Thesis Course Research Articles

The Final Thesis Project is the Main Determinant of the Length of Study Period for Undergraduate Students of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Medan

The purpose of this study was to find out the factors affecting the students’ length of study period especially those related to the academic governance, thesis guidance, and supporting facilities at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMNS) of the State University of Medan (Unimed) in the academic year of 2017/2018. Questionnaires were distributed to 469 final year students and 170 thesis supervisors (TS), which represented eight study programs and one Bilingual Program, as well as to 32 administration staff (AS) in FMNS of Unimed. Questionnaires consist of 44 (students) or 40 (TS) or 15 (AS) closed and open questions related to administrative and TS services, supporting facilities, and subjects. Data were analyzed descriptively. The results show that the average length of the study period is 8.9 semesters, far longer than the ideal one (8 semesters). The most important factor contributing to the prolongation of the study period is the length of time needed by the students to complete the thesis final project (TFP), which is an average of 1.6 semesters. Factors causing the prolongation of the TFP completion period include: (a) the administrative staff service function is less supportive, (b) supporting facilities (such as SOPs, Thesis Guidebooks, internet, references in libraries, and laboratory facilities) cannot be utilized properly by students, (c) supporting subjects, especially English and Statistics, have not contributed well to the completion of TFP, and (d) the commencement of TFP work, namely in semester VIII, is too late. To overcome the problems, the following actions need to be taken: (a) improving the quality of administrative services and simplifying TFP governance, (b) updating SOPs and thesis guidebooks, library references, internet, and laboratory, (c) increasing the relevance of the contents of supporting thesis courses, and (d) repositioning of TFP courses one semester earlier. Train students early to find and use references to conduct mini-research and student creativity programs, and their involvement in the lecturer’s research will also be very helpful.

Analisis Prokrastinasi Dalam Mengerjakan Skripsi Pada Mahasiswa Jurusan Pendidikan Ekonomi Angkatan 2015 Universitas Negeri Padang

This Research aims to identify and analyze the influence of adversity quotient and parents' socio-economic conditions on procrastination in doing thesis on students of 2015 economic education majoring in Padang State University. The population in this research were students of 2015 economic education majoring in Padang State University who were taking a thesis course. The analytical method used is multiple regression analysis and data analysis process using the SPSS version 21 program. The results show that 1) there is a significant influence between adversity quotient and parents' socio-economic conditions on procrastination in working on a thesis. 2) there is a significant negative effect between adversity quotient on procrastination in working on a thesis. 3) there is a significant negative effect between parents' socio-economic conditions on procrastination in working on a thesis.Keyword: adversity quotient, socio-economic, procrastination

TINGKAT PROKRASTINASI AKADEMIK DALAM MENYELESAIKAN SKRIPSI PADA MAHASISWA AKTIVIS

Abstract: This thesis is a required scientific work as part of academic requirements at the University. All students must take thesis courses because the thesis is used as one of the prerequisites for students to obtain a bachelor's degree. Generally, students are given time to complete a thesis within one semester or approximately six months. In fact, many students need more than six months to work on their thesis. The research subjects were students who were members or activists of UKM. The cause of student procrastination is the lack of enthusiasm for working on the thesis, difficulty in getting the main book and supporting books, the fear of meeting the lecturers when they want to consult, being embarrassed to ask questions, and lazy to do it. Even among UKM activist students at IAIN Purwokerto (which is now called IAIN Purwokerto) prioritize activities in UKM rather than completing thesis. The results showed that UKM activist students in all majors had moderate procrastination rates based on the following academic procrastination categories: 13% were at very high levels, 20% were at high levels, 57% were at moderate levels, 10% were at low levels, and only 0% of student UKM activists in all majors have low procrastination rates. From these results it can be seen that on average students do procrastination.
 Keywords: Procrastination, Students, Thesis, Ukm Activists

Use of a Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Approach in a Senior Thesis Course to Advance Undergraduate Publications.

Use of a Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Approach in a Senior Thesis Course to Advance Undergraduate Publications.

