learning Outcomes:
[Core-Tier1]

1. Write clear, concise, and accurate technical documents following well-defined standards for format and for including appropriate tables, figures, and references. [Application]
2. Evaluate written technical documentation to detect problems of various kinds. [Evaluation]
3. Develop and deliver a good quality formal presentation. [Evaluation]
4. Plan interactions (e.g. virtual, face-to-face, shared documents) with others in which they are able to get their point across, and are also able to listen carefully and appreciate the points of others, even when they
5. disagree, and are able to convey to others that they have heard. [Application]
6. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of communication (e.g. virtual, face-to-face, shared
7. documents) [Knowledge]
8. Examine appropriate measures used to communicate with stakeholders involved in a project. [Application]
9. Compare and contrast various collaboration tools. [Evaluation]

[Elective]

1. Discuss ways to influence performance and results in cross-cultural teams. [Knowledge]
2. Examine the tradeoffs and common sources of risk in software projects regarding technology, structure/process, quality, people, market and financial. [Application]

Professional Learning Technology Accreditation in Australia

The UK based Association for Learning Technology (ALT) has announced "CMALT Australasia", an extension of the UK Certified Membershipof the Association for Learning Technology (CMALT) to Australia. The details of the Australia scheme are not yet released, but presumably will be similar to the UK approach, where the applicant submits a portfolio for assessment.

CMALT looks useful, but as a student of higher education (and someone who helped design a professional RPL process), I suggest that more support will be needed for the average person. Just giving people a template to fill in with their prior experience is a daunting task. Even with a support group, and a mentor, this is a difficult task.

While I am an experienced course designer and university lecturer, as soon as I became a "student" of education, I started to behave like a student: concentrating on what was to be assessed and putting off tasks until just before the deadline. There may be a few self disciplined people who can do it all on their own, but I suggest the average person will needs a push along.

For my graduate certificate final assignment I am looking at integrating an e-portfolio into higher degree programs. Alongside their courses and/or research, students would do an on-line course top teach them how to compose an e-portfolio to present evidence of their skills. Students would then fill out either a generic graduate skills template, or one or more specific templates, such as for membership of a professional body (such as the Australian Computer Society or CMALT). The software used to do this is not very important, Mahara and Moodle would do (that is what I have used on my courses). The important point is to offer the student a framework to help them along.

Core areas of work

1 Operational issues. Candidates should demonstrate both their understanding and use of learning technology. ‘Use’ might include the development, adaptation or application of technology within teaching, training or the support of learning more generally. This should include evidence of:

a) an understanding of the constraints and benefits of different technology;
b) technical knowledge and ability in the use of learning technology;
c) supporting the deployment of learning technologies.

2 Teaching, learning and/or assessment processes. Candidates should demonstrate their understanding of and engagement with teaching, learning and assessment processes. ‘Engagement’ may include using understanding to inform the development,
adaptation or application of technology. This should include evidence of:

a) an understanding of teaching, learning and/or assessment processes;
b) an understanding of your target learners.

3     The wider context. Candidates should demonstrate their awareness of and engagement with wider issues that inform their practice. This should include evidence of:

a) understanding and engaging with legislation, policies and standards.

4     Communication. Candidates should demonstrate their knowledge and skills in communication either through working with others or through interface design.
This should include evidence of either (a) or (b).

a) Working with others.
b) Interface between human and technical systems.

Specialist option(s)

As well as the core areas, candidates are required to demonstrate evidence of independent practice in one or more specialist options. Here is an indicative list of
specialist options:

• producing learning materials/content/courseware;
• project management, including resource management;
• training, mentoring and developing others;
• evaluating projects;
• research;
• designing tools and systems;
• institutional development/strategic work;
• knowledge and application of standards and specifications for learning technology;
• assistive technologies;
• VLE administration and maintenance;
• interface design;
• managing and sourcing content;
• copyright. ...

From: CMALT Prospectus, Association for Learning Technology, 2012.

