Action learning in undergraduate engineering thesis supervision

Stappenbelt, Brad

doi:10.3926/jotse.224

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…"Honours projects primarily represent a teaching and learning exercise, established for the benefit of students and not for the gratification of staff" (Stefani, Tariq, Heylings & Butcher, 1997, p. 284). Undergraduate research supervision approaches such as the action learning framework described in Stappenbelt (2016) can aid to facilitate minimisation of supervisor dominance of the thesis process. The aims of the action learning approach advocated in this work are to encourage self-exploration of the topic and move the learner toward the ultimate goal of autonomy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedagogical-Publication Tensions in Undergraduate Engineering Thesis Supervision

Stappenbelt¹,

Basu²

2021

AJEE

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In light of the assessment criteria for the doctor of philosophy and masters by research degrees, postgraduate thesis supervision can reasonably be categorised as predominantly research output focussed. This goal is naturally congruent with the publication agenda driving much academic staff activity in the modern ‘publish or perish’ university culture. In contrast, due to the lack of student research experience, the undergraduate thesis is necessarily focussed primarily on the development of research skills (i.e. it is process not output oriented). Undergraduate thesis supervision requires more than just research skills from supervising staff. The lessons learnt from postgraduate research supervision are therefore not always directly transferable to undergraduate thesis supervision. In contrast to the vast body of work in the field of doctoral research supervision, there exists a dearth of literature on undergraduate dissertation supervision. The present study examined the alignment of university, supervisor and student expectations regarding responsibilities in the undergraduate engineering thesis. University expectations, having undergone rigorous review, form the sound pedagogical practice baseline that should be applied to undergraduate supervision. Expectations of academic staff supervisors and thesis students were obtained through the use of survey tools. The surveys used in the present study were adapted from the Role Perceptions Rating Scale (RPRS). Alignment between student and university expectations regarding undergraduate thesis responsibilities in the present study was generally poor. The discrepancy between supervisor and university expectations was even greater, with academic staff generally alarmingly assuming the bulk of the responsibility for many core thesis tasks. The main driver identified for this behaviour (i.e. the supervisor expectations that undergraduate thesis research would contribute to publications) was investigated through post-survey discussions and interviews. Taking primary responsibility for core thesis tasks away from the student, although improving the likelihood of successful research output, diminishes the ability for an accurate assessment of adequate academic performance. The learning that is intended to result from the undergraduate thesis is devalued when research outcomes are prioritised over research process.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedagogical-Publication Tensions in Undergraduate Engineering Thesis Supervision

Stappenbelt¹,

Basu²

2021

AJEE

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show abstract

“…"Honours projects primarily represent a teaching and learning exercise, established for the benefit of students and not for the gratification of staff " (Stefani, Tariq, Heylings & Butcher, 1997: page 284). Undergraduate research supervision approaches such as the action learning framework described in Stappenbelt (2016) can aid to facilitate minimisation of supervisor dominance of the thesis process. The aims of the action learning approach advocated in this work are to encourage self-exploration of the topic and move the learner toward the ultimate goal of autonomy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student-supervisor-university expectation alignment in the undergraduate engineering thesis

Stappenbelt

Basu

2019

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

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Given the lack of student research experience, the undergraduate thesis is necessarily focussed primarily on development of research skills (i.e. it is process oriented). Since postgraduate supervision is research output focussed, the lessons learnt from this field are not always directly transferable. In contrast to the vast body of work in the field of doctoral research supervision, there exists a dearth of literature on undergraduate dissertation supervision. To address this shortcoming, the present study examined the alignment of university, supervisor and student expectations regarding responsibilities in the undergraduate engineering thesis. University expectations, having undergone rigorous review, outline the sound pedagogical practice that should be applied to undergraduate supervision. Expectations of academic staff supervisors and thesis students were obtained through the use of survey tools and post-survey discussions. The surveys used in the present study were adapted from the Role Perceptions Rating Scale (RPRS). Alignment between student and university expectations regarding undergraduate thesis responsibilities in the present study was generally poor. The discrepancy between supervisor and university expectations was even greater, with academic staff generally assuming the bulk of the responsibility for many core thesis tasks. Post-survey discussion indicated that the driver for this behaviour were supervisor expectations that that undergraduate thesis research would contribute to publications. Taking primary responsibility for core thesis tasks away from the student, although improving the likelihood of successful research output, diminishes the ability for an accurate assessment of adequate academic performance. The learning that is intended to result from the undergraduate thesis is devalued when research outcomes are prioritised over research process.

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“…Considering the thesis writing is the first step of training students in carrying out original research, the theories obtained during the lectures should be applied and written in a scientific work. The central position of thesis writing applies not only in Indonesia, but also to other universities in the world requiring students to write thesis as one of fulfilments of the study (Brew & Jewell, 2012;Stappenbelt, 2017). Given the importance of the study period and thesis writing, it is necessary to hold more research on the period of study and thesis writing in the Javanese education study program (henceforth: PPBJ), Faculty of Language and Arts (henceforth: FBS), Yogyakarta State University (henceforth: UNY), Indonesia, considering the study period and the length of thesis writing in this study program is still quite high.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Masa Studi Mahasiswa Prodi Pendidikan Bahasa Jawa FBS UNY

Ekowati

Wuryanto

2022

Piwulang

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This study aims at testing hypotheses formulated from theoretical studies. The hypotheses stated that the thesis supervisor, gender, and motivation affected the length of the thesis writing process and the Grade Point Average (henceforth: GPA), as well as impacting the study period. It is a quantitative research using mediation effect analysis (path analysis methods). In this study, there was no sampling as all populations were taken as respondents. Respondents in this study were 98 students of the Javanese education study program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia (PPBJ FBS UNY). The results showed that there was no significant influence of thesis consultation processes and motivation on the length of the thesis writing, there was no significant influence of thesis supervisor and motivation using the length of the thesis writing period on the study period, and there was no significant influence between gender and motivation of gaining higher GPA, however, yet, there was a significant direct influence of gender on GPA and motivation of gaining higher GPA, there was no significant influence of gender and motivation using GPA on the study period, however, there was a significant direct influence of gender on the study period, and there was a significant direct influence of the length of the thesis writing and GPA on the study period. Related to the findings of the research above, it is necessary to make various efforts so that students' intrinsic motivation is more awakened so that learning achievement will be better, and thesis duration and the study period is shorter.

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Action learning in undergraduate engineering thesis supervision

Cited by 7 publications

References 17 publications

Pedagogical-Publication Tensions in Undergraduate Engineering Thesis Supervision

Pedagogical-Publication Tensions in Undergraduate Engineering Thesis Supervision

Student-supervisor-university expectation alignment in the undergraduate engineering thesis

Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Masa Studi Mahasiswa Prodi Pendidikan Bahasa Jawa FBS UNY

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