Contexts for postgraduate student learning

With respect to departmental characteristics related to discipline, it has long been recognised that the disciplines in which research takes place are associated with certain features of supervision and of student success, and there has been intensive study of disciplinary cultures in relation to research and, more recently, postgraduate supervision. However, although we know that aspects of context other than disciplinary features are conducive to learning in coursework settings, we have not investigated these aspects of the environment at the postgraduate level.

While "learning context" incorporates different layers of the environment for postgraduate students, the emphasis of this study is on departments as contexts for postgraduate student learning. The context includes the network of relationships between staff, students, and peers that support the research process. There is theoretical justification for hypothesising that certain kinds of learning contexts will lead to better student outcomes (eg., completed theses). The aim of the study is to test the theory and consider its salience in relation to other factors such as field of study, research performance of the department, and preparedness of students for postgraduate research. The question is, are the same contextual factors that influence students at the undergraduate and secondary levels relevant to a different kind of teaching and learning situation?

The study will also yield information that may be used to address practical problems related to postgraduate supervision and support - for example, to identify issues relevant to concern about the isolation of postgraduate students, which has been shown to be related to withdrawal and failure to complete the thesis.

The study as a whole is a three-year ARC-funded investigation involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches, and seeking the perceptions of students, supervisors, and heads of department - as well as outcomes data. However, this paper will be based on research undertaken in the first year, and will offer an analysis of student perceptions only, with a focus on variation in research contexts as perceived by students. We will show that there are clear differences in students' experiences of research climate, social support, and infrastructure provision between academic units, and that the quality of supervision varies between departments. Also explored will be relationships between such factors as overall satisfaction and perceptions of climate; between frequency of meetings with the supervisor and perceptions of quality of supervision; and between peer support and research climate.