Online Support for Evaluating Postgraduate Student Skills

My reading of research on postgraduate students indicates that "generic" skills are important to the student and to prospective employers. The issue then is how students gain these skills and how they are assessed. The "Student Practice Evaluation Form" (SPEF-R) shows one approach. SPEF-R is a paper based and later online system for supervisors to evaluate students on occupational therapy professional practice placements (Turpin, Fitzgerald, and Rodger, 2011) As well as supporting Formative and Summative assessment, the tool also supports Criterion-referenced assessment (CRA), as outlined in the a policy at the University of Queensland's Assessment Policy and Practices. With this each individual student is assessed against set criteria, rather than by relative performance against other students in a program. SPEF-R targets eight learning domains:

1. Professional Behaviour
2. Self Management Skills
3. Co-worker Communication
4. Communication Skills
5. Documentation
6. Information Gathering
7. Service Provision
8. Service Evaluation

These have much in common with the generic skills described for higher degree research students by other programs:

National Postdoctoral Association six core competencies:

1. Discipline-specific conceptual knowledge2. Research skill development
3. Communication skills4. Professionalism
5. Leadership and management skills
6. Responsible conduct of research

UK Vitae "Researcher Development Framework" four domains:

1. Knowledge and intellectual abilities: The knowledge, intellectual abilities and techniques to do research.
2. Personal effectiveness:           
   The personal qualities and approach to be an effective researcher.
3. Research governance and organisation: The knowledge of the standards, requirements and professionalism to do research.
4. Engagement, influence and impact: The knowledge and skills to work with others and ensure the wider impact of research.

SPEF-R  has an "item bank" for each learning objective, made up of "items" describing how the student demonstrates they have the skill. While it is not clear from the documentation, the learning objectives do not appear to be hard coded into the software and others could be entered. There are different sets ("streams") of items students learning "Direct Service Provision" or "Project Management / Consultancy". This should be able to be generalised to apply to a broader set of professions which need variations of the same skills.

Feedback is provided in SPEF-R  by way of a numerical ranking on a five point scale, and text based qualitative comment’s. The five point scale may be programmatic, as it could be difficult to differentiate many of the skills to this level of detail. It is not clear if a different scale can be substituted, such as the  three point scale I use for ICT Sustainability.

SPEF-R  has minimum requirements for each learning objective and the supervisor provides a summary statement.

Perhaps more important than the recording function which SPEF-R provides is the introduction to modern teaching and assessment practices provided, such as the Feedback Cycle.

Lessons from SPEF-R for Higher Education

The approach used for SPEF-R might be generalised for Higher Education using off-the-shelf learning management software, in particular a Learning Management System (LMS), such as Moodle and/or a SCORM package.

Moodle 2 supports advanced assessment techniques, including rubrics. SCORM packages allow for portable assessment, across different learning management systems, such as Moodle and Blackboard.

The student could be provided with an e-Portfolio (such as Mahara), loaded with a template of skills definitions, which they are then required to fill in with evidence. The evidence would include results of assessment from courses, imported from the LMS (Moodle 2) and examples of their practical work, plus any papers or thesis produced.

The same system could be used for coursework postgraduate students and professional degree students, as well as research Masters and PHD students. Different programs would use different discipline templates of skills, but the same core set of "generic" skills.

References

Turpin, M., Fitzgerald, C. and Rodger, S. (2011), Development of the Student Practice Evaluation Form Revised Edition Package. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 58: 67–73. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2010.00890.x Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2010.00890.x/full

Knowledge and the real world

A shortened version of my post "Employability of Higher Degree Research Graduates", without the references, appeared in The Australian Newspaper's Higher Education section, 19 September 2012, with the title "Knowledge and the 'real world'":

EVER since Plato set up The Academy in an olive grove 2000 years ago, employers have complained that academia is not producing graduates suitable for work in the real world. Some university courses are vocational, but that is not the primary purpose of a university. If employers want staff with vocational skills then they need to select those applicants who have the right qualifications and then train them on-the-job. 

Do not be fooled by claims from some educational institutions of generic skills and graduate attributes. 

Ask to see where the skills you want are in the curriculum and how they are assessed. If the skills are not taught and tested, they probably don't exist, except in the minds of the marketing department. 

At the highest levels, university is about research to create new knowledge. There are two other types of masters degrees that can include professional practice: the coursework masters and the extended masters. A doctoral degree is about new knowledge, which can include professional practice, but not all do. If you want a researcher then hire anyone with a masters or PhD in research, but otherwise look for graduates with vocational qualifications and work-relevant research.

