Teaching Research Methods and the Supervision of Undergraduate Projects: Seeking Practical Improvements to a Complex Process

Abstract

This paper develops a review of teaching research methods and student supervisor relationships, first presented to ECRM20. Last year we tested an extensive literature review with a survey of undergraduate business students, this has now been supplemented with further survey data, interviews and a focus group. This supplementary data has deepened our understanding of the issues and has largely reinforced the findings from the previous paper. At a time when some schools are moving content on-line and seeking new forms of assessment, there is a need to ensure that research continues to fulfil a contribution towards intellectual and practical understanding. Detailed analysis has explored the extent to which the teaching of research methods within a taught degree course and the completion of an individual project has proved effective. Value perceived by the students and supervisors of a major project has been confirmed to influence both success for a candidate at an interview as well as providing a skill set suitable for longer term employment. Learning ‘skills for life’ was suggested by the students.. The extent to which students and supervisors engage was explored and opportunities for improvement are reported. The importance of adding an element of fun to the process was also raised. Little evidence of supervisors receiving training was found, Feather et al (2010, 2013) and a challenge continues to be the extent to which supervisors are fully briefed on the required dissertation process. In practice, supervisors rely on their own prior experience and this can contribute to an uneven quality of experience for students. Conclusions on the undergraduate data are developed for two specific research questions and next steps for improvement at the school are outlined for the Business School to consider.

Does the ‘Educational Alliance’ conceptualize the student - supervisor relationship when conducting a master thesis in medicine? An interview study

“…Linking the goals to the necessary time, engagement and resources provided a reliable framework for the MT process. Providing and maintaining this framework is an important competency that supervisors should develop (or should be trained for) [ 16 ].…”

“…Most supervisors aimed to guide students towards increasing independence during the project, which is regarded a powerful driver for learning [ 35 ]. However, shaping this process of gradually and effectively fading out also calls for specific supervisor training [ 16 ].…”

“…The findings imply that the EA could serve as a valuable framework to guide the process. Incorporating these findings could address deficits outlined by the existing literature on undergraduate thesis writing, such as poor alignment of expectations or a lack of supervisor training [ 14 , 16 ]. The EA could also contribute to a more holistic understanding of doctoral student - supervisor relationships and could be a helpful framework for supervisor training [ 9 – 13 ].…”

“…That paper found that supervisors pursued a more ‘research outcome’ orientated goal as opposed to an educational goal (to provide students with an understanding of the research process) [ 14 ]. Another study from business school addressed a lack of training for supervisors [ 16 ]. However, none of these studies on undergraduate thesis writing has offered an educational framework to outline the student - supervisor relationship [ 17 ].…”

Literature Reviews: What are the Challenges, and how can Students and new Business Researchers be Successful?

“…Similarly, our experience of teaching research methods and supervising students in preparing dissertations has revealed a wide range of ability, enthusiasm and interest. More recently a growing level of disinterest in undertaking a project and learning research skills has become apparent (Brown and Rich, 2020;Mitchell andRich, 2020, Mitchell andRich, 2021). The popularity and recent growth in eBusiness may mean that assumptions underpinning a traditional Business School curriculum cease or are at least challenged.…”