Dissertations

As supervision is a less familiar form of teaching, there may be mismatched expectations of roles; this can be improved by explicit discussion between student and supervisor (Del Rio et al., 2017). 

The form of teaching and learning required (extended solo study, and pro-active interaction with supervisors) may challenge students including those with English as an additional language (Salter-Dvorak, 2014) and BAME students (Xuereb, 2023). The format can exacerbate existing problems during an assessment which is crucial for overall degree attainment. 

A dissertation can seem like an extended essay but require different content and skills. Frequent supervision, workshops and/or peer review sessions can help set expectations. 

It can be hard to combine fairness with flexibility; permitting students to choose the topic and direction of investigation may mean that some students have more readily available material, or an easier research process. Supervisors should work with students to identify potential obstacles or limitations, early on. 

Anonymity is harder to achieve as each project is highly individual, so markers should plan for maximum validity (for example, through self-checking and thorough double marking).   

The extended timespan, originality and personalised supervision of a dissertation can help ensure authorship. Nevertheless, Generative AI could be used to create parts of this assessment output. Ensure students are aware of when Generative AI is permitted and useful, and when it cannot be used. To ensure students are undertaking the research process, you could consider: oral components (mini-vivas); submission of research journals, reflective logs or research materials (e.g. interview transcripts); increased supervision or peer review sessions where work in progress is presented and discussed. 

Del Río, M. L., Díaz-Vázquez, R., & Maside Sanfiz, J. M. (2017). Satisfaction with the supervision of undergraduate dissertations. Active Learning in Higher Education, 19(2), 159-172. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417721365 (Original work published 2018) 

Some scenarios for discussing the experience of international Masters students: Harwood, Nigel & Petric, Bojana. (2018). Harwood, N. & Petric, B. (2019). Helping international master’s students navigate dissertation supervision: research-informed discussion and awareness-raising activities. Journal of International Students 9: 150-171.. 10.32674/jis.v9i1.276. 

Xuereb, Sharon (2023). The experience of BAME students on a psychology undergraduate dissertation module. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education / Revue internationale du e-learning et la formation à distance, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.55667/10.55667/ijede.2023.v38.i1.1290  

Roberts, L. D., & Seaman, K. (2017). Good undergraduate dissertation supervision: perspectives of supervisors and dissertation coordinators . International Journal for Academic Development, 23(1), 28–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2017.1412971 

Salter-Dvorak, H. (2014). ‘I’ve never done a dissertation before please help me’: accommodating L2 students through course design. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(8), 847–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2014.934344 

LSE LIFE resources for MSc dissertations