From: Knowledge and the 'real world', Torn Worthington, ANU, The Australian, Higher Education section, 19 September 2012

Statement of Supervisory Expectations V1.3

Thanks to those who provided comments on my "Statement of Supervisory Expectations V1.2.1".   Further comments are welcome. Here is a slightly updated version with:

1. An extra photo (Inspecting military systems for the Department of Defence), as people seemed to like the photos,
2. Added a requirement for the student to do a skills audit to identify the skills they have and the extra ones they will need,
3. Mentioned the I have added mention of the Australian Qualifications Framework, which requirements for programs.
4. Added a reference to the ANU's  "Standard milestones for full-time PhD candidature" and summarised this as "In general, you can expect to have provide evidence of progress (a paper, progress report, or present at a seminar) at least every three months in a PHD program.".
5. Put more emphasis on research: I originally wrote the document with the intention of having it apply to coursework students, as well as research ones. But that turned out to be too confusing, so it now concentrates on university research.
6. Removed "being purely for your own benefit" about optional courses, as that sounded silly: what courses are not for the student's benefit? Instead I added "As well assisting with your research these courses add skills which employers value.".
7. Clarified that I would help the student find extra courses.
8. Expanded on my approach to student feedback and provided a reference:  "My approach to feedback is informed by research on what has proved to be effective: timely, brief and directed to helping you complete (Flint and Johnson, 2011)."
9. Extra section on "Quality and Participation", saying work must be suitable for publication, students must participate in discussions, but they don't have to come to meetings, provided they deliver on time. Also I referenced the ANU's "Responsible Practice of Research Policy". 

Statement of Supervisory Expectations

Tom Worthington

Research School of Computer Science & Climate Change Institute, The Australian National University (ANU)

Philosophy of Research Supervision

The purpose of this document is to outline of my approach to the supervision of research and projects for those considering a graduate program at the ANU College of Engineering & Computer Science (CECS). When not teaching at ANU, I work as a Certified Computer Professional (Von Konsky, 2008) consulting to industry and government around the world (see my background for details).

With Senator Kate Lundy, after receiving the ACT 2010 ICT Education Award.

A successful higher degree requires a blend of research and coursework, honed on real world experience. Research shows that  ‘hands on’ supervision leads to faster completion (Sinclair, 2004). I will help guide you through the process of setting milestones, obtaining resources, preparing presentations and publication. To do this I use an award winning technique of mentoring and collaboration developed for professionals, to progressively build your skills (Worthington, 2012).

Even if your focus is exclusively on research, you will be engaged in a learning process. You will need to audit your current skills and identify gaps. Most students will require additional courses in the advanced research and communication, needed for postgraduate research. The optimal blend of research and coursework will depend on your individual requirements and the program you enrol in.

Under the The Australian Qualifications Framework (July 2011) and the University's accreditation policy, those in a research program can spend up to one third of their time undertaking coursework (ANU, 2012). Professional practice students will have more coursework, but still need to spend at least one third of their time on research. Graduate coursework students will spend most of their time on coursework, but can expect to undertake a one or two semester supervised project.

As one of a team of supervisors, my job is to help you to decide what skills and experience you would like from your studies and guide you on the path to achieve these. Also I can help with the topic you are studying, where it falls within my experience (see my background for details).

Setting Goals

Inspecting military systems for the Department of Defence.

You will need to assess your current skills, compare this with your ambitions and what your university program requires. The university has a "Tool for Online Assessment of Skills and Training" to help you identify the  useful transferable skills you already have and what you need to be built up (Schaffarczyk & Connell, 2012). I can help you to map out your individual path to the goals using off-the-shelf courses, your research program and specialist custom training.

Before deciding on the details of your study, stop and consider why:

1. Are you planning a career in academia?
2. Do you want to advance in your profession?
3. Are you simply curious to learn more?

Depending on your answer, different programs might suit. Many embark on a higher degree by research, when coursework might be more suitable. Keep in mind that modern university postgraduate courses are not like school: you can study on-line, in small groups, with work and research integrated learning.

