The expansionist nature of the higher education sector has led to an increase in the provision of online Masters programmes. Many of these programmes are offered part-time attracting working ...professionals. The dissertation component that can be the culmination of many of these degrees is largely unexplored. A constructivist grounded theory investigation of the relationship between online Masters dissertation students and their supervisors was undertaken. Five supervisors identified a recent graduate and each were interviewed independently; interviews were undertaken online and audio-recorded. Transcripts were analysed and resultant themes considered in terms of establishing, and then maintaining, the relationship. A model of participatory alignment is proposed to describe the relationship that developed online in this group of supervisors and graduates, based on aligned expectations and behaviours, building on the idea of supervision as a partnership. We propose there is a zone of participatory alignment with both under and over-alignment becoming potentially problematic.
Anna Biström, Scandinavian Literature, University of Helsinki
“The production of knowledge and choice of subject – masters’ and doctoral theses about older Finland-Swedish authors”
The aim of the ...article is to study patterns and progress lines concerning the amounts of masters’ and doctoral theses found about Finland-Swedish authors who have been publishing literary works 1830–1930. The study builds upon quantitative data based on information in bibliographies and library databases, especially Finna (finna.fi). The article takes one of its theoretical starting points in Michel Foucaults theory about subjugated knowledges and genealogies (“ Society Must Be Defended”. Lectures at the Collège de France 1975–1976 , 2003). The choice of subject for theses, can be seen as one of the instances, where knowledge is produced and legitimized. Against the background of former research, the study shows examples of both tradition and pioneering work, introducing new authors and categories of literature into the field of research. For instance, the study shows that doctoral theses have been one important arena for knowledge about formerly forgotten female authors, while newer literature and children’s literature have been more frequent as subjects in masters’ theses. The study also shows there is an overall decline in theses about older literature.
A growing body of research has investigated student perceptions of written feedback in higher education coursework, but few studies have considered feedback perceptions in one-on-one and face-to-face ...contexts such as master's thesis projects. In this article, student perceptions of feedback are explored in the context of the supervision of master's thesis projects, using review studies with respect to effective feedback in coursework situations. Online questionnaires were administered to collect data from three cohorts of master's students who were either working on their thesis or had recently finished it (N = 1016). The results of the study indicate that students perceive the focus of feedback in terms of a focus on task and self-regulation; they perceive the goal-relatedness of feedback in terms of feed up (goal-setting) and feed back-forward (how am I going and where to next?); and elaboration of feedback is perceived in terms of positive and negative feedback. Furthermore, students that perceive the feedback to be positive, and to provide information on how they are going and what next steps to take, are the most satisfied with their supervision and perceive they are learning most from their supervisor. The findings are discussed in relation to findings in coursework settings, and are explained using goal orientation theories.
The purpose of this study was to reveal the bibliometric and contextual features and problems of postgraduate theses (master's and doctoral theses) made in the field of classroom teaching in Turkey ...between 2010-2019. The study was carried out with content analysis method, which is one of the synthesis research methods. The scope of the study included 1083 postgraduate theses related to classroom teaching in the database of the Higher Education Council (HEC) National Thesis Center (NTC). In determining the theses to be included in the scope of the study, the following criteria were taken into account: the theses would be related to classroom teaching, and the publication date of the theses would be between 2010-2019. Data analysis in content analysis research is different from qualitative data analysis. In this study, which was carried out with content analysis, firstly, the theses were handled as the analysis unit. The basic features of the theses were digitized, and codes and categories were determined to examine the theses in depth. Out of 1083 postgraduate theses examined, 956 of them were master's theses, and 127 were doctoral theses. With 181 theses, the year with the most theses was 2019. The year with the fewest theses was 2017. In the theses examined, it was seen that the course of "Turkish Language" was studied most, and the course of "Free Time Activities" was studied least. In addition, it was revealed that there were mistakes in method, sampling, data collection tool and content in some of the theses examined.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse 12 assessment tools of sustainability in universities and develop the structure and the contents of these tools to be more intelligible. The ...configuration of the tools reviewed highlight indicators that clearly communicate only the essential information. This paper explores how the theoretical concept of a sustainable university is translated into more measurable variables to support practitioners and academics in assessing sustainability in universities.
Design/methodology/approach
The main method for this paper was a desk study approach, which incorporated reviewing research papers, graduate theses, academic books, network platforms and websites.
