be more efficient doing the things you have to do.

166 Chapter 7 n Controlling your project will expect you to work very closely with your supervisor, perhaps meeting with him or her regularly each week during the course of your project. Other institutions pre- fer to emphasise the independent nature of project study and would only expect you to see a supervisor on rare occasions for advice and guidance. The role of your supervisor can also differ. Blaxter et al. 2006: 138 identify two roles that a supervi- sor can perform: n A manager n An academic advisor. As a manager, your supervisor is responsible for managing your project in ‘a more general sense’. She will be concerned with your overall progress; are you meeting the milestones you have set for yourself? Are you coping with your project and balancing it with other commitments? Your supervisor will also be concerned with ensuring you are following institutional guidelines as part of this role. For example, are you aware of all the guidelines, regulations plagiarism and copyright issues, for example and assess- ment requirements relating to your project? Are you producing the right documenta- tion at the right time? As a manager, your supervisor should also advise you on which procedures to follow to submit your dissertation, what forms to complete, how to lay out the report and when to hand material in. A supervisor also arranges access to appropriate hardware and software for you as well as for you to attend appropriate courses, seminars and conferences. As an academic advisor, your supervisor is more concerned with the ‘academic’ or technical content of your project. Are you reading the right journals and books? Are you following the correct research and data gathering methods? Are you performing the right analyses? Are you developing your software in the correct way, etc.? You may need your supervisor’s academic expertise to advise you where to go next, what areas to develop further, to clarify particular topics, provide technical help with programming or design issues, to advise you which techniques and tools to use, and to discuss recent developments in your technical field. You should also expect your supervisor to tell you where you are going wrong; for example, is the academic quality of your work not up to the standards required for your course? The University of Warwick 1994: 24 list the following areas which your supervisor should be able to advise you on when acting in an academic capacity: n research design and scheduling n literature surveys n theoretical and conceptual development n methodological issues n development of appropriate research skills n data collection and analyses. Sometimes you will also need your supervisor to act in a pastoral role for you. Under this role your supervisor will be more concerned with your emotional and general well being. Are you maintaining your motivation? Are you under pressure from other work? Have you any personal problems that she can help you to deal with? 7.4 Working with your supervisor 167 Combining academic expectations with managerial requirements, Phillips and Pugh 2005: 145–151 list the following expectations students have of their supervisors: n ‘Students expect to be supervised’. n ‘Students expect supervisors to read their work well in advance’. n ‘Students expect their supervisors to be available when needed’. n ‘Students expect their supervisors to be friendly, open and supportive’. n ‘Students expect their supervisors to be constructively critical’. n ‘Students expect their supervisors to have a good knowledge of the research area’. While your supervisor has responsibilities towards you, she will also expect some obligations from you in return. According to the University of Warwick loc. cit., some duties expected by supervisors of their students are: n to arrange regular meetings; n to maintain a regular work pattern; and n to discuss progress and problems fully. In addition, Phillips and Pugh 2005: 97–101 identify the following obligations of doctoral students, which are also relevant to undergraduate projects: n ‘to be independent’; n ‘to produce written work that is not just a first draft’; n ‘to be honest when reporting on their progress’; n ‘to follow advice that is given’; and n ‘to be excited about their work’.

7.4.2 Using your supervisor effectively

The main contact you have with your project supervisor will be through prearranged meet- ings. These meetings may be at a regular time each week or more infrequent, perhaps only occurring every four or five weeks or more. As academic staff tend to be extremely busy, they are often difficult to find at other times and unlikely to be able to see you. You there- fore need to make optimum use of the time you do see them during these meetings. n Prepare for your meetings. Don’t just turn up to a meeting with your supervisor without any ideas on what you want to get out of it. Think about what you want to discuss, decide what advice you want from your supervisor on which aspects of your project, and go prepared to present some of your own ideas and plans to himher. Ricketts 1998: 17 suggests using the minutes of your previous meeting as a starting point for discussion each time. This helps to remind everyone of the current state of your project and identifies the work you were expecting to complete since the last meeting. n As part of your meetings you may well want to discuss the following topics each time: n What progress you have made since the last meeting – work you have done, articles you have read, literature found, plans made, interviews conducted, requirements captured, designs drawn, programs developed, etc.