Setting milestones

Time management is essential to university work (and is a skill highly valued by employers). Your program will have some milestones set by the university to monitor your progress. The university has "Standard milestones for full-time PhD candidature" (ANU, 2011). In general, you can expect to have provide evidence of progress (a paper, progress report, or present at a seminar) at least every three months in a PHD program.

A research student will normally aim to complete a literature review one quarter the way through their program, then a thesis proposal after the first third and have conducted the research ready to write up two thirds through. Students undertaking a professional doctorate, or a Masters, will be spending less time on research, but with similar proportions for a literature review, thesis proposal, research and write up. Coursework masters students will undertake the same process in as little as twelve weeks.

The targets set for graduate programs are broad and designed to be flexible. You will need to set further detailed targets, where you will aim to have achieved measurable, useful tasks.

University research is not a matter of sitting waiting for inspiration. A good university program is designed like a computer program: top-down. You need to start by thinking about what you want to have achieved by the end of your studies and work back to see how to get there. You will be encouraged to use tools such as the Graduate Information Literacy Skills Audit, to see what skills you have and what is needed. Your supervisors will help you map out the detail of courses and activities will be needed to achieve your goals. Your time and resources are limited and need to be applied most efficiently to reach the goals.

As a computer professional, I will emphasize the use on-line facilities to keep in touch with you. You may never need to visit the campus, but most students will be on-campus for at least part of their time. In any case personal contact is important, face-to-face, or on-line.

Success rarely comes from sitting alone. You will be encouraged to team up with other students in your own discipline and across the university.

Narrow technical skills are of little value if you are unable to communicate with colleagues and clients. The university offers extensive optional courses in formal writing, presenting and in business skills. I will be encouraging you to make full use of these courses, to make your coursework and research more productive.

Quality and Participation

Your work must be of a quality suitable for publication in an international refereed journal or conference. I will be encouraging you to submit a paper for publication, at least twice per year during a PHD program.

You will be required to comply with the"Responsible Practice of Research Policy" of the University (ANU, 2010) and any codes specific to your area of research.

Expect to be actively involved in discussions on-line or in person with your supervisors, your peers and others around the world, constantly. Provided you deliver at every milestone on time, to the required standard, you will not need to attend formal meetings.

Documenting Your Progress

Employers will want evidence from you of what you did at university and this is more than just a copy of your degree. You will need to collect evidence of the skills you have gained at all stages of your study. Higher degree students will normally prepare a thesis. While not required for most programs, I will encourage you to also produce a portfolio of work undertaken, often called an "e-Portfolio" where you list all courses undertaken, with samples of work (Manathunga, 2004). The milestones set provide a useful starting point for this portfolio.

Also in your portfolio I will encourage you to  include extra-curricular activities relevant to "generic" skills, such as oral presentation, teamwork, and leadership. Examples could be materials produced in non-assessed courses, awards for presentations, certificates from a university sporting team, or your commission in the university regiment.

Writing and Other Skills

In supervising your research I will not be alone. There will will be at least three supervisors: a senior academic, myself and another. In addition there are educational and technical specialists to assist. But in the end a successful university higher degree depends on you. One of the most important skills is academic writing. It is not the job of your supervisors to teach you how to write, this is a skill which has to be learned in formal coursework and by practice.

As well as the usual university formal courses in your topic, there are more general courses on skills to help your study and in your future career. These are usually available to enrolled students at no extra cost. As well assisting with your research these courses add skills which employers value. I will be encouraging you to round out your more formal studies with in this way.

The university provides a "How to Learn: Student guide to Free training at The ANU", detailing free courses and services for students of the university. The services offered go beyond the usual how to use a computer and include topic design, thesis writing and supervision, project management. There are also podcasts and the Postgraduate and Research Students' Association (PARSA) has additional "Resources for Distance Students".

The ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre provides courses of value to coursework and research students. There is also the ANU Pro Vice-Chancellor (Innovation) Graduate Program and Innovation ACT, for learning to turn your ideas into products. I will help you select suitable programs for your work plan.

Providing Feedback

You will receive formal feedback on the milestones set for your program and feedback from individual supervisors. The long term nature of postgraduate research, in comparison to self-contained semester courses, requires a different form of feedback (East, Bitchener & Basturkmen, 2012). My approach to feedback is informed by research on what has proved to be effective: timely, brief and directed to helping you complete (Flint and Johnson, 2011).

