Helping Students Complete Master's Theses Through Active Supervision

Abstract

The importance of being an effective and efficient thesis supervisor was an immediate necessity as I began my faculty career. The previous year's evaluation of our master's-level graduate program had identified the low rate and length of time taken for students completing their degrees as a major concern. Students progressed satisfactorily through their course work, but they stalled on the thesis requirement. Thesis work would drag on. The longer it took, the greater the risk of noncompletion.Our program was not unusual in this regard. There are no national statistics for master's degrees, but estimates are that 50% of PhD candidates will never get beyond the ABD (all but dissertation) stage. As many as 250,000 doctoral candidates nationally were expected not to finish in the 1980s (Wells, 1987). This means the loss of potential scholars and researchers, which will be more acutely felt in the coming years as both college enrollments and faculty retirements are expected to increase starting in the mid-1990s. Facilitating students' progress through the thesis and dissertation process will increase the supply of qualified faculty members needed.Supervising theses was the one responsibility of university teaching for which I had the least formal preparation. As a graduate student, I had the benefit of a seminar on teaching at the university level, but the subject of thesis supervision was not part of its syllabus. I had only my own dissertation

Best Practices for Enculturation: Collegiality, Mentoring, and Structure

“…P rogram Stru c t u re . When program stru c t u re was provided for graduate students-that is, short -t e rm goals, stru c t u red assignments, and timely feedback-the graduate students completed degree re q u i rements sooner and at higher rates than without such support (Dillon and Malott, 1981;Thomas, 1995). Because recent criticisms of graduate training have focused on the lack of stru c t u re that all too often occurs, some have suggested that graduate departments provide more structured training support and encourage regular meetings between faculty and students (Utley and Weitzman, 1993).…”

Using the Experiences of Nontraditional Students in the Classroom

“…Teams were given great flexibility in deciding how to complete tasks, yet the tasks themselves were highly structured and clearly defined. Although there are benefits when professors adopt a supervisory role with students (Thomas, 1995), this exercise demonstrated that other students (in this case older, experienced students) can play a similar supervisory role. By actively involving teams in a series of presentations and tasks, students became more involved in bridging experience and theory and brought significant levels of energy to the exercise.…”

Advisor–Student Relationship in Business Education Project Collaborations: A Psychological Contract Perspective

“…Moreover, if the pedagogical function of collaborative projects is to prepare students for workplace collaboration and project management, it is imperative that research reflects the nature of the advisor–student relationship and the consequences that may stem from this relationship (Thomas, 1995). Students will model future workplace projects on the experiences they gain in educational collaborative projects.…”

“…Researchers have likened advisors in a thesis collaboration setting to senior management that mentors subordinates in a corporate context (Thomas, 1995). Students in management research project collaboration act as apprentices and learn by doing research under the guidance of advisors (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992).…”