Graduate School
Professional Doctorate Research Student Log Book & Personal Development
Revised February 2013
Table of Contents Page
1. ProfD Research Student Log Book rationale 2
1.1 Purpose of the ProfD Research Student Log Book 2
1.2 Section A: Student’s summary record 2
1.2.1 Higher Degree Student Summary Information form 2
1.2.2 Record of student-supervisory meetings 3
1.3 Section B: Record of formal supervisory sessions and skills
review meetings 3
1.3.1 Framework of formal meetings 3
1.3.2 Annual Reports 4
1.3.3 Researcher Development programme form 4
1.4 Section C: Researcher Development Framework 4
1.5 Section D: Research Student Personal Development Plan PDP and
Personal Development Record PDR 4
1.6 How to use the ProfD Research Student Log Book 5
1.6.1 Section A: Student’s Summary Record 5
1.6.2 Section B: Record of formal academic advisor/supervisory sessions and skills review meetings 6
2. Section A: Student’s Summary Record 7
2.1 Higher Degree ProfD Student Summary Information Form 8
2.2 Academic Advisor/Supervisory Meeting Template 9
3. Section B: Record of Formal Academic Advisor/Supervisory Sessions and Skills Review Meetings 11
3.1 Framework of Formal Meetings 12
3.2 Formal Academic Advisor/Supervisory Skills Review Meeting template 14
3.3 Annual Report form 16
3.4 Researcher Development Programme form 18
4. Section C: Researcher Development Framework 19
5. Section D: Research Student Personal Development Plan & Personal
Development Record 21
5.1 ProfD Research Student Personal Development Plan (PDP) & Personal Development Record (PDR) Template 22
5.2 ProfD Research Student Personal Development Plan (PDP) & Personal Development Record (PDR) (Example: Health Profession,
ProfD) 28
1. ProfD Research Student Log Book rationale
1.1 Purpose of the ProfD Research Student Log Book
This log has been prepared to assist you throughout your ProfD degree programme at Glasgow Caledonian University: both Stage 1 (2 years duration), consisting of three taught macro-modules and Stage 2 (2 years duration), consisting of a work based research project leading to a research thesis and viva. The Log Book provides a framework for recording details related to your graduate programme, Stage 1 academic advisor meetings, Stage 2 supervisory meetings and activities concerning the development of academic and key skills.
At Stage 1, you should refer mostly to your Professional Doctorate Student Handbook for information on your taught programme of study. Progression through the three modules of Stage 1 is monitored formally through the ProfD Assessment Board. At this stage you will therefore use the log book primarily as a means to appraise, monitor and record the development of your key research, personal and professional skills. Your log book will therefore have main relevance to your meetings with your Academic Advisor and for your Personal Development Planning which should underpin and complement your Stage 1 taught programme of study.
Upon formal confirmation of successful completion of Stage 1, you will enter Stage 2 and be appointed a Director of Studies, who will lead your supervisory team.
At Stage 2, your log will become your main record of progress and should be developed in conjunction with your personal development plan and record. Your Log Book will help you and your supervisory team to assess your progress and help you to plan and chart evidence of the development of your research skills - academic and discipline specific skills and generic and personal skills.
At Stage 2, elements of your Research Student Log Book and Personal Development Plan will be required to be submitted to the Higher Degrees Committee for regular formal monitoring of your progress at the key milestones: 1) registration of your research proposal (RDC1 form) 2) annual report on progress (Annual Report form) and 3) the formal request for the arrangement of external examiners (RDC5 form).
1.2 Section A: Student’s summary record
1.2.1 Higher Degree Student Summary Information form
Section A of the Research Student Log Book should contain a record of the student’s summary information as provided by the Graduate School upon matriculation and then updated by the student and academic advisor/supervisor as changes occur.
During Stage 2, all changes such as changes in the supervisory team (RDC4 form), changes to the mode of study (RDC6 form), suspensions and extensions (RD3 form) and withdrawals (RDC7 form) must be submitted on the appropriate Higher Degrees Committee form to the School’s Head of Research for approval and then to the Graduate School for formal approval by the Higher Degrees Committee.
1.2.2 Record of student-supervisory meetings
Section A of the Research Student Log Book should contain a record of the meetings between the student and the academic advisor at Stage 1 and the supervisory team at Stage 2. The Log Book should be maintained and kept by the student, with copies of the meeting notes given to the academic advisor at Stage 1 and supervisory team at Stage 2 for their records.
The record of an academic advisory meeting should give a summary of:
1) the date of the meeting
2) the people present
3) a review of the progress and actions set at the last meeting
4) the issues identified
5) the actions set for the next meeting.
You must copy and use the Advisor Meeting template at the end of Section A to record these standard meetings.
The record of a supervisory meeting should give a summary of:
1) the date of the meeting
2) the people present
3) a review of the actions from last supervisory meeting
4) topics discussed
5) Identification of any issued discussed
6) Actions set for the next meeting.
You must copy and use the Supervisory Meeting template at the end of Section A to record these standard meetings as required.
Part- time students must meet with their supervisory team six times per year and produce a record of the meeting on the correct template. The form should be signed by the Director of Studies and forwarded to the research administrator in the school to which their project has been allocated.
1.3 Section B: Record of formal supervisory sessions and skills review meetings
1.3.1 Framework of formal meetings
At Stage 2, most importantly, there are “formal meetings” required at specified intervals between student and supervisory team as part of the University’s monitoring of progress. These “formal meetings” have a specific structure related to the stage of research study. Guidelines for these “formal meetings” are set out in the Guidelines for Research Students and the University’s Code of Practice for higher degrees. Further information and templates can be found at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/graduateschool/postgraduatestudy/phdprogrammes/guidelinesandlogbooks/ The Research Student Log Book contains a “Framework of Formal Meetings”, stipulating when the meetings should be held and what should be discussed at each “formal meeting”. The contents of the meeting minutes should be approved by the student and supervisory team. Section B contains a Formal Supervisory/Skills Review Meeting Template which you should use to record the formal meetings. Copies of these meeting minutes should be given to the supervisory team and should be kept in Section B of the Research Student Log book as a formal record of the progression of the student. These formal meetings should highlight any issues that need to be resolved and recommend appropriate action to solve problems early.
