PhD Supervision: Giving Effective Feedback

Overview: Many postgraduate researchers cite getting and dealing with feedback from their supervisors as one of the most challenging areas of candidature. Feedback is essential to help the student make progress in their research and improve the quality of their outputs. So what can you, as a supervisor, do to ensure they get the feedback they need?

This workshop is for any research supervisor. It covers:

• The benefits of positive feedback
• The different types of feedback
• Varying your type of feedback depending on the candidate's stage
• Formats: hard copy, track changes, audio, face to face
• How to provide criticism without crushing the recipient
• Turnaround time: How long is too long for response time
• A few pages or a whole chapter
• When the writing/grammar/expression is bad
• When they don't listen to your feedback

Intended Audience: All PhD Supervisors at Ulster University.

Duration: Two hours

Learning Outcomes: By the end of this interactive workshop, participants will:

• Understand the importance of feedback in PhD Supervision
• Know examples of best practice in feedback
• Be aware of the different formats of feedback and how feedback is tailored to the stage of PhD
• Understand the importance of communication when giving feedback
• Explored problems faced by PhD Supervisors in relation to feedback

Resources: Hugh Kearns will share resources during and after the workshop.