Abstract
Doctoral research supervision is one of the major avenues for sustaining students’ satisfaction with the programme, preparing students to be independent researchers and effectively initiating students into the academic community. This work reports doctoral students’ evaluation of their various supervision models, their satisfaction with these supervision models, and development of research-related skills. The study used a descriptive research design and was guided by three research questions and two hypotheses. A sample of 310 Ph.D. candidates drawn from a federal university in Eastern part of Nigeria was used for this study. The data generated through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics andt-tests. Results show that face-to-face interactive model was not only the most frequently used, but also the most widely adopted in doctoral thesis supervision while ICT-based models were rarely used. Students supervised under face-to-face interactive model reported being more satisfied with dissertation supervision than those operating under face-to-face noninteractive model. However, students supervised under these two models did not differ significantly in their perceived development in research-related skills.
Highlights
There has been an increase in the demand for doctoral education in Nigeria
This study was aimed at determining the dominant doctoral dissertation supervision models in use in a university setting, students’ rating of their satisfaction with supervision experience, and the contribution of this experience to the development of their research-related skills
The dissertations produced by doctoral students in some Nigerian universities have been judged to be below standard
Summary
There has been an increase in the demand for doctoral education in Nigeria This demand is exacerbated by the National Universities Commission and universities’ stipulation that Ph.D. is the minimum qualification for teaching in Universities and the ultimatum to those already in the system to acquire the Ph.D. Further, the high rate of unemployment has contributed largely to this rise. The high rate of unemployment has contributed largely to this rise This increase should be a good development for rapidly increasing the quality of education outcome for effective manpower for the nation’s development. It is expected that its recipients exhibit high levels of proficiency both in research and in disciplinary studies. These highlight the place of doctoral research/dissertation as high point of the doctoral programme.
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