1.3.2 Annual Reports
The ProfD research student and supervisory team are required to complete an annual report every 12 months from the start of Stage 2, ie by 31 December of year 3 and year 4. Records of the annual report meetings are required by the School Research Committee for monitoring of individual student progress and then subsequently by the Graduate School for a formal record that the process of monitoring progression has been undertaken by the Schools. Annual reports should be submitted to The Graduate School no later than 31 March each year. The Graduate School will review the annual reports and provide a general analysis of the annual reports to the University Higher Degrees Committee, giving recommendations for improvement of University support for research students in general. Specific individual issues will firstly be resolved by the School and secondly, if needed, with the Graduate School’s support. Section B of the Research Student Log Book contains a template of the Annual Report which the student and supervisor should complete. A copy of all annual reports should be kept in Section B of the Research Student Log Book.
1.3.3 Researcher Development Programme form
ProfD research students are required to complete a researcher development programme that is developed firstly by the research student and the academic advisor at Stage 1 and then by the student and the supervisor at Stage 2, specifically for the research student’s individual development. This is done through the use of the Researcher development Framework (RDF) www.vitae.ac.uk/rdf and research student personal development plans. A record of plans and achievements are recorded in the Personal Development Plan and Record (Section D). At Stage 2, upon formal submission of a request to arrange external examiners (RDC5 form), the student and supervisor must also sign off that the Researcher Development programme has been achieved. This is done by completing the Researcher Development Programme Form and submitting this to the Graduate School along with the RDC5 form. Section B of the Research Student Log Book contains a template of this form.
1.4 Section C Researcher Development Framework
The Researcher Development framework (RDF) is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers. It articulates the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of researchers and encourages them to aspire to excellence through achieving higher levels of development.
Section C contains more information on the RDF, the diagram of the knowledge, skills and attributes and a link to the online Personal Development Planner.
1.5 Section D: Research Student Personal Development Plan PDP and Personal Development Record PDR
Actions for acquiring and improving your skills will be recorded in your log book as part of the specific actions agreed at each meeting of the student and academic advisor/supervisory team. The action plan for acquiring identified skills should also be summarised in your Personal Development Plan PDP and once acquired, your Personal Development Record PDR. The skill acquisition, which should take place over the whole of a student’s programme, should build on and recognise the skills that students have acquired prior to the commencement of their study. Students who are studying part time and are in paid employment may wish to integrate the generic and personal skill requirements with those they may agree with their employer as part of staff development. It is the development of the skills and the recognition by students of the skills that they have gained that is important – not the means by which they were acquired. You are therefore asked to audit your skills in a more formal reflective way through the PDP and PDR, from the first meeting, with your academic adviser/supervisory team and then regularly throughout your studies.
You are expected to update your PDP and PDR on a regular basis, as you achieve successful completion of the actions agreed at student-academic advisor/supervisory meetings. The PDR ultimately should contain a complete summary of your achievements in acquiring the identified skills and in Stage 2 should be reviewed and approved by the supervisory team and School at key stages in the research study. You will be required to submit your PDP and PDR as part of your application for: registration of your doctoral studies (RDC1 form) to show your skills development planning and record at this key stage. You will also be required to submit the following elements of the PDP and PDR as part of the annual report: Part A - Student Summary information and Part C – PDR Summary. The annual report has been designed so that the relevant elements of the PDR and PDP can be easily submitted as part of the annual report to reduce the amount of work required. Section D of the Research Student Log Book contains a template of the Research Student Personal Development Plan & Personal Development Record and an example of a completed form from a ProfD student in the Health Professions.
1.6 How to use the ProfD Research Student Log Book
1.6.1 Section A: Student’s summary record
Complete the Student Summary Information template found at the beginning of Section A. The same information is also requested at the beginning of the PDP/PDR.
1) Use the standard meeting template to document the discussion and actions agreed at each meeting between the student and academic advisor for Stage 1 and between the student and supervisory team for Stage 2. At Stage 2, the standard meeting will normally involve at least the student and the Director of Studies.
2) Keep the records of these meetings in the Log Book, Section A: Student’s Summary Record of Standard student-academic advisor/supervisory team meetings.
3) Provide copies of the meeting notes to the academic advisor/supervisory team.
4) At each subsequent meeting, begin with a review of the progress on the actions of the previous meeting.
1.6.2 Section B: Record of formal academic advisor and supervisory sessions and skills review meetings
1) Use the “Framework of Formal Meetings” found at the beginning of Section B to determine when the formal meetings should be held and what special items should be discussed.
2) In preparation for the formal meeting, use the RDF/PDP found in Section C to self-reflect on skill improvements and skill needs.
3) Up-date your PDP and PDR found in Section D to include your skill achievements since the last formal meeting and include a draft of future plans to address the continuing improvement and acquisition of skills. Send your updated PDP/PDR to your academic advisor/supervisory team in advance of the meeting for discussion at the meeting. You may wish to send your completed PDP to your academic advisor/supervisory team in advance to facilitate the discussion on the Key skills needed.
4) Use the formal meeting template to document the discussion and actions agreed. At Stage 2, the formal meeting should normally involve the student and the full supervisory team. All those present should sign the final document indicating their agreement of its content. The student and Director of Studies should formally sign off the agreed PDP/PDR.