What you must do

The college has a detailed  Self Assessment Guide to help you determine what is the right program for you. Also there is a college Pre-application Process to make the formal application the with the Application Manager a little easier.

The Research School has a database of project topics. You don't have to choose one of these, but it might help with choosing an area of interest and give some ideas. Your topic will be refined over the course of your studies.

References

East, M., Bitchener, J., & Basturkmen, H. (2012). What constitutes effective feedback to postgraduate research students? The students’ perspective. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(2), 7. Retrieved from http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol9/iss2/7/

Flint, N., & Johnson, B. (2011). Towards Fairer University Assessment: Recognizing the Concerns of Students: Taylor & Francis. Retrieved from  http://www.amazon.com/Towards-Fairer-University-Assessment-Recognizing/dp/0415578132

Manathunga, C., Lant, P., & Mellick, G. (2007). Developing professional researchers: research students’ graduate attributes. Studies in Continuing Education, 29(1), 19-36. doi: 10.1080/01580370601146270 Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01580370601146270

Schaffarczyk, S., & Connell, L. (2012). Graduate Research to Research Career: Transferable Skills Training Models. 2012 Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference, 111.  Retrieved from http://goo.gl/zowTN

Sinclair, M. (2004). The pedagogy of'good'PhD supervision: A national cross-disciplinary investigation of PhD supervision. Canberra: Department of Education, Science and Training. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20060828062332/http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/07C6492B-F1BE-45C6-A283-6098B6952D29/2536/phd_supervision.pdf#page=7

The Australian National University. . (2010). Responsible Practice of Research: The Australian National University. Retrieved from http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/responsible_practice_of_research/policy

The Australian National University. . (2011). Code of Practice - Supervision in Higher Degrees by Research: The Australian National University. Retrieved from http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/code_of_practice_supervision_in_higher_degrees_by_research/policy#_ftnref1

The Australian National University. (2012). Academic Programs and Courses Accreditation. Retrieved from http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/academic_programs_and_courses_accreditation/policy

Von Konsky, B. (2008). Defining the ICT profession: A partnership of stakeholders. Paper presented at the 21 s t Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications, Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.naccq.ac.nz/conferences/2008/15.pdf

Worthington, T. (2012). A Green computing professional education course online: Designing and delivering a course in ICT sustainability using Internet and eBooks. Paper presented at the Computer Science & Education (ICCSE), 2012 7th International Conference on, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6295070&isnumber=6295013

Total Quality Management For Improving University Education

In reading the research literature about how to measure the quality of research supervision at universities, the descriptions of what quality is seemed very vague. So I looked for papers citing formal quality standards.

Basir (2012) argues that Malaysia can lift the quality of their universities to the level of western countries by use of the ISO 9000 Quality Management Standards (ISO 2008). While that may seem ambitious, the Japanese car industry used similar standards to overtake western car makers within a few decades. By use of on-line technology, the same may be possible in education in less than a decade.

Formal quality assurance in higher education is suggested by Basir (2012) as being a way to to assist planning and drive reform at the national level, increasing  competition between universities and in particular to improve the oversight and quality of private institutions.

The Total Quality Management (TQM) process of continuous improvement was developed for manufacturing, but is suggested by Basir (2012)  as being applicable to universities. There has been considerable interest in this topic by academics, with Amazon.com listing more than 150 books on the topic of "Total Quality Management in Higher Education" and Google Scholar listing more than one thousand document on the topic so far for 2012.

The Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) has developed a set of guidelines, although these appear to be targeted at coursework, not research and to not explicitly mention formal quality processes.

Quality processes depend on having a repeatable processes. By its nature, research supervision produces one off unique products, as every research student is required to make a unique contribution to knowledge. However, these processes could at least be used for other parts of the higher degree processes, such as imparting generic skills. But there would be a danger this would distract from the primary product: researchers.

Two requirements for quality management given by Basir (2012) are:

1. Engagement with the total quality management system,
2. Strong leadership rather than more administrative process

These requirements have proved difficult in other service industries, such as IT, with the quality management system being gamed by staff, who see it as an imposition, with more forms to fill in.
The use of ISO 9000  in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (MHEIs) is traced back to 1996 by Basir (2012), focusing on management and "academic activities". The aim was professional excellence and efficiency. It is important to note the emphasis on professional excellence, as unlike production line manufacturing, higher education is dependent on the performance of a a few individuals.

