Think Piece A: 

Challenging the traditional format of the PhD

Think Piece B: 

Working with AI in postgraduate research 

Think Piece: Working with AI in postgraduate research

Introduction

Many postgraduate students and supervisors alike are either afraid of AI or they ignore it. Some HE institutions have banned its use (In Tasmania and Queensway in Australia) while others (like the University of South Australia and the University of South Africa (UNISA) have adopted it. UNISA has adopted ChatGPT for teaching and learning and encourage their faculty to make use of it while providing guidelines for its use. Some journals have banned use of AI tools while others encourage its use as long as one acknowledges the tools effectively.

Controversy is not strange or unique to AI. It happens with all new technology. In spite of its permanency, people fear change; they resist anything new. To explain, interpret, negotiate, and defend their positions, they (re)construct misconceptions and perceptions. A lot of myths have already been created around AI - like it will take away university lecturers and administrators jobs.Other people are quick to adapt to change so they move fast to adopt and adapt technology.

However, as with all technology, AI is a tool to make work faster, easier and yet more efficient. And humans will always be required to operate the tools - even with AI because AI does not think. As of now, the human hand, the human mind, and the human heart remain indispensable.

AI is here to stay. Faculty and administrators will continue to ignore or fear AI at their own peril. But technology cannot just be up taken because while AI is morally and emotionally indifferent, like all tools for use by humans, AI may be abused. Therefore, it is necessary to put measures in place to govern its use in order to get the best out of it and to control its abuse. What then is required? i) Awareness and understanding of AI, ii) AI policies, laws, and guidelines for various contexts including HE, and, iii ) adoption of regulated use of AI.

In this piece, I pose four theses on AI to provoke discussion as I make a few remarks. 

What is AI?

Thesis 1: The most valuable good in the market is no longer gold or silver. It is data- the next World War will be about data. 

AI is a specialized field in computer science which seeks to make machines which mimic human intelligence (think) to improve human life - where improve is to reduce undesirable discomforts such as pains, labour, errors, and time used to perform tasks. AI is also called Machine Learning - For a long time machines were operated by humans – but can we replace the human so that the machine behaves like a human – thinks? No. Not yet. Perhaps Never. Data science is human driven.

Artificial (fake?) Intelligence (natural)? Contradiction: AI is mechanical, intelligence is mental. Or is it?

Are realities of life not contradictions? Where do we think from, the heart or the mind? Where is the mind located?

Types of AI

• Narrow (weak) – specific task e.g. face recognition 

• General (strong) – respond to questions,’ think’ and act

Examples of AI powered systems

LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications)

• Socratic.

• Chatsonic (Writesonic)

• OpenAI playground.

• Jasper Chat.

• ChatGPT

Which of these models is best for postgraduate research?

AI in the context of postgraduate research

Thesis 2: Do not believe everything that you see, hear, feel, taste, or smell. We live in a’ fake’ world.

AI will make postgraduate research irrelevant. It will take my opportunity/job as a postgraduate student/supervisor? ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence system, language model (Chatbot) by OpenAI (Microsoft Corporation) launched on November 30, 2022. It Supports humans to quickly and efficiently generate information through an intelligent conversation . AI cannot replace humans especially in social science research because human intelligence is not machine intelligence. AI powered machines cannot fully replicate the depth and breadth of humans because they are incapable of human experience, expertise, motivation, and personal interaction with other humans and other creations. AI remains a tool to make research efficient.

Uses in Research

• Data Management - cleaning, organization, relations

• Data Analysis?

• Data Science - to predict anything including diseases and wars, including world war

Downside

•  Dulling minds - critical thinking lost?

•  Inequalities increase - Unequal access to education (gender, social class, Global South, rural/urban etc) - Think research consultancies writing thesis and doing assignments for students.

•  Ethics Considerations & Research Misconduct e.g. Confidentiality & privacy issues; intellectual property

Thesis 3: Laws, policies, rules, guidelines are only barking dogs that don’t bite.

Currently available (today?)  … are some policies, laws, principles, guidelines, specific to AI e.g. uniSA, UNISA have policies specific to use of AI in teaching and learning (Please see: ChatGPT - Critical Information Literacy - LibGuides at University of South Africa (UNISA) )

Other general policies, laws, guidelines, e.g. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - European Union rules on data protection and privacy. GDPR summed up in 7 principles:

•  Lawfulness, fairness and transparency

•  Purpose limitation

•  Data minimisation

•  Accuracy

•  Storage limitation

•  Integrity and confidentiality (security)

•  Accountability

Kenya has Data Protection Act (2019).

