1. CHEP DISCUSSION FORUM
Thurs 18th Oct 2012, 1.15-2.15pm, Videolink
Undergraduate Dissertation Supervision:
Managing Preparation, Support & Expectations.
Sally Cook & Wendy Saunderson
A. CONTEXT & PROBLEM
B. MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
C. PROVIDING ON ONLINE SUPPORT SYSTEM ‘ODISSY’

2. CONTEXT & PROBLEM
• Tens of thousands of UG students complete
Dissertations in UK HEIs each year (across
the Arts, Humanities, and Social, Natural and
Behavioural Sciences)
• Despite the significance of Dissertation re.
student learning & staff workload: there is a
paucity of guidelines, Supervision Sessions
are not subject to peer-review, and are rarely
observed by QAA auditors.
(Rowley and Slack, 2004; Todd et al., 2005)

3. VARIABLE STANDARDS & PROVISION
• HUGE VARIATIONS in the
nature, approach, attitudes, concerns, pr
ovision, strategies and experience of
both Supervisor and Supervisee:
But
• COMMON CHARACTERISTICS and
COMMON CHALLENGES / PROBLEMS

4. COMMON / KEY CHARACTERISTICS
• Student-determined topic; Self-directed learning;
• Independent/individual work + Tutor support;
• Typically includes empirical research component;
• Involves prolonged & sustained engagement.
• USUALLY:
• 20 credits - 200 hrs - Final year 1/6
• 5 – 10,000 words; No taught component
• Dissertation Handbook/BB; Individual supervision
• No formal Supervisor training or guidance

5. COMMON CHALLENGES / PROBLEMS
 Delayed start / delay in choosing topic;
 Poor time management;
 Failure to fully engage with the process;
 Dissertation as ‘unknown entity’;
 Balancing workload – 1 out of 6 modules;
 Lacking self-confidence for independent work;
 Unsure of Supervisor-Supervisee relationship;
 Unrealistic (misinformed) expectations;
 Fear of not knowing what is required, and
 Fear of being unable to meet requirements.
Risk of under-achievement
& dissatisfied students

6. SUPERVISOR’S ROLE
• ACADEMIC GUIDANCE: advice on
suitability, feasibility, scale/scope of study; conceptual/
theoretical issues; ethical issues; research methodology;
structuring; presentation.
• AS ‘MOTIVATOR’: setting tasks and deadlines;
managing expectations; providing feedback.
Do we have a clear idea of our role? Boundaries?
Time commitment? Depends on number of Supervisees?
Or our own research/workload? Awareness of
acute disparities between & within subjects/Faculties?

7. BOUNDARIES & BALANCE
Where does the Supervisor Role
& Responsibility start and end?
• How much is enough?
Students do need a certain amount of guidance, support and
encouragement to gain confidence to apply their skills to complete.
• How much is too much?
Spoon-feeding infantalises students and stifles original thought:
are we teaching / producing ‘technicians or technologists’?
For Discussion…

8. A. MANAGING EXPECTATIONS (& ‘FEARS’)
B. PROVIDING AN ONLINE SUPPORT SYSTEM ‘ODISSY’
• What ARE students’ expectations?
• Where do they come from?
• How realistic are they?
• How often do students expect supervision?
• By which means? Which types do they prefer?
• How realistic/realisable are their expectations?
• What are students biggest fears/concerns?

9. What ARE their Expectations? Fears?
80 UG students; Starting final year;
Social Policy, SP Modular, HSCP;
Semi-structured questionnaire, pre-Dissertation
Special Session & pre-Supervisor contact.
64% expect Strict
Timetable of
Supervision
36% expect
Flexible
Supervision

10. Preferred TYPE of Supervision (% Ranking)
1st Preference 2nd Pref. 3rd Pref
2
4
22
76
94
73
22
4 2
Face-to-Face Email Supervision Phone Supervision
Supervision

11. How often is private face-to-face
Supervision expected?
63
31
2 2 3
Twice per Every Week Every Every 2-3 Once per
Week Fortnight Weeks Month

12. Expected duration of each private
face-to-face Supervision
Weekly Supervision Fortnightly Supervision
43 67
36
14 5 13
5 10
5
2
10-15 15-30 10-15 15-30
mins mins
30-60 1 hour mins mins 30-60 1 hour 2 hrs
mins 2 hrs mins

13. UG Students’ ‘Greatest Fears/Concerns’ at start
of final/Dissertation Year
Not being able to understand certain aspects of dissertation; not
having enough time or 1-to-1 sessions with Supervisor
That I won’t get a high enough grade; that I won’t pick the right dissertation
title; that I won’t get enough guidance and support from my Supervisor
Biggest fear is juggling Uni work with 2 jobs; failing; not
understanding the work; time management.
Doing something wrong in my dissertation and wasting time by not being able to fully
understand it; Not having enough one-to-one time with my Supervisor
That I will fall behind and not do my best and that my Supervisor won’t be
interested in my topic; it will be hard to balance work & Uni
Biggest fear is everything snowballing if I get stuck on one piece of work; time
management; balancing dissertation with other modules

14. School of Environmental Sciences:
Geography, Env. Science & Marine Science BSc
• 30 credits to 20 credits
• S1 to S2
• scheduled Yr. 2 preparation sessions
• dissertation ‘log’ – minimum contact
• Online Dissertation Support System
(ODISSY) - supported by CIES/CHEP

15. ODISSY student surveys & focus group
• guidance on research & writing up
• expected standards
• contradictory advice
• independence
• S1 workload
• credits vs. expectations
• supervisor knowledge / interest
• supervisor availability

16. Development of ODISSY – aims:
• improve student engagement
• assist time management
• centralise resources & advice
• make better use of supervision time
• enable visualisation of process
& progress

17. Main Features of ODISSY
• visual interface: journey
• break into manageable ‘chunks’
• indicate progress
• consistent online information
(timetable, C/A criteria, explanations & advice, ‘how to’
guides, links to podcasts & web sites, exemplars etc.)
• tools for communication &
management

20. ODISSY: feedback so far…
• overview of process
• relevance of advice and links
• convenience
• consistency
• exemplars
 in regular use (2012 graduates)
57% used at least weekly: 80% at least monthly
> 80% found map interface useful
(¾) ½ said it (maybe) helped time management

21. Key questions: any answers to…?
• optimum timing for engagement
(S1 / S2 / long-thin)
• credits: effort vs. degree classification
• student preparation Yr 2 / 3
• expected minimum supervisory contact
• level of support (independence / spoon-feeding)
• ensuring supervisor availability