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The rationale for the postgraduate supervision measures for higher education by the call for universities to adopt a systematic practice in postgraduate supervision through new supervisors' exposure to creative ways of monitoring. This paper aims at understanding, improving and validating the content of behavioral supervision measures using the expert review and pretesting analysis.

The authors developed, modified and operationalized the items based on the developmental supervision theoretical concept by Glickman (1980) to measure the behavioral supervision of postgraduate in higher education. The authors obtain comments and verification from experts for content validity and criterion validity. Later, the authors do pretesting of face validity.

The result of the expert review and pretesting, analysis, provides measures (items) for the following seven stages (components) of postgraduate behavioral supervision: listening/clarifying; encouraging; presenting/demonstrating; negotiating/problem-solving; directing; standardizing and reinforcing.

The findings contribute to the rational development of supervision measures and functional transformation in the postgraduate supervision process in higher education at national and international contexts.

These supervision measures, if practiced by the supervisors and postgraduates' students, will accelerate and achieve the aspiration initiative of the Ministry of Higher Education. In general, based on the needs identified, the positive impact of this study can improve national and international postgraduate program educational outcomes.

There is limited number of empirical research which resulted in postgraduate behavioral supervision measures in the context of higher education.

This viewpoint paper aims to propose a digital and research literacy support program for postgraduate schools in sub-Saharan Africa institutions.

The paper reviewed literature on postgraduate students’ skills and postgraduate information literacy programs and proposed one for postgraduate schools in sub-Saharan Africa institutions.

Information literacy programs are not implemented at the postgraduate level in sub-Saharan Africa possibly because of lack of contents for these programs.

The course is only a proposed course that can be embedded into the postgraduate curriculum in sub-Saharan African universities. The effectiveness of the course has not been evaluated in this study.

The proposed information literacy program focused on digital and research literacy, which is still relatively new in sub-Saharan Africa.

Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders) and Pacific students tend not to attain the same levels of educational success as New Zealanders of European descent. Addressing this problem is a particular challenge at tertiary level in science, engineering, and architecture and design (SEAD). Te Rōpū Āwhina (Āwhina), an initiative at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), aims to produce Māori and Pacific professionals who contribute to Māori and Pacific development and leadership. The objective of this analysis was to summarise quantitative results from the first 11 years of Āwhina and to show they are consistent with an Āwhina ‘effect’; that is, a positive influence on (combined) Māori and Pacific success in the SEAD disciplines. Individual-level records held in the VUW student database were used to generate smoothed trends in SEAD and non-SEAD graduate and postgraduate degree completions since 1991. Substantial improvements in SEAD Māori and Pacific completions occurred between 1999 and 2010, including a 50%- increase in Māori and Pacific postgraduate completions relative to all SEAD postgraduate completions. In the same period, non-SEAD Māori and Pacific postgraduate completions increased at a similar rate to all non-SEAD postgraduate completions. Results were consistent with a strong Āwhina effect, which has important implications for the nature of tertiary institutions, their cultural and social disconnection with Indigenous and minority students, and their social obligations and responsiveness. This analysis did not account for students who did not complete a qualification or include key confounders such as entry qualifications and gender. Definitive confirmation of an Āwhina effect is the subject of ongoing research.

This paper aims to assess the use of electronic journal resource at the University of Dar es Salaam. The study involved the postgraduate students in the School of Education at the University of Dar es Salaam.

A combination of questionnaires for postgraduate students and interview for the reference librarians was used, whereby 100 postgraduate students and six reference librarians were involved in the study. SPSS and content analysis were used to analyse the data.

Major findings of the study reveal that majority of the students reported using electronic journal resources for various purposes including working on the assignments, research proposal writing, literature review, research report writing, current awareness, leisure and for extra exploration of ongoing scientific debates through peer-reviewed papers. The challenges encountered in the use of electronic journal resources include power outage, inadequate bandwidth, slow download speed, inability to access the resources from home, lack of training, lack of awareness, limited access to computers and difficulty in searching. Finally, the recommendations for improving the use of electronic journal resources are provided.

This is the first time an effort has been made to assess the use of electronic journal resources by postgraduate students in the School of Education at the University of Dar es Salaam. The study could be used to assess the postgraduate students’ need for electronic resources at the University of Dar es Salaam and other users in higher learning institutions.

This study examines the use of the search engine, Google Scholar, from the perspective of a specific study group, that of international postgraduate students. Based on the theory of task perceived performance and effort expectancy influencing intention to use, further factors of system, individual, social and organisational, in the postgraduate student context are explored.

The questionnaire for the measurement of 11 factors was developed from related studies of e-library use, and data were collected from 200 international postgraduate students studying in the UK. Analysis using confirmatory factor analysis established the contextual influencing factors, and structural equation modeling examined the predicted model.

The findings confirmed the influence of the task-based factors of performance and expectancy and revealed that these were based on the perception of the visibility, accessibility and relevance of the system, and on perceived self-efficacy. The perception postgraduates held of themselves as competent users of Google Scholar was further borne out in the participants' own words when asked for the reason for their preference.

The approach taken enables research into use of search tools to go beyond ease of use as a main driver and to explore the relationship held among the internal and external influences of use. Recommendations for further user research are suggested as well as possible impact on the university library provision and support of services for students.

Whilst there has been some growth in the number of Indigenous Australians completing Higher Degree Research (HDR) over the past decade, the parity rate remains significantly behind that of other domestic Australian students. The bulk of research which investigates strategies to improve Indigenous Higher Education participation and completion tends to focus on undergraduate students, leaving a significant void of knowledge in how the sector can better cater for, and support, Indigenous postgraduate students.