GDPR and AI: Friends, foes or something in between? | SAS

Future directions of AI research and its Impact on postgraduate research- what do you think?

Revolutionary!

Thesis 4: Humans have conquered time and space. The human hand, mind and heart is dispensable.

Be accountable, transparency & trustworthy: Always declare what you generate by AI. Acknowledge always: As with other sources, provide proper attribution and appropriate credit to the system that you used.

FPP: AI systems cannot guarantee that the information that they generate is free from research misconduct.

Quality Assurance: AI systems are highly proficient (compared to humans) but it is still necessary to review your article thoroughly before submission to ensure credibility, accuracy, academic integrity and compliance with regulations/standards, author guidelines etc

Bias and Injustice: AI systems are created by humans and may be biased or even out rightly unjust in generating information.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the individual person is responsible for the choices they make and therefore the consequences that follow. In postgraduate researcher individual researchers/students/supervisors are responsible for research ethics, integrity, and accuracy.

References

European Union (2018). Consolidated text: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of

the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of

personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data

Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance

Kenya Data Protection Act No 24 of 2019.

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Version 2:5) [Computer software]. Retrieved from https://chat.openai.com on 16th July 2023. 20:12.

Think Piece C: Should supervision training be compulsory?

 INTRODUCTION

Postgraduate supervision is a vital aspect of higher education and research in various professional settings, providing guidance, mentorship, and support to individuals pursuing advanced degrees, typically at the master's or doctoral levels. The supervision process involves an experienced academic or professional expert, known as a supervisor, overseeing and facilitating the research, scholarly, or creative work of the postgraduate student, often referred to as a supervisee or a graduate student.

In all these settings, postgraduate supervision aims to ensure that students attain a high level of competency, critical thinking skills, and expertise in their chosen fields. Effective supervision plays a crucial role in shaping future professionals and researchers, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and the improvement of society at large.

 THE CASE FOR COMPULSORY SUPERVISION TRAINING

Ensuring a Baseline Standard of Supervisory Competence and ensures that all postgraduate supervisors acquire a baseline set of competencies, regardless of their prior experience or background. Compulsory training helps establish a uniform understanding of best practices, methodologies, and ethical considerations in postgraduate supervision. By setting a minimum standard, institutions can reduce variability in supervision quality, contributing to a more consistent and reliable learning experience for supervisees.

Compulsory training can reinforce adherence to ethical principles and standards, instilling a strong sense of ethics within postgraduate supervisors and create a culture of responsibility, ensuring supervisors are aware of their ethical obligations and the consequences of unethical behavior in supervision. By emphasizing ethical conduct, mandatory training supports the creation of an academic environment founded on integrity and trust.

Training equips supervisors with the necessary tools to enhance the quality of supervision, reducing the likelihood of errors and misconduct in research guidance. It can include modules on conflict resolution, enabling supervisors to handle disagreements or conflicts with supervisees professionally and constructively. Equipping supervisors with knowledge about potential misconduct allows for early detection and intervention, safeguarding the integrity of research and the academic community.

Mandatory training can emphasize understanding the diverse needs and backgrounds of supervisees, enabling supervisors to adapt their approach and support accordingly. It can encompass awareness of cultural differences, ensuring supervisors are equipped to provide an inclusive and supportive environment for a diverse range of students. It can also incorporate modules on recognizing signs of mental health issues and strategies to support supervisees in maintaining their well-being during their postgraduate journey.

 IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES AND ENSURING EFFECTIVENESS

Strategies for Overcoming Resistance and Fostering Buy-In from Stakeholders:

·       Communicate the rationale behind the compulsory training, emphasizing its benefits for postgraduate education and research quality.

·       Engage stakeholders in the decision-making process, seeking their input and addressing concerns to create a sense of ownership and understanding.

·       Showcase successful case studies where training has improved supervision quality and ultimately benefited both supervisors and postgraduate students.

·       Present empirical evidence demonstrating the correlation between effective supervision and enhanced research outcomes.

·       Involve stakeholders in the design of training modules to ensure relevance and alignment with the unique needs and challenges within various academic disciplines and institutions.

·       Allow for flexibility in training content to accommodate different expertise levels and experiences of supervisors.

Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms to Measure the Impact of Compulsory Training:

·       Conduct assessments before and after the training to measure the knowledge gain and skill enhancement of supervisors.

·       Use standardized assessment tools to ensure consistency and reliability in evaluating the training's effectiveness.

·       Collect feedback from participants to gauge their satisfaction with the training, its relevance, and the applicability of the knowledge gained in their supervisory roles.

·       Incorporate suggestions and criticisms to adapt future training programs and improve their impact.

·       Implement longitudinal studies to track the progress of postgraduate students whose supervisors have undergone the compulsory training.

·       Measure research productivity, completion rates, and overall student satisfaction to assess the long-term impact of the training on the academic community.

Feedback Loops for Continuous Improvement and Adaptation of Training Requirements:

·       Establish a periodic review process to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of the training curriculum and requirements.

·       Utilize feedback from stakeholders, evolving research methodologies, and changing educational landscapes to adapt and update the training program as needed.

·       Form advisory boards comprising experienced supervisors, educators, and industry professionals to provide insights and recommendations for improving the training program.

·       Seek input from these boards to enhance the curriculum, incorporate emerging trends, and ensure alignment with industry needs.

·       Conduct pilot programs to test new training approaches or modules before full-scale implementation.

·       Gather feedback from the pilot phase to make informed decisions on refining the training structure and content before wider adoption.

 Comparative analysis of jurisdictions where supervision training is compulsory vs. Voluntary

A comparative analysis of jurisdictions where postgraduate supervisor training is compulsory versus voluntary provides insights into the potential benefits and drawbacks of each approach in ensuring effective postgraduate supervision:

1. Jurisdictions with Compulsory Postgraduate Supervisor Training:

Benefits:

·       Consistency and Standardization: Mandatory training ensures a baseline level of competency and standardization among supervisors, promoting uniformity in supervision quality.

·       Improved Supervision Quality: Training can equip supervisors with essential skills, knowledge, and best practices, resulting in enhanced supervision quality and more effective guidance for postgraduate students.

·       Enhanced Student Experience: Students benefit from a higher standard of supervision, potentially leading to improved research outcomes, increased satisfaction, and timely completion of their degrees.

Drawbacks:

·       Resource Demands: Implementing and maintaining mandatory training programs require significant resources in terms of time, funding, and administrative support.

·       Resistance and Compliance Issues: There might be resistance from experienced supervisors who may perceive mandatory training as unnecessary, potentially leading to compliance challenges.

2. Jurisdictions with Voluntary Postgraduate Supervisor Training:

Benefits:

·       Flexibility and Autonomy: Voluntary training allows supervisors to choose training that aligns with their needs and preferences, promoting a more personalized learning experience.

·       Reduced Resource Burden: Institutions may face fewer financial and administrative burdens as they are not obligated to provide or oversee compulsory training for all supervisors.

·       Incentivized Learning: Providing incentives for voluntary training can motivate supervisors to participate and invest in their professional development, improving overall supervision quality.

Drawbacks:

·      Inconsistent Standards: The quality and effectiveness of supervision may vary significantly if training is not standardized, potentially leading to inconsistent experiences for postgraduate students.

·      Potential Gaps in Knowledge: Without compulsory training, there's a risk that some supervisors may lack crucial skills or knowledge, inadvertently impacting the quality of postgraduate education.

·      Limited Coverage: Voluntary training may result in incomplete coverage of supervisors, as some may opt out due to time constraints, lack of awareness, or disinterest.

Overall Considerations:

The effectiveness of either approach depends on the context, culture, resources, and commitment of the educational institutions and supervisory bodies. A hybrid approach, combining aspects of both compulsory and voluntary training, could be an optimal solution, allowing for a baseline standard while providing options for tailored, voluntary professional development.

Think Piece D: 

Multilingualism and Postgraduate Research

Think Piece D: 

Multilingualism and Postgraduate Research

1. Introduction

Concerns about the widespread introduction of English Medium Instruction (EMI) programmes across Europe expressed by various contributors in the book The Englishization of Higher Education in Europe (Wilkinson & Gabriëls 2021) need to be read as more than a case of English versus the rest of Europe. Of course, the EMI concerns resemble Robert Philipson’s problematization of English hegemony within the European Union in his book English-only Europe? Challenging Language Policy (Philipson 2003). While the two books provide another angle of understanding Brexit politics, they expose the deep entrenchment of monolingualism as a legacy of colonialism and a key tenet of globalisation. To pinpoint this problematic relationship, Derrida wondered why globalisation was not called ‘mondialisation’, a commonly used French near equivalent for the English globalisation (Williams 2021). 

