How are undergraduate students supervised? Supervisor and student perspectives on undergraduate dissertation supervision in an elite UK university

Thesis

The undergraduate dissertation is a significant component of many undergraduate programs in the UK, representing a crucial contribution to the immediate degree award outcome and a key stage in the long-term development of potential academic researchers. From the recognition of the undergraduate dissertation as a high-stakes project, most universities assign an individual supervisor to students in order to ensure the successful completion of the dissertation and foster the intellectual and scholarly development of students. Whilst much has been written about the function and purpose of supervision, less is known about undergraduate supervision as an intensive and interpersonally focused one-to-one relationship that spans the duration of dissertation research. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-method design, this study explored the perceptions and experiences of finalist undergraduates and their dissertation supervisors in social science at an elite university in the UK and investigated the assumptions, beliefs and objectives shaping students and supervisors’ approaches to supervision along the dissertation journey.

Major findings from the quantitative analysis demonstrate changing supervisory involvement in response to different research tasks and point to an apparent mismatch between student demand for and supervisor provision of support in a relatively late phase of the dissertation. Qualitative findings add nuance and context to patterns already observed in survey responses and illuminate issues that would not have arisen had this study stopped at the quantitative stage, such as the significance of open communication and mutual understanding for a healthy and productive student-supervisor relationship. The two sources of evidence identify undergraduate supervision as multi-stage and non-uniform, as the level and type of supervisory support involved in supervision varied not just throughout the year but also with the student-supervisor pair. The findings represent an original contribution to the existing literature on undergraduate supervision and may offer useful considerations to policymakers and undergraduate supervisors within the social science division at the case university. Generalisability is limited due to the small sample and the unique context in which this research was situated. That said, findings may have some transferability to similar settings, though any effort in this regard shall be made with caution.

Authors: Ma, Y

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-v0yx1rnzp
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: undergraduate dissertation; higher education; dissertation supervision; RDM2023; undergraduate supervision
• Subjects: Education