transferable skills and disciplinarity: are we speaking their language? dr catherine mills & dr...
TRANSCRIPT
Transferable skills and disciplinarity: are we speaking
their language?
Dr Catherine Mills &
Dr Jessica Morrod
Postgraduate study at Cambridge
Cambridge
Arts & Humanities
676
GraduateSchool of
Life Sciences1058
Humanities & Social Sciences
1106
Technology1020
Physical Sciences
1167
Biological Sciences
701
Clinical Medicine
357
Total no. of PhD students = 5027
In addition, 2268 contract researchers
Starting Your PhD: course outlineOld
• Welcome• Starting a PhD: the facts• Your skills• COFFEE (11.00)• Your supervisor• Your research• LUNCH (13.00)• Potential problems• Plagiarism• The two types of PhD thesis• TEA (15.00)• Courses, support and advice
All day course 10-4pm
New
• Welcome• You and the PhD• Cambridge• Research methods• COFFEE (11.30)• You and your supervisor• Who else can help?• What next? – actions from
today
Half day course 10-1pm
Old vs. New
• Length – reduced down to 3hrs
• Structure – streamlined and focused
• Activities – less talking more interaction
• Continuity – links with Mid PhD Review & Completing Your PhD
• Links – highlighting connections to other course e.g. Time Management
Your skillsWhat skills does the ideal PhD student need?
Draw the skills as body parts onto the stick man
e.g. listening = ears
Show their importance through size….
big ears = important
Data collection
• Original feedback – old courses– new courses
• Follow up survey online(4 months after courses ran)
– old courses only
Original feedback• 18% made unprompted comments on
disciplinarity
“Have someone from physics department to answer specific questions”
“The course is given by trainers with a scientific background who understand my situation”
“Perhaps focus the presentation a little bit more to the specific experience of a History PhD student”
“Possibility including an instructor who can input experience from the humanities”
Disciplinarity in follow up survey
• ‘Okay’, ‘quite’ and ‘very’ categories dominated by Schools of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and
Humanities & Social Sciences in that order
Transferable vs. specific?
• “How to keep records of journal papers and books that I have read”• “Many practical advices, such as regular data back-up”• “It put my mind at rest as there was plenty of opportunity to ask
questions and give opinions to the entire group, not even just to course leaders”
• “To hear about different types of supervisors”
• Chance to think about what I want out of my PhD studies and what action is needed to make this happen funding
• It gave me confidence, reassuring me that I am going in the right direction and that the difficulties I have been experiencing are perfectly normal!
• Time management – best bit of course, but wanted to hear more ideas about how to structure time
Old vs. new
Old course New course
School of Physical Sciences
17.4%12% (School
wide)
School of Humanities &
Social Sciences18.2%
0% (ran in Land economy only)
Feedback comments relating to disciplinarity
Future directions…
• Expand comparative analysis on new Starting Your PhD
• Open out analysis to Completing Your PhD?
• Incorporate evaluation/assessment methods into all courses?
