The process of responding to supervisory feedback requires student writers to position themselves toward both the provider and content of that feedback, indicating their stance in the interaction and ...their evolving disciplinary competence. How positionings are discursively shaped, developed, and enacted to influence thesis revisions, however, has been relatively unexplored. In this article, we trace how two master’s students construct their positions in supervisory interactions and in the subsequent revisions of their literature review drafts. Through discourse and intertextual analyses, we propose three dimensions of interpersonal positioning (cooperative, self-assertive, explorative) that are co-constructed to reinforce local supervisory cooperation and modify conceptualizations of the research work. We highlight scaffolded, responsive, and reflexive types as concrete expressions of mediated positioning which help regulate the ways students orientate to their writing and their discipline.
One of the main goals of science education is to make students gain science process skills. Thus, it is significant to measure whether students gain those skills or not. For this purpose, various ...tests have been produced and used in various studies. This study aims to examine science process skills tests which have been used in the theses produced in the field of science education from the perspectives of the originality, question types used, and the science process skills measured in the tests, and the number of questions for each measured science process skill. Within the scope of this meta-synthesis study, 82 master’s theses and 34 doctoral dissertations from Turkey were analyzed. The findings indicate that science process skills were measured with multiple-choice tests, and only in smaller number of studies, original tests were developed for the corresponding study. It was also discovered that some science process skills were measured more frequently than others. As a result of the study, some suggestions were provided.
One of the main goals of science education is to make students gain science process skills. Thus, it is significant to measure whether students gain those skills or not. For this purpose, various tests have been produced and used in various studies. This study aims to examine science process skills tests which have been used in the theses produced in the field of science education from the perspectives of the originality, question types used, and the science process skills measured in the tests, and the number of questions for each measured science process skill. Within the scope of this meta-synthesis study, 82 master’s theses and 34 doctoral dissertations from Turkey were analyzed. The findings indicate that science process skills were measured with multiple-choice tests, and only in smaller number of studies, original tests were developed for the corresponding study. It was also discovered that some science process skills were measured more frequently than others. As a result of the study, some suggestions were provided.
The concept of acknowledging students' interests - both what they may be interested in and what is in their interest - is gaining increasing purchase in the new competitive economy of higher ...education. In addition to the obvious benefits of boosting student success in higher education institutions (HEIs), there are well-established educational advantages of foregrounding students' interests. The philosophical and psychological literature abounds with justificatory explanations of why interest is so crucial to learning of all kinds. Apart from the clear motivational benefits, organising learning around interests helps educators to realise the goal of Bildung, the education of the whole person. However, notwithstanding the obvious value of utilising interest in teaching and learning, there is a dearth of relevant research on the topic of relevance to HEIs. This research aims to help redress the balance by investigating how the interests of learners may be utilised effectively in the guidance and supervision of postgraduate students undertaking masters' dissertations in education.
Technical and professional communication master’s students work with a faculty advisor to complete a three-credit independent research (IR) project, featuring original research. Stakeholders ...recommended the IR thesis be revised to better communicate IR to industry. Using a writing, activity theory, and genre theory lens, I analyzed what contradictions emerged between academic and workplace activity systems as stakeholders recommended genre revisions. I analyzed faculty and professional advisory board meeting transcripts, alumni and student surveys, and a Graduate School director and thesis examiner interview. Results indicated the thesis’ spectrum of functions, from its strengths encouraging students’ research proficiency to the limiting way it showcases IR as a product, not a process. Stakeholders suggested no thesis changes but recommended IR genre system modifications. As agents of change, students are uniquely positioned to use the IR genre system to address workplace communication problems and help mend our discipline’s academia-industry divide.
While recent research has highlighted the increasing importance of peer feedback as a supplementary pedagogy to supervision in higher education academic contexts, little is known regarding whether ...and how peer feedback can induct research students into the academic discourse community. Underpinned by the academic discourse community theory, this case study explores seven postgraduate students' peer feedback practice and its effect on the revision of master thesis drafts. It examines data collected from multiple sources, including master students' drafts of theses, peer written feedback, audio recordings of oral peer feedback conferences and students' final theses. It was found that although different feedback providers used different types of feedback, feedback given in different languages and by different strategies to negotiate with the feedback receivers, peer feedback played an effective role in socialising Master's students into the academic discourse community where grasping the gist of academic writing constitutes a significant part in higher education.
