What do you consider to be the main difference between UG and PG study?
The main difference between being a postgraduate student from an undergrad student is that it's more independent, so we expect you to do your own critical thinking. Obviously, on a master's program, the tutors will be there to help you create your own personal journey, but it's about following a path that suits you.
What do you look for in a Masters student?
For me, the most important thing, if you're starting a master's program is that you have that drive and that passion. And if you have that, you'll be successful.
How do you support them?
The most common question I get asked by Master students is how will we be assessed? And the reality is we'll give you lots of guidance and lots of stipulation as to what we're looking for. We recognise that for some students, coming back into education can be really daunting, but on our Masters programs we provide lots of tutorial support to help them get to know the sort of ways in which they'll be assessed and help them with their writing skills and their presentation skills if they need it.
You'll also find the staff very accommodating of your professional circumstances. We can arrange tutorials at times that suit you, and you'll also find a big support network to help you through your studies, not just from the staff, but from the peer group that you're studying with. I often have tutorials where one student is really struggling to grasp the concept and another student will pipe up and give an example and make it much clearer for him, which makes my job easier and the student experience much better.
What would you tell someone considering taking on a Masters?
If you're thinking about undertaking a Master’s degree at Edinburgh Napier University, I'd highly recommend it. It is an undertaking, you'd need to be organised, you need to manage your time but the staff will be flexible to meet your needs and what you will gain will transfer onto the field of play. So, if you're thinking of undertaking a Master’s degree, just go for it. It is a challenge, but it'll be worth it.
What’s your view on how Masters study affects employability?
At Edinburgh Napier, our focus is on developing your expertise, so all our modules are designed around your performance and enhancing your performance to take you further so that you can excel in your field.
One of the key drivers for here at Edinburgh Napier University, is to enhance your professional practice. So, we will give you access to appropriate literature, ideas, new concepts, new ways of thinking with an overall aim to make you a better practitioner. We also have connections with national governing bodies, that will give you the opportunity for placements and real-world experience within the field to help enhance your profile.
Our Masters degrees will allow you to make that transition into a different phase of your career.
What do you enjoy most about teaching postgraduate students?
One of my favourite things about working with Masters students is their passion for the subject. They're excited about spending more time exploring and delving deeper into their subject area, and that creates a two-way learning between myself and the students.
What do you think is the most valuable thing about postgraduate study? Both for those learning and for you as a teacher?
One of the inherent values of working at Masters level is the network of friends and colleagues that you'll develop, sharing ideas across different industries that enable you to perform better within your own particular context.
Often in our jobs we get caught into this is what we've always done, and how do you know what you know? Because that's what I've always done. But thinking differently, thinking more critically about things, using different ideas, different concepts and using the rest of the Masters group to share those ideas will help you in your professional practice.
For me, the most exciting thing about working with postgraduate students is the new knowledge and the new learning that I gain just through conversations, readings that the students have found and directed my attention towards, and then coming up with new concepts, new ideas, new models, new ways of thinking and hopefully new practice within the field. What I particularly like about working with Masters students is the breadth of people that I meet working across different areas, across different places in the world, all with that passion for their area.
What do you think sets an Edinburgh Napier Masters apart from others?
So here at Edinburgh Napier University, we have the world's first Master’s degree for professional sports officials, designed to help you in your career, and we've already seen the benefits of that. We have a top flight English premiership rugby union referee, the first female referee to operate at that level.