Quality management 

As noted previously quality management systems were developed for manufacturing processes. The main sections of ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems — Requirements  (ISO 2008) cover:

• Quality Management System
• Management Responsibility,
• Resource Management
• Product Realization
• Measurement, analysis and improvement

The aim of this is to produce a satisfied customer. However in the case of higher degrees, who the customer is may be a matter of some debate: the student, their future employer, the government or society?

QM emphasises documentation and measurement. This would appear to be a good fit with academia, which has an emphasis on writing and research. However, academics themselves may be less enthusiastic when they are the subject of the measurement and reporting.

Reference

Basir, S. A. (2012). Complying Quality Management System ISO 9000 Requirements Within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Muslim Countries. World J. Islamic History & Civilization World, 2(1), 30-43.  Retrieved from http://idosi.org/wjihc/wjihc2(1)12/5.pdf

ISO (2008). Quality management systems : requirements (4th ed). International Standards Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland Retrieved from http://www.saiglobal.com.virtual.anu.edu.au/PDFTemp/osu-2012-09-23/1490418021/9001-2008(+A1).pdf

Statement of Supervisory Expectations V1.2.1

One of the assessment items for the course on "Research Supervision" I am currently undertaking is a "Statement of Supervisory Expectations". This is essentially an advertisement to attract research students. As such it seems to require an difficult mix of scholarly understatement and  marketing hype.
One thing I noticed with the dozen or so such statements I examined, was a lack of images. The inclusion of images has been shown to make documents more credible, so I have put some in. Also I have included formal references, to make the document more scholarly. Here is a draft. Comments would be appreciated:

Statement of Supervisory Expectations

Tom Worthington

Research School of Computer Science & Climate Change Institute, The Australian National University (ANU)

Philosophy of Research Supervision

The purpose of this document is to outline of my approach to the supervision of research and projects for those considering a graduate program at the ANU College of Engineering & Computer Science (CECS). When not teaching at ANU, I work as a Certified Computer Professional (Von Konsky, 2008) consulting to industry and government around the world (see my background for details).

With Senator Kate Lundy, after receiving the ACT 2010 ICT Education Award.

A successful higher degree requires a blend of research and coursework, honed on real world experience. Research shows that  ‘hands on’ supervision leads to faster completion (Sinclair, 2004). I will help guide you through the process of setting milestones, obtaining resources, preparing presentations and publication. To do this I use an award winning technique of mentoring and collaboration developed for professionals, to progressively build your skills (Worthington, 2012).

Even if your focus is exclusively on research, you will be engaged in a learning process and will need courses to acquire essential research and communication skills. The optimal blend of research and coursework will depend on your individual requirements and the program you enroll in.
Under the University's accreditation policy, those in a research program can spend up to one third of their time undertaking coursework (ANU, 2012).

Professional practice students will have more coursework, but still need to spend at least one third of their time on research. Graduate coursework students will spend most of their time on coursework, but can expect to undertake a one or two semester supervised project.

As one of a team of supervisors, my job is to help you to decide what skills and experience you would like from your studies and guide you on the path to achieve these. Also I can help with the topic you are studying, where it falls within my experience (see my background for details).

Setting Goals

You will need to assess your current skills, compare this with your ambitions and what your university program requires. The university has a "Tool for Online Assessment of Skills and Training" to help you identify the  useful transferable skills you already have and what you need to be built up (Schaffarczyk & Connell, 2012). I can help you to map out your individual path to the goals using off-the-shelf courses, your research program and specialist custom training.

Before deciding on the details of your study, stop and consider why:

1. Are you planning a career in academia?
2. Do you want to advance in your profession?
3. Are you simply curious to learn more?

Depending on your answer, different programs might suit. Many embark on a higher degree by research, when coursework might be more suitable. Keep in mind that modern university postgraduate courses are not like school: you can study on-line, in small groups, with work and research integrated learning.

Setting milestones

Time management is essential to university work (and is a skill highly valued by employers). Your program will have some milestones set by the university to monitor your progress.