This chapter proposes a set of strategies to seed the success of Indigenous HDR students. It draws on the findings of three separate studies undertaken during 2006 to 2013 in order to provide a detailed overview of the current challenges Indigenous HDR students regularly face.

It outlines various support mechanisms available to this cohort as well as those that are desired, but not necessarily available. An important component of the chapter is the inclusion of the voices of Indigenous Australians who were undertaking their postgraduate studies at the time they were interviewed, as well as a group of Indigenous Australians who had successfully completed their doctoral degrees. Through generously sharing their postgraduate experiences, participants provided important insight into this area which remains significantly under-investigated.

The purpose of this paper is to report the notable findings of students with different domiciled status. There is a lack of research and understanding of how prior study experiences and the expectations of new students that are due to embark on an MSc by coursework level (also known as postgraduate-taught [PGT]) can impact on their study and ability to persist and succeed. The research available has mainly been confined to post-experience surveys. By identifying prior study experiences and study expectations, education providers in higher education institutions can use these insights not only to attract more students but to improve retention rates and the overall student experience. The research undertaken in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing at a London-based, post-1992 institution aims to provide valuable data and insights into this nationally and internationally neglected area.

New taught postgraduate students provided data on their previous study experiences, study expectations, opinions of postgraduate-level study and demographic data via a hard copy questionnaire which was distributed and completed during the orientation period in September 2012. It was entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and a range of tests were run on the data.

The findings in this paper and the project in general will be further explored and investigated as a result of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) awarding a major grant to the post-1992 university to undertake research into these areas amongst nine similar English universities.

As the research was conducted over a one-year period, the findings are based on the limitations that such a time and financially limited project can offer. The institution at which the research was undertaken is a post-1992 institution that has high concentration towards teaching functions. The findings in this paper and the project in general will be further explored and investigated as a result of the HEFCE awarding a major grant to the post-1992 university to undertake research into these areas among nine similar English universities.

The research highlights the similarities and differences in prior study experiences and expectations of studying at PGT level between the UK-, the European Union- (EU) and Non-EU-domiciled respondents. The research offers potentially important findings for similar institutions that are currently looking to develop and expand their PGT provision.

This study aims to incorporate the Honey and Mumford’s learning styles questionnaire (LSQ) to assess the learning style preferences of postgraduate students at the British University in Dubai (BUiD), as well as investigating whether there are statistically significant differences in such preferences from demographic and academic characteristics perspective.

Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 200 students (males and females) in various postgraduate programs. Descriptive statistics analysis presented the main characteristics of the respondents and the results of the study. The independent samples t-test and Kurskal–Wallis test determined if there are significant differences in learning style preferences among the postgraduate students because of their demographic and academic characteristics.

The results revealed that postgraduate students preferred the theorist (20.36), reflector (20.31), pragmatist (19.00) and activist (18.62) learning styles, while no significant statistical differences were found across the four learning styles from demographic and academic characteristics standpoint.

On one hand, the present study has several limitations. First, the findings of the study are based on data from only single university. Second, the sample is limited to postgraduate students. Third, the results are based on a self-reported questionnaire, which might affect their reliability. On the other hand, this study has some implications for educators and students. Its results could help educator adopt appropriate teaching styles and strategies that match the preferred learning styles of the majority of their students. Students themselves could also benefit from knowing their own learning style.

The present study is the first scholarly attempt to explore learning style preferences of postgraduate students in the UAE higher education context.

Based on the theoretical framework of expectancy‐disconfirmation paradigm, the purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in student perceptions of the level of satisfaction related to educational and non‐educational services among four groups of international postgraduate business students from China, India, Indonesia and Thailand undertaking study in Australia.

The data used in this study were derived from a mail survey conducted among international postgraduate business students from Asia studying at five universities in the state of Victoria, Australia. A total of 573 usable responses were received. Analysis using structural equation modelling, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was undertaken.

This study develops and tests a model of international postgraduate student satisfaction. Findings indicate that the importance of service quality factors related to both educational and non‐educational services varies among nationality groups and, therefore, has a differential impact on student satisfaction.

The study provides insights into seven constructs related to educational and non‐educational services that are perceived as important by postgraduate business students from Asia in satisfaction formation. Universities should develop a diversified strategic marketing plan that incorporates the differential needs of international postgraduate business students according to the educational and non‐educational constructs developed in this paper.

This study makes a contribution by filling a void in academic research in the area of satisfaction in relation to postgraduate international business students from four nationality groups in Asia.

This paper aims to report on an investigation to understand factors influencing students learning approaches in the discipline of auditing.

By using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students research instrument the learning approaches of students in auditing at a South African residential university were measured on both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This was followed by focus group discussions to obtain a deeper understanding of the factors that influenced the ways their audit studies were approached.

The results revealed a contrasting view with that presented in the literature, in that senior students were more inclined to adopt a surface approach. This could be attributed to learning environment dimensions such as the teaching and assessment practices as well as students’ perceptions of the workload. Further statistical analysis revealed that gender and race influenced students’ learning approaches at specific levels.

The data are drawn from audit students at a residential university in South Africa; the findings of the study may thus not be generalisable beyond that context.

The study extends the existing student learning literature by adding perspectives from the discipline auditing. It could stimulate educators’ scholarly interest in pedagogic research which could contribute to curriculum and teaching method changes that equip audit educators to promote deep learning.