Workshop In Graduate Research Held For GRASAG-GCTU Members
A day’s workshop aimed at equipping graduate students with the skills necessary for carrying out good and effective research for their academic progression has been held.
The workshop which took place on Saturday, 25th March was organised by GRASAG-GCTU in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies and Research. The workshop brought together graduate and PhD students among others.
Opening the session, the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research, Dr. Ebenezer Malcalm, noted that with the change of name from Graduate School to the School of Graduate Studies and Research, more emphasis has been placed on research, therefore, the need to involve students in a lot of research activities. He added that the School of Graduate Studies and Research decided to collaborate with GRASAG to hold this workshop to give students some insight into what postgraduate research entails.
Speaking at the end of the event, the Vice President of GRASAG-GCTU, Ms. Dellis Dakora, said the workshop formed part of GRASAG-GCTU’s effort to sharpen their knowledge and skills for their research projects which form a significant requirement in graduate studies.
“When Prof. Manoj Maharaj came for the Prestigious Lecture, we thought it important to have this workshop with him as he’s highly esteemed in research at the Postgraduate level. We thought we could tap into his rich experience and knowledge.
“We therefore collaborated with the School of Graduate Studies and Research to have him guide us in how to conduct our research effectively”, Ms. Dakora said.
Prof. Manoj Maharaj is a Professor of Information Systems and Technology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He is an academic of over 30 years experience and has supervised many graduate and postgraduate research projects. He has consulted widely in the IT industry and presented many successful workshops on topics ranging from IT Auditing, IT strategy, Information Security, Risk Management and others.
Prof. Maharaj came to Ghana as the Keynote speaker at GCTU’s 23rd Prestigious Lecture which was held on Friday, 24th March 2023.
Ms. Dakora mentioned some of the key take aways from the workshop. She said, “thinking through your research topic well and understanding what you want to achieve and ensuring that you have the needed resources before you embark on your research are the major take aways”.
Explaining further, she said it is essential to understand properly what your end goal is and that will inform your journey; how to get started, what kind of data you need and what kind of approach to adopt.
She added that not knowing what materials or resources are available to you can be tricky. However, she was relieved that the Graduate Resource Centre and the libraries on campus stock a lot of good resources that students can use.
“We also have people we can consult when we are stuck and need help to get through”, Ms. Dakora added.