‘This is where my inner history teacher appears’: a methodological approach to analysing student teachers’ professional identity in interaction

ABSTRACTBy testing a model for analysing identity in interaction, the present article explores how a history student teacher produces social identity in relation to his future profession as a teacher, with an important point of departure being the relationship between the academic and professional aspects of teacher education. This is addressed through an empirical analysis of a student teacher’s identity production in a specific academic setting: a bachelor thesis course. The main body of data consists of audio recordings and video recordings from a group of three student teachers giving feedback on each other’s theses. With respect to methodology, the article employs a model from multimodal (inter)action analysis that focuses on the concept of vertical identity – the notion that identity in interaction is produced in three layers of discourse simultaneously. The results show that the main participant produces the identity of history teacher in an academic setting where such identity production is not encouraged, e.g. by resemiotisising curricula: thus, policy documents can work as a tool when producing teacher identity. This production of identity is done by employing strong agency, which consequently points to the need of a more elaborated discussion on agency in the tested model.

Penurunan Prokrastinasi Akademik melalui Pelatihan Keterampilan Regulasi Emosi

Procrastination in completing academic tasks is common to most students, including in the work of the thesis. One of the factors that cause students to delay completing the thesis is the ability to manage their emotions (emotion regulation). Karem training based on the theory of emotional regulation is expected to decrease the tendency of academic procrastination behavior in the students. This study aims to examine the effect of Karem training on academic procrastination in psychology faculty students of Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta. This study used Nonrandomized Control Group Pretest-Posttest experiment Design. The participants were final year students with a period of more than 10 semesters or 5 years and has taken a thesis course more than 2 semesters or 1 year. The results of this study indicate that Karem training has a significant effect on the decrease of procrastination in the final grade students who are completing the thesis.

Management of Large Scale Thesis Production

This study focuses on investigating several parameters that may influence the production of student theses in a University setting. This knowledge is valuable in determining future changes in any of the parameters that may influence the production and quality of the graduation work at the department. During the period of the study, there have been several changes in the process of thesis writing at the department, trigged by internal and external factors. The analysis has been done in steps where new variables have been calculated from other variables, for instance, the number of days from start to finish. There is no exact way of measuring this period so in the study the start date is considered to be the date of the students registering for the thesis course, the completion date is set to be the date of the last grade of the project. On the aggregated level three variables have been studied to determine the change over time, completion rates, change in grades and the time it takes for a student from registration to completion. During the studied period, projects started from 2010 and through to 2014; there is noticeable a sharp increase of noncompeting between 2011 and 2012. One reason for this could be the introduction of new grading criteria, but the increases are not dropping off but continue to rise. Projects started in 2010 have a non-completion rate of about 17 percent, for projects started in 2014 has this increased to about 42 percent. The time from the start to completion has increased during the studied period, from an average of 175 days in 2010 to 331 in 2014. There is a sharp increase in the length to completion in 2012, possibly caused by the introduction of a new grading process. A total of 47 supervisors fulfilled the requirements of the study by starting at least ten projects in the period of this analysis. Twenty-eight of the supervisors have at least 50 percent completion rate, this group of supervisors also have a shorter time to completion, on an average 319 days as compared with the group that has lower completion rate the average time to completion is 399 days. Recommendations from this study are in three separate strategies: recommendations on a viable process for improvement of the production process, recommendations on immediate changes in management directives regarding supervision and finally recommendations towards a new management style in general.

Formative assessment to develop oral communication competency using YouTube: self- and peer assessment in engineering

ABSTRACTObtaining oral communication competency is an important skill for engineering students to prepare them for interacting and working in any professional setting. For engineers, it is also important to be able to present technical information to non-technical audiences. To ensure oral competency, a non-graded formative assessment approach using video with self- and peer assessment was introduced into a final-year engineering thesis course. A low workload approach was used due to growing student numbers and higher pressures on academic staff. A quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the differences between traditional delivery, self-assessment and combined self-assessment with peer feedback. The study found that the formative models were seen by students to help develop their presentation skills. However, the results showed no significant improvement compared to the traditional method. This could be due to previous presentation practice within the degree or more probable, the lack of incentive for weaker students to engage and improve due to the ungraded nature of the activity.

