ONLINE SUPERVISION FOR PH.D. STUDENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA: A REVIEW BETWEEN IDEALISM AND REALISM

Supervision is the process of guiding postgraduates throughout their research by engaging in active communication to understand a concept. Ph.D supervisors help the student to decide on clear topics with manageable objectives. Students interact with supervisors with the aim of getting the necessary guidance related to their research works. Online supervision is a comparably new form of student-teacher interaction, the rules of this kind of supervision are not yet fully defined. This paper provides a review of PhD supervision importance as a fundamental part in the preparation of Ph.D students for research both at postgraduate level and in the wider community. The role and responsibilities of the research supervisor differ from one university to another, and there are many different forms of supervision. It is necessary to attain a balance between supporting a new researcher and making them self-independent. Internet-based supervision is the process of interacting between the supervisor and the researcher to discuss the progress of research, where online supervision is the process of communicating and discussing pre-defined goals that involves student-instructor active participation and interaction through online means. Idealism is an educational philosophy concept that concentrates on thinking and how human beings produce knowledge from within. Supervision realism is the relatively conflict-free, transference-free, undistorted interactions or experiences (internal and external) of supervisor and supervisee that occur by means of the supervisory relationship. This article will focus on the online supervision of PhD students in Saudi Arabia, it will also conduct a review of online supervision idealism and realism.