Findings
The tools reviewed share similar traits in terms of criteria, sub-criteria and indicators. Five benchmarks are essential for a holistic framework: management; academia; environment; engagement and innovation.
Practical implications
This research can not only be used to improve existing assessment tools but also as a means to develop new tools tailored for universities that face a variety of challenges and lack the ability to measure their sustainability policies.
Social implications
Making higher education more sustainable through all the criteria mentioned influences students, as well as staff, to maintain a culture of sustainability.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by simplifying and detailing the structure and contents of the tools in a way which indicators are shown, giving a full picture of these tools to enable universities to be more aware of the sustainability issues that affect them.
Due to growing pressures on universities, many master's degree students are offered all or part of their thesis supervision in groups involving core feedback skills and engagement. Given that not all ...graduate students understand or are comfortable with the academic discourse and strategies for formative feedback engagement, the institutions cannot take group supervision for granted. This paper explores how 36 master's thesis writers perform and experience different feedback activities in the role of peers during group supervision at two faculties at the University of Copenhagen. To examine what it 'ideally' means to 'do' feedback in group supervision, questionnaires were filled out at three selected points in the thesis-writing process, followed by 10 student interviews. The findings of the qualitative case study show that individual thesis writers engage more actively in feedback activities than do pairs/trios. The students also seem to be influenced by the type of supervision offered by the institution. Furthermore, mutual expectations of 'help' seem to underlie and influence student experiences and the group supervision outcome of the thesis-writing process. A new, complex student role - 'the implied peer' - is argued to be at play during group supervision. In conclusion, supervisors and institutions should make the peer role of thesis writers in group supervision more explicit. Vital feedback skills, however, must be trained and integrated in teaching long before students become thesis writers.
This case study shows how three Master's students engage affectively, behaviourally and cognitively with supervisor feedback on thesis drafts. The data sources are students' drafts, supervisor's oral ...and written feedback, and student interviews. Six themes of student engagement are identified in the data, namely (1) gaining reassurance from the supervisor's compliments, (2) trusting the supervisor's feedback due to his position of authority, (3) following the supervisor's advice selectively, (4) engaging with academia by incorporating more citations, (5) not fully understanding the feedback and (6) 'letting it go and moving on'.
Several researchers have suggested the importance of being responsive to students' needs in research supervision. Adapting support strategies to students' needs in light of the goals of a task is ...referred to as adaptivity. In the present study, the practice of adaptivity is explored by interviewing expert thesis supervisors about diagnosing student characteristics in order to determine students' needs and concurrent adaptive support strategies. The findings suggest that next to competence, supervisors also diagnose elements of students' determination and context. With respect to support strategies, it is suggested that supervisors adapt to student needs in terms of explicating standards, quality or consequences, division of responsibilities, providing more/less critical feedback and sympathising. The complexity of the relationship between diagnosing student characteristics and adapting support strategies is illustrated and needs further study.
Bachelor’s and Master’s theses are an opportunity for students to dive deep into a research question and gain in-depth knowledge about a research topic. At the end of a curriculum, theses act as a ...kind of bridge between the educational stage and work or further study. Thesis supervision is a resource-intensive task and often a critical factor for the quality of a thesis. After decades of experience with different methods, we have developed a concept for continuous thesis supervision and applied it to two specific degree programs at our university, the Bachelor's program in Computer Science and Digital Communication and the Master's program in Software Design and Engineering. Compared to traditional supervision methods, this concept has led to a higher adherence to deadlines and to a higher quality of the final theses. In this paper, we present our findings on different types of supervisors and our concept for continuous thesis supervision, which can be adapted to each identified supervisor type. This concept comprises several methods, intended to inspire other supervisors to choose the set of methods that best suits their needs. We also describe how this concept can be adapted for project-based courses.
This book is for graduate students--and others--who want to become more productive writers. It's especially written for those who want to: •increase their motivation, focus, and persistence to move a ...project to completion •overcome procrastination and perfectionistic tendencies •reduce (or write in spite of) their anxiety and fear of writing •manage their time, work, energy (and advisor) for greater productivityWhile Jan Allen recognizes that writing is not an innate talent for most of us, she demonstrates that it is a process based on skills which we can identify, learn, practice and refine. She focuses both on the process and habits of writing as well as on helping you uncover what kind of writeryou are, and reflect on your challenges and successes. With a light touch and an engaging sense of humor, she proposes strategies to overcome procrastination and distractions, and build a writing practice to enable you to become a more productive and prolific writer.
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