Drop a Pebble in the Water

This article responds to Stoten’s (2016) article in Management Teaching Review on the use of PebblePad+ (PP+) to support learning, teaching, and assessment. We examined the realities of efforts to engender curriculum change using PP+ on a large undergraduate thesis course within a U.K. business school. We analyzed 2,143 emails between the 123 supervising-faculty and the professors leading the course. Field notes supplemented these data. We have demonstrated that while 18 supervising-faculty asserted the value of the use of PP+ (14.6%), the majority of faculty (54.5%) expressed concerns about using this technology, with eight supervisors failing to use the technology at all. We propose that these latter reactions resulted from a lack of self-efficacy with technology, a perceived task–technology mismatch, and perhaps, most significant, a threatened sense-of-self as “expert” in the eyes of their students and peers. We offer three key recommendations for readers who are considering technology-mediated change.

Into the Depths of Reflexivity and Back Again—When Research Mirrors Personal Experience: A Personal Journey into the Spaces of Liminality

The context of this paper surrounds my Master’s thesis which was written in 2010 related to recovering crack cocaine addicted mothers who had lost custody of their children. Every qualitative thesis has a story attached to it—an impetus for engaging in the research. When the research combines sensitive topics and the research mirrors the experience of the researcher, decisions must be made considering the research processes and methods. This paper explores the reflexive processes that were employed in the 10 months preceding taking my first thesis course. Using the preface of my reflexive journal as data, three themes arose from subsequent coding with qualitative data analysis software: liminality, the wrestle, and the third space. The resultant discussion of the three themes highlights my journey into the depths of reflexivity and back again as I journeyed into and through the spaces of liminality.

ICT-supported peer interaction among learners in Bachelor's and Master's thesis courses

Peer interaction and collaborative learning through the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is used to an increasing extent in higher education. Universities attempt to motivate learners (students) to support their peers to enhance the quality of learning outcomes. This study monitors how an ICTSS (ICT-based Support System) facilitates peer interaction in the Bachelor's and Master's thesis process. The aim of the study was to investigate learners' perception of usefulness of an ICTSS for peer interaction and the influencing factors on the quality of the peer interaction. The ICTSS was developed at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), at Stockholm University. The system facilitates peer interaction in three ways: peer reviews, active participation, and final opposition. The study employed a mixed-method approach, which included an online survey followed by in-depth interviews. The target groups were learners at the Bachelor's and Master's level in computer science and information systems. The findings showed that learners perceived the peer interaction useful to enhance the quality of the thesis outcomes. However, there are influencing factors affecting the quality of peer interaction, in different phases of the thesis process. Examples of these factors are the quality of thesis manuscripts, supervisors' control and grading, clear instructions and guidelines, learners' understanding of the peer interaction and why it takes place, previous training, and learners' motivation to perform peer reviews. Following these factors, the study developed a set of strategic suggestions from both pedagogical and technical aspects to enhance the peer interaction in the thesis process. Considering these suggestions makes the use of the ICTSS more effective to enhance the quality of thesis learning outcomes.

Using Student Focus Groups to Support the Validation of Rubrics for Large Scale Undergraduate Independent Research Projects

Finding methods of validating rubrics forsignificant “capstone” experiences, including fourth yeardesign projects and the research-oriented thesis, can bechallenging, given the large number of individualstypically involved in the assessment of studentdeliverables. This paper describes a methodology forusing student focus groups to support the validation of arubric for a fourth year thesis course in a largeEngineering Program, and the results from these focusgroups. Through focus group discussion and activitysheets used in the focus groups, a number of interestinginsights were raised about both the rubric, namely: a lackof consultation by the students with the rubric until thefinal stages of writing the final report; concerns andinconsistencies in the perception of how supervisors willuse the rubric; a perceived lack of focus on process andproject experience-related criteria and concerns with thelevel of expectation of the project experience-relatedcriteria that are present, and other concerns related toterminology and distance between rubric descriptors. Thefocus group provided a useful forum for discussion oncourse experience and assessment, effectively allowingstudents to both individually reflect, and build on eachother’s ideas and suggestions.

