Over the past decade, the use of projects and dissertations in university curricula, both undergraduate and taught postgraduate, has been seen as increasingly important. First, projects and dissertations have been seen as a means of encouraging more students to think about ‘staying on’ as research students and thus contributing to the research productivity of departments and schools. Second, projects and dissertations are deemed to be an important means of bringing about an effective research culture to underpin all undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. Third, projects and dissertations have come to be seen as an important component of degree programmes across the disciplines, because of the clear emphasis they place on the learners taking responsibility for their own learning, and engaging with the production of knowledge. The importance of students
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being able to understand and, to some extent, plan and undertake research and knowledge generation is of greater importance than a few decades ago, as Barnett (2000) might argue, due to the ‘supercomplexity’ of society. Increasingly, the introduction of projects and dissertations is seen as a way of promoting the teaching–research nexus, at the same time as assisting in the attainment of increasing targets for postgraduate research students.
In summary, the so-called ‘knowledge economy’ requires students to graduate capable of engaging with and analysing research, which thus requires careful thought when planning and designing appropriate curricula.
Projects and dissertations have always been viewed as an effective means of research training and of encouraging a discovery approach to learning, through the generation and analysis of primary data. Such an approach is aimed at the development of higher-level cognitive skills, such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Alongside this obvious rationale, projects and dissertations are also seen as an effective means of:
• diversifying assessment;
• addressing concern to promote skills and employability (see Chapter 8);
• empowering the learner;
• motivating students;
• promoting links between teaching and research;
• ‘talent spotting’, i.e. identifying potential research students/assistants.
DEFINITIONS
Projects and dissertations have often been discussed as one in the educational development literature (Day et al., 1998; Wilkins, 1995). It is worth considering both distinctions and similarities prior to offering a working definition.
A project, as distinct from a dissertation, is generally defined as aimed at generating primary data (Williams and Horobin, 1992). Dissertations, on the other hand, are categorised as generating secondary data, often in the form of a long essay, review or report (Parsons and Knight, 2005). Henry researched extensively the use of projects in teaching on behalf of the Open University. She offers a six-point definition of a ‘project’
which is not dissimilar to a dissertation, stating that:
The student (usually) selects the project topic; locates his or her own source material;
presents an end product (usually a report and often for assessment); conducts an independent piece of work (though there are also group projects). The project lasts over an extended period and the teacher assumes the role of adviser.
(Henry, 1994: 12) The similarities between projects and dissertations are obvious in that both require project management skills: scheduling, action planning, time management, monitoring,
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delivery of a product on time and evaluation. Over recent years the term ‘dissertation’
in the context of undergraduate work has come to be employed less, and the use of the term ‘project’, incorporating the notion of project management, employed more. Case study 1, drawing on the University of York 2007 prospectus, exemplifies this trend.
Electronics
In their final year B.Eng. students carry out a personal project supervised by a member of staff. Each year a large number of possible projects are offered to students and there is also the opportunity for students to propose their own project. The final B.Eng. project contributes about one-fifth of the final degree marks.
History collaborative projects
All students on a module may work together to select and define more closely a project which will form a major part of the term’s work. . . . When such a project is undertaken, the tutor will always be available for advice and assistance, but seminars, and the ultimate outcome of the term’s work, the written project, will be shaped by the group of students taking the module. It is their responsibility to allocate the research, presentations and writing that will need to be done.
Music
Our ground-breaking project system permits you to select one course module in each term from a wide range of choices. . . . Choices vary from year to year, although some projects (such as composition, ensemble performance, music in the community) are run every year. . . .
Most projects are assessed by a submission at the end of the module. The nature of the submission is flexible, and may consist of an essay, seminar paper, composition, performance or analysis; often a combination of these will be required.
All three explanations of project work offered in Case study 1 emphasise project management skills on the part of the student. Such a definition suggests that both projects
Case study 1: Definitions of project as offered in the University of York U Un nd de er rg gr ra ad du ua at te e P Pr ro os sp pe ec ct tu us s 2007
Supervising projects and dissertations ❘ 153
and dissertations are a piece of project management with an emphasis on the students determining the parameters within which they will operate to deliver a time-bound, externally described output – a project or dissertation of a certain length and format.
Within this specified time framework students are offered the potential to pursue their own interests within a given discipline area. The role of the supervisor thus moves away from that of teacher, providing the format within which students will be expected to perform, to that of facilitator, thus promoting a different sort of relationship with a subtly different skills set.
There is a distinction between the supervision of projects and dissertations and the routine supervision of students by teaching staff. The former requires a time-bound, managed activity that demands project management skills on the part of both supervisor and supervisee. The latter requires self-awareness (e.g. of one’s personality style, gender, class and race), combined with an ability to engage in reflective practice and acute sensitivity to the needs of the student. It is this distinction that warrants further consideration.
Projects and dissertations clearly offer a teaching and learning strategy which passes the onus for learning on to the students, requiring supervisors to reposition themselves away from the role of teacher, moving vertically up the axis to that of facilitator, as illustrated in Figure 11.1. However, such a figure can offer too simplistic a picture, as effective supervisors would suggest that intense periods of time have to be deployed with supervisees, both at the commencement of the project and as the project is being pulled together at the end. Nevertheless, the implications of this shift in role offer the greatest potential for student learning, at the same time as offering the greatest potential for role conflict on the part of the supervisor. As Day et al. (1998: 51) suggest, ‘avoiding the twin traps of over- or under-supervising is never easy’.
Establishing and agreeing the appropriate working relationship between supervisor and supervisees – a highly complex and underexplored area at the undergraduate level – offers the key to maximising the learning capacity of projects and dissertations. How to achieve such a working relationship is explored in detail in the next section.
Figure 11.1 Supervisor–supervisee relationship in project supervision Supervisor
Supervisee Autocracy
INPUT
TIME
Abdication