A research student will normally aim to complete a literature review one quarter the way through their program, then a thesis proposal after the first third and have conducted the research ready to write up two thirds through. Students undertaking a professional doctorate, or a Masters, will be spending less time on research, but with similar proportions for a literature review, thesis proposal, research and write up. Coursework masters students will undertake the same process in as little as twelve weeks.

The targets set for graduate programs are broad and designed to be flexible. You will need to set further detailed targets, where you will aim to have achieved measurable, useful tasks.

University is not a matter of sitting waiting for inspiration. A good university program is designed like a computer program: top-down. You need to start by thinking about what you want to have achieved by the end of your studies and work back to see how to get there. You will be encouraged to use tools such as the Graduate Information Literacy Skills Audit, to see what skills you have and what is needed. Your supervisors will help you map out the detail of courses and activities will be needed to achieve your goals.

Your time and resources are limited and need to be applied most efficiently to reach the goals.
As a computer professional, I will emphasize the use on-line facilities to keep in touch with you. You may never need to visit the campus, but most students will be on-campus for at least part of their time. In any case personal contact is important, face-to-face, or on-line. Success rarely comes from sitting alone. You will be encouraged to team up with other students in your own discipline and across the university.

Narrow technical skills are of little value if you are unable to communicate with colleagues and clients. The university offers extensive optional courses in formal writing, presenting and in business skills. I will be encouraging you to make full use of these courses, to make your coursework and research more productive.

Documenting Your Progress

Employers will want evidence from you of what you did at university and this is more than just a copy of your degree. You will need to collect evidence of the skills you have gained at all stages of your study. Higher degree students will normally prepare a thesis.

While not required for most programs, I will encourage you to also produce a portfolio of work undertaken, often called an "e-Portfolio" where you list all courses undertaken, with samples of work (Manathunga, 2004). The milestones set provide a useful starting point for this portfolio.

Also in your portfolio I will encourage you to  include extra-curricular activities relevant to "generic" skills, such as oral presentation, teamwork, and leadership. Examples could be materials produced in non-assessed courses, awards for presentations, certificates from a university sporting team, or your commission in the university regiment.

Writing and Other Skills

In supervising your research I will not be alone. There will will be at least three supervisors: a senior academic, myself and another. In addition there are educational and technical specialists to assist. But in the end a successful university higher degree depends on you. One of the most important skills is academic writing. It is not the job of your supervisors to teach you how to write, this is a skill which has to be learned in formal coursework and by practice.

As well as the usual university courses in your topic, there are courses on skills to help your study and in your future career. These are generally not-assessed, being purely for your own benefit and available to enrolled students at no extra cost. I will be encouraging you to round out your more formal studies with these courses.

The university provides a "How to Learn: Student guide to Free training at The ANU", detailing free courses and services for students of the university. The services offered go beyond the usual how to use a computer and include topic design, thesis writing and supervision, project management. There are also podcasts and the Postgraduate and Research Students' Association (PARSA) has additional "Resources for Distance Students".

The ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre provides courses of value to coursework and research students. There is also the ANU Pro Vice-Chancellor (Innovation) Graduate Program and Innovation ACT, for learning to turn your ideas into products.

Providing Feedback

You will receive formal feedback on the milestones set for your programa and feedback from individual supervisors. The long term nature of postgraduate research, in comparison to self-contained semester courses, requires a different form of feedback (East, Bitchener & Basturkmen, 2012). At times your supervisor's feedback will seem frustratingly cryptic, this is not done out of a lack of interest, but based on years of experiencing and research which shows that too much "help" does not help the student.

What you must do

The college has a detailed  Self Assessment Guide to help you determine what is the right program for you. Also there is a college Pre-application Process to make the formal application the with the Application Manager a little easier.

The Research School has a database of project topics. You don't have to choose one of these, but it might help with choosing an area of interest and give some ideas. Your topic will be refined over the course of your studies.

