The life of a Higher Degree Research (HDR) student is a unique one. Three to four years focus sing on a single project, guided by one or more supervisors, and often working largely in isolation. Universities have a great deal invested in the success of their HDR students, yet struggle to support both the students and their supervisors through this often tumultuous journey. This presentation will demonstrate how a guided development space, sitting alongside an eportfolio, can provide supervisors with the tools they need to monitor the progress of their students and provide individualised support and intervention as required. The affordances of this space allow the HDR student to be clear about their pathway and proceed with confidence, knowing that their supervisor(s) can share their journey through this collaborative environment.

1. Helping HDR students to
Flourish
through portfolios
Alison Poot
Australian Director

2. Isolation
Direction
Motivation
HDR Challenges ……
Student

3. Supporting
Tracking
Recording
HDR Challenges ……
Supervisor

4. Coordination
Administration
Reporting
HDR Challenges ……
University

5. Introducing …
The Guided Development Space
• 1:1 Support
• Meetings
• Conversations
• Pathways, Milestones & Tasks
• Track Progress
• View feedback & grades

6. StudentSupervisor
Personal
Private
Reflections
Tasks
Pathways & Milestones
Feedback
& Grades
Guidance
Assessment
Reporting on results
Reporting
on progress

7. Milestone
Task
Task
Task
Task
Task
Milestone
Task
Task
Task
Task
Task
Milestone
Task
Task
Task
Task
Task
Pathway

8. Year 1 HDR
Introductory
Supervisor
Meeting
HDR
Induction
Literature
Review
PG Conf
Presentation
Progress
Report
Year 2 HDR
Thesis Plan
PG Conf
Poster
Progress
Report
Year 3 HDR
Thesis Draft
Bind & Submit
Viva Seminar
Defend Thesis
HDR 3 Year
Program

9. One Pathway for all HDR student

10. Two distributions
Distributed to different cohorts

11. View Pathway progress for each cohort

12. View Milestone progress for each cohort

13. View all Tasks associated with the Pathway

14. View progress on any one Task

15. View students within my group

16. View highlights, flags and alerts for any one student

18. The big wins …..
• Everything stored electronically in one place
• Clear pathways with the ability to track progress
• Easy communication between supervisor and student
• Communication opportunities across research teams
• Transparent recording and reporting for the institution

19. How could you
help your students
to …