Guidelines for supervision sessions

All areas mentioned below should be discussed during the first meetings with your supervisor, although some of them will only become apparent later on in the process:

1. How time is spent during supervision sessions
2. Expectations related to the supervisor's role and function
3. Expectations related to the student's role
4. Supervisor's comments on text drafts
5. Expectations related to working on text drafts
6. Expectations related to the number of times the supervisor should read through text
7. Periodical evaluations of student and supervisor relationship

The topics mentioned here should also be seen in context with the supervision agreement. Professional ethical guidelines for supervisors at the University of Oslo should also be included.

The following are some possible interpretations of the individual areas. They are intended as suggestions and must be adapted to the situation. The important thing is that both parties are given the opportunity to raise issues that are not directly related to the academic part of supervision.

1. How time is spent during supervision sessions

Allotment of supervision is contractually stated in the supervision agreement. We advise you to discuss how much of the supervision time should be used for pre-supervision (talk about what you as a student should do) and post-supervision (dialogue about what you have accomplished), and even think about how this time should be distributed throughout the course of the semester.

Expectations relating to how the framework for the sessions should look like should also be discussed. Possible options are:

1. Fixed intervals between sessions
2. You make an appointment for a session when needed
3. The next session is always set up at the end of a session
4. It is agreed on how long the supervisor needs in order to prepare for the next session

2. Expectations related to the supervisor's role and function

We advise you to discuss your mutual expectations around the supervisor's role with regards to development of research questions, design of the thesis paper, choice of theories, data analysis and more. Furthermore, what role the supervisor shall have with regard to the choice, search and collection of literature. If your research is based on an external project, this should also be discussed. You should also discuss expectations regarding whether or not your supervisor should give an assessment in terms of a grade level. Do you want this? How does the supervisor feel about this?

How feedback is formatted should also be discussed. Points that may be relevant in this context are:

• Emphasize what is good rather than criticizing what is bad or vice versa
• Correct grammar (for example, proofreading)
• Make sure you are following the time schedule agreed upon for the paper
• Work as fast and hard as you possibly can
• if you are not able to attend a session (Drive oppsøkende virksomhet dersom du uteblir fra veiledningen)

3. Expectations related to your role

Your responsibility as a student has to do with, among other things, how you prepare for the supervision sessions.

• Are there any expectations related to your preparatory work with regard to guidance sessions?
• Is it the case that, for example, both parties want you to prepare an "agenda" before each guidance session?

Another issue that should be discussed is your obligation to inform your supervisor and/ or others you are seeking guidance with about your progress.

4. Supervisor's comments on text drafts

In the beginning it can be difficult to know which form of feedback is most constructive. It is also most likely that this will change during the duration of your relationship with your supervisor. Nevertheless, there are good reasons for you to discuss expectations you both have in connection with this. Possible options may be:

• The supervisor only gives oral comments (during sessions).
• Verbal feedback of text during the session, after which you will receive it in writing.
• The supervisor will give you written feedback the day before your session, so that the time during the session can be used for what you need to discuss.
• The supervisor only provides minimal feedback early in the course ("this is enough as a draft") and goes through the drafts in detail when the time is right for it.
• You always give the supervisor a "reading assignment" that specifies what you want the supervisor to comment on.

5. Expectations related to working on text drafts

This is a point that will be important to address throughout the supervision period. The extreme cases of how this may take place may be:

• In the case of the first draft, the text should never be revised immediately after writing it and having your first guidance session.
• From the first draft on, the pattern you follow should be writing - guidance - rewriting - guidance of one part until the quality is satisfactory before moving on to the next part.

Where on this scale do you and your supervisor think it's best to position yourself? Should this be reevaluated several times, for example via the “reading assignments” (see above) that the supervisor receives?

6. Expectations related to the number of times the supervisor should read through text

This will be an important point to discuss after you get started writing. It is particularly important to clarify expectations related to reading the final draft.

7. Periodical evaluations of student and supervisor relationship

In order to ensure that the sessions with your supervisor are best possible, it will be important to discuss early on how and when the evaluations take place. It would be appropriate to review the supervision agreement, as well as the above points again. In an evaluation such as this, questions about whether or not the counselling sessions has a good academic focus will be important.