References

East, M., Bitchener, J., & Basturkmen, H. (2012). What constitutes effective feedback to postgraduate research students? The students’ perspective. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(2), 7. Retrieved from http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol9/iss2/7/

Manathunga, C., Lant, P., & Mellick, G. (2007). Developing professional researchers: research students’ graduate attributes. Studies in Continuing Education, 29(1), 19-36. doi: 10.1080/01580370601146270 Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01580370601146270

Schaffarczyk, S., & Connell, L. (2012). Graduate Research to Research Career: Transferable Skills Training Models. 2012 Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference, 111.  Retrieved from http://goo.gl/zowTN

Sinclair, M. (2004). The pedagogy of'good'PhD supervision: A national cross-disciplinary investigation of PhD supervision. Canberra: Department of Education, Science and Training. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20060828062332/http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/07C6492B-F1BE-45C6-A283-6098B6952D29/2536/phd_supervision.pdf#page=7

The Australian National University. (2012). Academic Programs and Courses Accreditation. Retrieved from http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/academic_programs_and_courses_accreditation/policy

Von Konsky, B. (2008). Defining the ICT profession: A partnership of stakeholders. Paper presented at the 21 s t Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications, Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.naccq.ac.nz/conferences/2008/15.pdf

Worthington, T. (2012). A Green computing professional education course online: Designing and delivering a course in ICT sustainability using Internet and eBooks. Paper presented at the Computer Science & Education (ICCSE), 2012 7th International Conference on, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6295070&isnumber=6295013

Policy and Procedures for Higher Degrees

The University of Canberra has a well laid out set of Policy and Procedures for Higher Degrees. However, there are separate policies for postgraduate coursework degrees and Higher degrees by research.

The course-work policy is from 2003 and is currently under review. The document are somewhat confusing in being overlapping, with the professional doctorate being covered in both the coursework and research documents. It would be preferable if the university had a set of policies and procedures which covered postgraduate degrees in general and then covered any specifics of coursework and research. In terms of ease of administration and pedagogy it would be preferable to minimize such differences. All postgraduate students could be expected to undertake both course-work and research, so one set of procedures could apply. Procedures could allow for different mixes of coursework and research and also for different lengths of masters and doctoral degrees.

The higher degrees procedures (called the "Gold Book") has:

1. The national policy context
2. The policy framework at UC
3. Distinctive features of the research degrees and programs
4. Supervision of Higher Degrees by Research Candidates Policy
5. Admission to Higher Degree by Research Courses Policy
6. Milestones Policy
7. Academic Progress Policy
8. Examination of Higher Degree by Research Theses Policy
   
9. Doctor of Philosophy (by Publication) Policy
10. Higher Degree by Research Scholarships Policy

Milestones

The Milestones Policy sets down:

1. Introductory seminar one sixth of the way into the program,

2. Confirmation of Candidature seminar: and research proposal: within the first year for doctoral programs and 7 months for Masters,

3. Work-in-Progress (WIP) seminar: For doctoral candidates in the first two-thirds of the program,

4. Target date for thesis submission : Three years for doctoral candidates, 54 months for clinical PhD and two years for masters.

5. Final seminar: on submission of the thesis.

6. Annual Progress Report: September each year,

7. Progress Update Report: March each year.

So the first year for a full time PHD student starting at the beginning of a calendar year would have a milestone about every three months.

Thesis Incorporating Creative Production
The Examination of Higher Degree by Research Theses Policy allows for "creative work", which cannot be reproduced in a document, such as a performance.

Generic Skills

In addition there is the Generic Skills and Attributes of UC Graduates from Higher Degree by Research Programs (2002). This is a relatively short and readable two pages. Like other such statements by universities, this suffers from making vague, unsubstantiated claims, which have little practical value:

In addition to meeting academic requirements for the relevant degree, candidates are expected to acquire a range of generic skills and attributes through the research program. ...

Knowledge: To be able to conceptualise, acquire, apply, integrate, grow and contextualise knowledge.

Inquiry: To be able to develop advanced approaches and techniques for defining, investigating and resolving research questions.

Communication: To be able to identify, analyse, evaluate and communicate information and knowledge, using appropriate oral, visual and written mediums.

Organisation: To be able to develop advanced strategies to lead the planning, management and implementation of a project.

Creativity: To use original approaches to produce works that critique and extend current forms of knowledge and understanding.

Ethical practice:To respect, understand and apply ethical practices personally and professionally. ...

Unless the university has a systematic process to teach and test these skills, all such claims will do is lower the credibility of the programs.