While the tensions between monolingualism and multilingualism are global, as the EU context shows, the issues seem to be more pronounced in the Global South compared to the Global North, particularly when it comes to practices in education. In this think piece, I focus on multilingualism and postgraduate research, but my discussion will be building on the existing debate about language in higher education and education broadly.

2. Defining multilingualism

The term multilingualism is used in two senses. Firstly, in its spatial sense, it refers to linguistic diversity in a particular community or context. Thus, we can talk of multilingualism being a defining feature of Africa, Kenya, South Africa, or a university in which different languages are spoken. This sense of the word recognises the existence of individual languages. The equivalent French term plurilingualism captures this more aptly. 

The other sense of multilingualism refers to language speakers use and their ability to use multiple languages, compared to monolingualism, which is restricted to only one language. What is important to note here is that the competence levels vary across languages. Depending on various factors such as one’s mother tongue or primary language, exposure to languages other than one’s own language and the level of instruction and operation in other languages, the competence levels across the different languages of a multilingual person would not be the same. One would be more comfortable with one language than the other, or with the language’s receptive rather than the productive function.

3. Monolingualism in multilingual contexts

Monolingualism in multilingual contexts is a paradox characterised by individuals who can only speak or function in one language in a linguistically diverse community. It may be puzzling how such individuals can survive in such contexts but Africa, which has been conveniently described as Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone and Hispanic provides relevant examples. The assignation of the Euro-phonic labels to Africa reflects linguistic imperialism as an enduring legacy of colonialism. For example, French is considered the only legitimate language in the former French colonies, such that other languages are derogatively referred to as dialects, even by their speakers! Because everyone needs a language, the aspiration is to learn French, even at the expense of losing one’s own. 

Socio-economic and political institutions, particularly the education system, rationalise the rather abnormal situation where the ability to function in only one language in a linguistically diverse context can appear normal. This is part of social engineering processes that have endowed power in selected languages, making them high-value currencies which buy more than others in linguistic markets (Bamgbose 1991; Bourdieu 1994). Learning and mastery of such languages becomes an accomplishment for those who abandon their low-currency languages or dialects, but a huge advantage to those who can lay a claim to such languages as theirs.

The artificial monolingualism that obtains in such contexts defies language policies that seem to place value in multilingualism. In terms of practice, multilingual policies become nothing but a smokescreen. Educational language policies and practices, especially in Africa, are yet to embrace and deploy the continent’s linguistic diversity optimally in the knowledge production enterprise. One may wonder, what is it that is gained or lost? I try to illustrate that in the remainder of this piece with a focus on multilingualism in the context of postgraduate research.

4. What’s got language to do with it?

An important point of departure would be acknowledging postgraduate research as a gateway to disciplines as knowledge communities. The conceptualisation of knowledge, its structure, communication and evaluation, can only be appreciated in terms of disciplinary discourses which differ from one discipline to another (Becher 1987). Some scholars consider disciplinary linguistic knowledge, i.e. “the ability to identify the linguistic features and choices that are appropriate to the disciplinary discourse” (Turkan et al 2014: 9) and the ability to deploy them appropriately as a prerequisite to join knowledge communities. Such distinctive disciplinary language is more than jargon (Woodward-Kron 2008). Admittedly, it is nobody’s mother tongue, but one’s relationship with the language of scholarship would affect how they relate to the texts that they need to navigate and produce en route to their postgraduate research completion. 

What I am highlighting here is the challenge faced by students whose mother tongues are different from the language of academia. Accordingly, institutional language policies that provide for the submission of postgraduate theses written in other official languages in South Africa may be celebrated, but this point needs to be nuanced. I will revisit it shortly.

