Postgraduate Cohort Supervisory Approach

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PG Cohort Supervisory Approach

The Department of Religion Studies uses the PG Cohort Supervisory Approach, a postgraduate (PG) supervision model in which a group of postgraduate students (a cohort) is supervised collectively by a team of academic staff rather than relying solely on traditional one-on-one supervision. It is an increasingly popular approach in many African and global universities, especially at the master’s and doctoral levels.

The approach involves the following:

Group-Based Supervision: Students in the same academic programme, research area, or stage of research are grouped together. They attend joint supervision sessions (e.g., monthly seminars, workshops, or colloquia).

Collaborative Learning Environment: Cohort members learn from each other through shared experiences, peer feedback, and discussions. This promotes academic solidarity and peer mentoring.

Multiple Supervisors or Mentors: A team of supervisors co-facilitates the cohort, each offering expertise in different areas. Students benefit from diverse disciplinary perspectives.

Structured Research Development: Scheduled activities focus on different stages of postgraduate work, including research proposal development, literature review, methodology training, writing, ethics, and publication strategies. These often include capacity-building workshops.

Accountability and Progress Monitoring: Cohorts usually have a collective progress-tracking mechanism. Students are expected to present milestones regularly to the group.

Supportive Academic Culture: This approach reduces isolation among PG students and helps build research communities and long-term academic networks.