Action research of establishing intellectual critique of nursing thesis course in postgraduate nurse

Objective To establish intellectual critique of nursing thesis course in postgraduate nurse, and to evaluate teaching effectiveness and the reasonableness of the course. Methods A total of 44 postgraduate nurses were involved in the study, which were carried out through action research of planning, acting and observing, and reflecting. After the course, researchers evaluated the reasonableness of the course and teaching effectiveness through the self-control. Results There was significant difference in the scientific research ability score of research object before and after the course: (60.09±16.26) scores vs. (71.27±13.22) scores, t=-3.264, P 0.05. Conclusions The course of intellectual critique of nursing thesis can improve the research ability of postgraduate nurse, but the role of the critical thinking ability remains to be discussed. And the course needs to be further improved. Key words: Education, nursing, Graduate; Research ability; Critical thinking; Action research

Assessment of dental student satisfaction with regard to process of thesis educational courses.

Introduction:Ensuring achievement of research experience by students is one of the most important goals of the thesis-conduction process and evaluation of student satisfaction with this process is one of the most imperative challenges herein.Aims:The aim of this study is to investigate the satisfaction of dental students passing the thesis educational course from the Isfahan Dental School.Settings and Design:Sixty-two dental students who had graduated in2011, from the Isfahan Dental School, participated in this descriptive cross-sectional studyMaterials and Methods:The postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) was used for data collection. The questionnaire evaluated student satisfaction in seven domains: Thesis supervision, skill development, intellectual climate, infrastructure, thesis examination, goals and expectations, and overall satisfaction.Statistical Analysis Used:The data were analyzed on an SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results:The mean score of satisfaction of the participants was 75 ± 12. On the basis of their scores, satisfaction in 3.2% of them was slow, in 33.9%was medium, in 61.3% was good and in 1.6% was high. The highest satisfaction was found to be in thesis supervision and the least was in the intellectual climate domain. There was no significant statistical difference between satisfaction and gender (P = 0.46).Conclusions:Considering the results, to increase student satisfaction for passing the thesis courses, it is necessary to improve the intellectual climate in dental schools and also increase the research budget for more financial support of students to carry out their projects.

Learners’ Perceptions on the Structure and Usefulness of e-Resources for the Thesis Courses

Abstract The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is a way to facilitate interaction and accessing information for learning in higher education. However, finding a set of structured e-resources to facilitate learning within specific courses is still a big challenge in most higher education institutions. This includes the problems and challenges for thesis courses in both undergraduate (Bachelor) and graduate (Master) level in Sweden. To overcome or reduce the problems and enhance quality of outcomes in thesis courses, the department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University has developed a Learning Support System, SciPro (Scientific Process), to support the thesis process. The aim of this study is to investigate learners’ perspectives on the usefulness of structured e-resources in SciPro, to reduce challenges for finding information related to the thesis process. This was done based on an open online survey, carried out in 2012-2013 of students’ perspectives at DSV. The study found the actual problems that students have encountered in the thesis courses and hence suggested a general model as a way forward to sort the e-resources to reduce the problems in the thesis process.

Finding potential problems in the thesis process in higher education: Analysis of e-mails to develop a support system

Autonomous learning hype has created much speculation in educational systems regarding how to develop the learning process. Final project (thesis) in Bachelor's and Master's levels is a significant part of study for students in higher education. However, there are some problems, which lead students not managing to do or finish their thesis. As a part of a solution to these problems, the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University, Sweden, has established an information and communication platform, called SciPro. The system was initiated in 2011 to support students and supervisors during the thesis process courses. This study contributes by exploring problems that learners have faced during the final project courses and analyzing discussed issues in the emails, sent to the SciPro support group, ThesisSupport. A random sample of one hundred emails has been analyzed with the help of a content analysis tool, in order to develop the categories, which cover the discussed issues. The result of the study shows six exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories of problems: 1) Thesis initiation (26 %), 2) Info-mail (4.7 %), 3) Technical issues (17.1 %), 4) Exemption (18.7 %), 5) Supervision (17.1 %), 6) Final seminar (16.4 %). Consequently, based on the significance of the categories, two groups of strategic suggestions are developed: 1) developing communications and 2) developing instructions. These strategies intend to enhance support for the autonomous learning process for the thesis courses in higher education.

