Hundred per cent successful throughput rates of masters and doctoral research students

Abstract

This article describes how 25 masters and doctoral students commenced their dissertations, with the writer as their supervisor, and how all subsequently succeeded in graduating, many within a time period of one to three years. These students also efficiently produced 18 articles in refereed journals, ten refereed published international conference papers, ten papers published in national conference proceedings, ten published seminar papers and several books as an integral part of the work for their dissertations. Most of these publications were written, under guidance, by students who either originated in historically disadvantaged backgrounds, or were handicapped by speaking English as a second language, or both. The article presents and discusses the teaching strategies, interventions and time management techniques adopted to ensure research student success even under adverse conditions, resulting in zero dropouts and a zero through-put failure rate under supervision from the early 1980s through to 2002.



(South African Journal of Higher Education: 2003 17 (3): 217-225)