Students’ Perceptions of Postgraduate Research Supervision at Botswana Open University

Lekopanye Lacic Tladi; Tebogo Ethel Seretse

doi:10.25159/2663-5895/10001

Authors

Lekopanye Lacic Tladi Botswana Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9711-831X
Tebogo Ethel Seretse Botswana Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8073-110X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-5895/10001

Keywords:

research experience, supervision relations, postgraduate research, Botswana Open University (BOU)

Abstract

Research supervision in higher education is considered essential in promoting lifelong learning and the creation of knowledge. At Botswana Open University (BOU) research supervision is conducted at a distance. However, this mode of supervision is not without its challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students on research supervision in three master’s programmes namely: Master of Education (Educational Leadership), Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Administration and Commonwealth Executive Master in Public Administration. The problem was that despite graduate students being allocated supervisors there continued to be a significant number of students who fail to complete their research on time or even failed to complete their programme of study due to the incomplete dissertation. This study was situated within the theory of Transactional Distance by Moore (1991). The study adopted a qualitative approach to gather data and purposive sampling was preferred to gather data from students who were in their final year of the identified programmes. A thematic approach comprising students- supervisor relations, supervision models, and research support was adopted for analysing the data. Some of the key findings revealed that students encountered a series of challenges regarding supervision, indicating that their experiences were varied. There were variations in student supervisor relations and student research support for the different programmes. Education students had a positive supervision experience while Business students indicated having had challenges with their supervision. In conclusion, the study recommends possible strategies that could enhance graduate research supervision experience and student research completion.

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