Supporting bachelor’s and master’s students’ thesis writing: a rhizoanalysis of academic writing workshops in hybrid learning spaces

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous research has suggested that bachelor’s and master’s students seem to experience challenges with thesis writing, and the need for support might be greater when studying at a distance. To further develop supportive practices for thesis writing, this study points to a need to acknowledge materialities and spaces as active and necessary components in thesis writing. The study uses a rhizoanalytical approach that offers possibilities to study learning spaces in higher education and to explore the complexities and multiplicities of supporting thesis writing at a distance. Building on an action research project that developed academic writing workshops to support bachelor’s and master’s students’ thesis writing processes, this study explores the academic writing workshops enacted in hybrid learning spaces (e.g. Zoom, Padlet, and Moodle). The study suggests that various hybrid thresholds make a difference in supporting students’ thesis writing. The hybrid thresholds produce a closeness to the texts in becoming, suggested to be essential for enacting an effective writing pedagogy at a distance; an embodied distance to peers, calling for building personal relationships through other means than face-to-face interaction; and collaborative-and-individual support through (a)synchronous connections, no matter the students’ geographical location. Taken together, the academic writing workshops enacted in hybrid learning spaces can potentially support students’ thesis writing, enabling (un)predictable and spontaneous mo(ve)ments across hybrid thresholds and digital platforms that create a closeness to the theses in becoming.