Eliciting effective feedback from your supervisor
One of the key roles of a postgraduate supervison is to provide feedback to the student on the topic of their thesis. This may be oral, written, delivered face-to-face or electronically. Constructive feedback will often inspire action and motivation, whilst negative feedback (or no feedback at all) will leave the student in doubt as to the best direction for the research. Quality feedback on your work is something that is highly valued, but not always achieved.
UWA’s Guidelines for Graduate Supervision outlines some of the expectations of supervision and includes a section on feedback. Of course feedback can be given in the context of a formal supervisory meeting, or in an unscheduled encounter such as might take place in the corridors of your department. The Guidelines state that:
It is expected supervisors will comment, preferably in writing, on candidate’s written work within a mutually agreed turnaround period, normally not later than one month after submission of the work. It is suggested that the turnaround period be negotiated between the supervisor and candidate and noted in the Candidate-supervisor Checklist if one is used.
It is acknowledged that the turnaround period may vary depending on a variety of factors including the scope of the work submitted and personal schedules. It is suggested that, for pieces of work which are expected to take longer than one month to review, interim feedback be provided by an agreed date, which will normally be within one month of the date of submission of the work. In this case the final date for receipt of feedback should also be mutually agreed and noted.
This recommendation specifically sets forth the frequency at which work should be reviewed and commented upon. However, the Guidelines do not provide strategies on how to get the most from your supervisor in terms of the QUALITY of the feedback. Below are three suggestions for eliciting effective feedback from your supervisor.
- Try to structure the meetings with your supervisor as a discussion. Perhaps begin with your impression of the piece of work, or at least be prepared contextualise the information in preparation for the feedback. Any supervisory meeting should be a collaborative exercise in deconstructing an issue or problem; rather than a one-sided analysis of the issue from your supervisor’s perspective only. Take responsibility for what you are saying through the use of ‘I’, ‘in my view’ etc. If it is possible, try to find a meeting place in which you both feel comfortable, especially if you feel that meetings in your supervisor’s office exaggerates the differential power relationship.
- Select priority areas. Highlight the pressing areas of your research for which you need guidance or advice. Do this through the use of targeted and constructive questioning to open up a topic. Do your preparation before going into a supervisory meeting by having a list of questions that you can pose to your supervisor.
- Focus on action rather than description. Pose questions which are ‘solution-oriented’ in the sense that you are not simply recounting the content of your work but critiquing it and exploring ways of improving it.
Giving feedback involves summarising, evaluating, advising and motivating; this process applies to both the giver and the receiver of the feedback. The above are strategies that you might be able to apply to your own supervisory situation. They are things you can think about and put into place to improve the quality of the feedback you are receiving from your supervisor.