The present research paper aims to confront the challenges of improving the quality of academic supervision of postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Education, Damietta University, identifying the ...theoretical and conceptual framework for academic supervision of educational postgraduate studies. It also analyzes the reality and defines the challenges of academic supervision of educational postgraduate studies. The author adopted the descriptive and analytical method and applied the tool to a sample of (30) faculty members at the Faculty of Education, Damietta University. The study concluded that the heavy load of the supervisor, the tendency of the student to choose a supervisor in a certain position, and keenness of the student to carry out the study quickly without considering quality, and poor research skills among students are the most significant challenges of improving the quality of academic supervision. The study recommended abiding by the regulations of postgraduate studies that allow supervising several theses and dissertations to enable supervisors to follow up postgraduate students honestly and objectively. It also recommended the need to respect the desire of the student when choosing a supervisor.
Purpose
This paper aim to propose a methodological mapping approach for the evaluation of dissertations and theses of graduate programs in the area of environmental sciences in Brazil in relation to ...the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Design/methodology/approach
The research is characterized as exploratory with qualitative/quantitative approach. The proposed model was developed as a computational algorithm with a pilot being adopted as a professional master in national network for teaching in environmental sciences (ProfCiAmb) comprising associated courses from nine Brazilian public universities. 230 dissertations completed between 2018 and 2020 were analyzed.
Findings
A total of 266 correlations were identified between the texts and descriptors of each SDG. Correlation values between 0.100 (minimum value – Vmin) and 0.464 (maximum value – Vmax) were observed. SDG 4 – Quality Education (Vmax = 0.399) and SDG 6 – Drinking Water and Sanitation (Vmax = 0.464) were those with the highest correlation values, followed by SDG 3 – Health and Well-Being (Vmax = 0.299) and SDG 17 – Partnerships and Means of Implementation (Vmax = 0.249).
Practical implications
The construction of the computational algorithm provided consistent quantitative analyses with potential to contribute to the improvement of the multidimensional evaluation of graduate studies, as well as to support public policies related to teaching and research and strategic planning of the programs.
Originality/value
The relevance of this study lies in the creation of a model that involves the creation of metrics and tools regarding the impact of graduate studies on society.
At the university level, writing groups have shown to be useful to teach and learn research writing as well as to advance academic-scientific publication and to discover collaboration opportunities ...among members from different disciplinary fields. At the same time, peer review, an important practice in the academic sphere, is learned within the groups through mutual peer feedback. A key feature of a writing group's formation and progress is connected to how it is organised. One of the variables that seems to influence a group is interdisciplinarity. Nevertheless, the impact of the greater or lesser disciplinary distance in a group's functioning has not been analysed in depth to determine its advantages or disadvantages. This article analyses interdisciplinarity of writing groups in two Latin American countries. In Argentina, the writing groups were formed by master's and doctoral students in the process of writing their thesis, while the writing groups in Ecuador were formed by early career academics and experienced research professors. The analysis of interview and group session transcriptions of the groups in both countries indicates that disciplinary distance mainly presents advantages if the distance is not too great, if there is, as one member put it, a 'close distance.' In this sense, research writing becomes, it seems, a meeting point for members, facilitating enriching exchanges.
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) programs have been recognized as one of the most effective channels through which theses and dissertations can be made available to academic communities and ...beyond. ETD program management, however, needs to be aware of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) throughout the process of design and development of ETDs. As the name implies, CSFs are those considerations decisive in achieving the projects' mission and goals. Based on a structured review of the existing literature about ETDs, this study identifies the CSFs that are crucial for the implementation of ETD programs. By comparing and classifying the identified CSFs, the study conceptualizes a generic framework comprising five generic dimensions: management and organization, participation, content, technology, and service. The framework can help the ETDs community, both scholars and practitioners, to make informed decisions on how to allocate effort and resources to the development, implementation, or improvement of ETD programs.
Despite the importance of goals in educational theories, goals in master's thesis projects are rarely investigated. Therefore, this study explores how goals play a role in master's thesis supervision ...in terms of: defining the goals (up-component); locating where the student stands in relation to the goals (back-component); and how the student can more closely reach the goals (forward-component). Twelve supervisors and students were interviewed and the adaptive approach of supervision emerged as a recurrent theme. Applying qualitative content analysis, findings indicated that the role of goals can be described as: aiming to reach the goals (up-component) by adapting supervision strategies (forward-component), based on students' specific needs and where they stand (back-component). This was termed 'adaptivity'. Providing adaptive supervision can also involve tensions concerning the level of regulation and the severity of their critique (ranging from mild to heavy-handed). Findings are discussed in relation to other studies concerning research supervision.
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