Collaboration to Improve Learning: Research Support for the Graduate Business Degree Candidate

In a “cooperative” environment of faculty, professional librarian and writing expert collaboration MBA candidates are better equipped to defend the thesis statement of their capstone projects, and succeed in the business world.This paper highlights the skills graduate students need to use information sources more effectively, and communicate in a cogent manner.Steven Fleisher, Outreach Librarian finds that a research consultation following a library instruction session provides the ideal learning outcome. In this information literacy environment, come advanced research expectations. The thesis writer is evaluated by his or her ability to collect refereed articles, case studies, as well as professional readings (including SWOT analyses, and legal interpretations). When the student is already familiar with university library subscriptions, the consultation takes the form of an idea exchange where both the librarian and writer can discuss the best possible sources that can be added to the existing bibliography. If there is not a familiarity with online searching, then the librarian employs skill-building measures which summarize what is available. The repetition of accessing databases usually realizes favorable results during the researching process; especially when the student has identified authors of interest. The professor is included in the consultation process when he or she determines that the student may not have the needed research background to complete the thesis course in a timely manner.Suki Stone, a core adjunct professor assumes the role as the writing expert. Master’s candidates are referred to her if writing style presents a challenge for the candidate. Her mentoring services are not of a remedial nature, many times quite the opposite. We have experienced candidate situations, where there are perhaps too many ideas to complete a logically flowing thesis. Our observation has been that working professionals with life experience know what their research interests are; however, they have not been part of an academic community for several years and need assistance with writing style and the creation of bibliographies. Another type of mentee candidate might be the experienced academic, who needs the intervention of an impartial evaluator. The mentee, although well-versed has the opportunity to work with Dr. Stone on an unlimited basis addressing research manuscript skills, and the selection of qualitative literature. Frequently her consultation will be a continuation of the research inventory identified by the outreach librarian.

Using group supervision and social annotation systems to support students’ academic writing

In this best practice paper, we present how we have used a Social annotation system (SAS) in a bachelor’s thesis course in media technology to support students’ academic writing. In the paper, we reflect on both technical and social practices with using SAS. Despite limited instructional support and despite the fact that different groups used SAS in different ways, there have been a high completion rate, good quality of the theses and satisfied students. The combination of group supervision and the use of SAS has been successful, especially when taking into consideration that this was the first year we broadly introduced SAS in the bachelor’s thesis course.

Adapting Existing Assessment Tools For Use in Assessing Engineering Graduate Attributes

Recently, changes to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation requirements, following the example set by ABET, have called for the measurement of 12 graduate attributes in the engineering curriculum. Some attributes, such as “Knowledge Base,” lend themselves to forms of quantitative measurement; others, such as “Investigation” and “Communication” are inherently difficult to measure quantitatively and comprehensively. To assess these attributes authentically within our current curriculum, methods for adapting existing tools – that both satisfy the objectives of the actual course and the needs of graduate attributes assessment – must be found. This paper describes the process and challenges involved in adapting existing tools for assessment to measure such graduate attributes, specifically in a large senior research thesis course in a multidisciplinary engineering program. These challenges include balancing both the needs of multiple parties involved in the assessment, maintaining rubric usability, reliability and validity, as well as appropriately matching rubric elements to attributes. Despite these tensions, the results provided by this process provide insight about rubric design, assessment strategies and the students’ strengths and weaknesses within the graduate attributes, providing valuable information to feed back into the graduate attribute and continual curriculum improvement processes.

Dumpster Dinners: An Ethnographic Study of Freeganism

Dumpster Dinners: An Ethnographic Study of Freeganism at Illinois State University dives into dumpsters with the freegan subculture of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Freeganism is a way of life based on limited participation in the conventional economy and has been gaining popularity in recent years. Freegans strive to spend little money, barter or trade for goods and services, and live off food that has been thrown away. The freegans in this study are three motivated and educated women who regularly dumpster dive behind local businesses for food and products. Additionally, the freegans barter for goods and services and exhibit a “make it do or do without” attitude that seems almost obsolete in today’s hyperconsuming America. This study explores where and why freegans exist, the process of turning garbage into groceries, why perfectly good groceries become garbage in the first place, and what can be learned from the freegan way of life. This study was conducted for an undergraduate senior thesis course in Anthropology at Illinois State University, spring of 2010.