While mother-tongue speakers of the language of scholarship may have an advantage over non-mother-tongue speakers, the mastery of that language alone may not be sufficient when it comes to access to knowledge that is available in other languages in the form of literature and potential research participants. Thus, being unable to read certain texts or to collect data from certain linguistic communities can pose limitations for postgraduate research and bear implications for the kinds of knowledge that is ultimately produced. This makes it a no brainer that non-English European and Asian countries make it a requirement for foreign students to learn relevant local languages when they commence their postgraduate journeys. Ironically, making such a requirement in African universities tends to court controversy and resistance. The value that multilingualism can add to postgraduate experience and product is not fully appreciated because of hegemonic attitudes that certain multilingualisms and certain knowledges do not count. What is being highlighted here is the need for a broader perspective on the decolonisation of higher education. And that, with respect to language, decolonisation needs to go beyond tackling monolingualism and decolonise the very idea of multilingualism, taking into cognisance the linguistic realities of the Global South.

5. Hopes and impediments

As in other parts of the world, universities in Africa have made progress in embracing African languages as languages of scholarship, including for postgraduate research. In South Africa, the 2002 Language Policy for Higher Education provides an enabling legislative framework for postgraduate research to be presented in any of the official languages. The 2020 Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions seeks more enforcement of this provision. The implementation of multilingualism in postgraduate research has progressed differently according to universities based on their institutional policies and cultures. Rhodes University celebrated its first doctoral thesis written in isiXhosa in 2017, a feat that was achieved by other institutions in the early 2000s. Some Kenyan universities pride in a much longer history of Kiswahili as the language of postgraduate research.

Normalising multilingualism in postgraduate research in Africa continues to face several impediments related to the status of African languages. Among others, these include limited, if not lack of, academic literature, specialised language and multilingual competences among qualified academics for supervision, proposal evaluation and examination of theses, which are exacerbated by a lack of political will from governments and the academy. Huge investments and a mindset change are needed to deal with these impediments in what is a long-term decolonisation project. While established academic languages such as English continue to be used, the translation of abstracts, an established practice for many academic journals, is a step in the right direction that has been adopted by South African institutions. At Rhodes University, postgraduate students are now encouraged to translate abstracts of their thesis into isiXhosa or other language. This practice is hoped to address the linguistic challenges and culminate in the production of more academic texts. At the University of KwaZulu Natal, the translation of abstracts theses into isiZulu has contributed to the expansion of the IsiZulu National Language Corpus, which is serving as an important resource for students, academics and language practitioners.   

6. Blind spots

Just like decolonisation broadly, normalising multilingualism in postgraduate research needs to confront a conservative monolingual ideology that associates languages such as English with quality. While promoting multilingualism in every aspect of life is a noble cause, it is therefore critical that its implementation in academia avoids ideological pitfalls that might undermine the essence of scholarship, even though that itself is subject to contestations. Postgraduate research needs to harness multilingualism for epistemic access and freedom that opens disciplines for multiple perspectives and knowledges. It should be more than a case of students not being competent in established academic languages. More so, it should not be about wanting to write in my language so that my linguistic community can read my thesis, given that those members are not necessarily members of the knowledge community into which postgraduate research should initiate newly minted postgraduates.

7. Concluding remarks

By locating the monolingual culture within the colonial project, I have tried to demonstrate that implementing multilingualism in postgraduate research should be seen as a major component of decolonising higher education. I also tried to show that multilingualism is currently pursued at a global stage, even though the idea of multilingualism itself needs a critical appreciation that is cognisant of different linguistic realities. While there seems to be an acknowledgement of the possibilities that multilingualism could open for postgraduate research, it is clear that implementing multilingualism still confronts serious impediments and needs to avoid pitfalls that may be counterproductive in the bigger project of decolonising scholarship.

References

Bamgbose, A. 1991. Language and Nation: The Question in the Sub-Saharan Africa.    Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Becher, T. 1987. Disciplinary discourse. Studies in Higher Education 12(3): 261-274.

Bourdieu, P. 1994. Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Department of Education. 2002. Language Policy for Higher Education. Pretoria: Department of Education.

Department of Higher Education and Training. 2002. Language Policy Framework for Public  Higher Education Institutions. Pretoria: Department of Higher Education and Training.

Turkan, S. et al. 2014. Proposing a Knowledge Base for Teaching Academic Content to   English Language Learners: Disciplinary Linguistic Knowledge. Teachers College       Record 116: 1–30.

Wilkinson, R. and Gabriëls, R. 2021. The Englishization of Higher Education in Europe.  Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Williams, 2021. Language Subjects: Placing Derrida’s Monolingualism in Global Education.   Studies in Philosophy and Education 40:135–148.

Woodward-Kron, R. 2008. More than just jargon e the nature and role of specialist language    in learning disciplinary knowledge. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7: 234–249.