jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Advertise a Job
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • Free CV Templates
    • Cover Letters with Examples
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Career Progression Stories
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
    • Working From Home
  • Women in Higher Education
  • FE Career Advice
    • FE CV & Interview Tips
    • Working in FE
    • Managing your Career in FE
    • FE Jobs Profiles
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Job Profiles
      • Biological Science Jobs
      • Health and Medical Jobs
      • Engineering and Technology Jobs
      • Computer Science Jobs
      • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
      • Professional Service Jobs
        • Business Development Manager Jobs Profile
        • Chef Jobs Profile
        • Civil Service Jobs Profile
        • Email Marketing Jobs Profile
        • SEO Jobs Profile
    • Vlogs
  • Webinars
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Dubai
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Work in Vietnam – Country Profile
      • Work in Uzbekistan – Country Profile
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • PhD and Studentship Advice
    • PhD
    • Studentship Resources
    • Vlogs
  • Need help advertising a job?
  • About jobs.ac.uk
  • Ask A Professional
  • Academic Spotlight Interviews
  • Menu
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • Free CV Templates
      • Cover Letters with Examples
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Career Progression Stories
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
      • Working From Home
    • Women in Higher Education
    • FE Career Advice
      • FE CV & Interview Tips
      • Working in FE
      • Managing your Career in FE
      • FE Jobs Profiles
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Vlogs
      • Job Profiles
        • Biological Science Jobs
        • Health and Medical Jobs
        • Engineering and Technology Jobs
        • Computer Science Jobs
        • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
        • Professional Service Jobs
        • Civil Service jobs
    • Webinars
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Work in Egypt – Country Profile
        • Work in Ghana – Country Profile
        • Work in Kenya – Country Profile
        • Work in Nigeria – Country Profile
        • Work in South Africa – Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Work in Canada – Country Profile
        • Work in the United States of America – Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Work in Bahrain – Country Profile
        • Work in Brunei – Country Profile
        • Work in China – Country Profile
        • Work in Hong Kong – Country Profile
        • Work in India – Country Profile
        • Work in Japan – Country Profile
        • Work in Kazakhstan – Country Profile
        • Work in Malaysia – Country Profile
        • Work in Qatar – Country Profile
        • Work in Saudi Arabia – Country Profile
        • Work in Singapore – Country Profile
        • Work in South Korea – Country Profile
        • Work in Turkey – Country Profile
        • Work in United Arab Emirates – Country Profile
      • Dubai
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Work in Denmark – Country Profile
        • Work in Finland – Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Work in Germany – Country Profile
        • Work in Ireland – Country Profile
        • Work in Italy – Country Profile
        • Work in the Netherlands – Country Profile
        • Work in Norway – Country Profile
        • Work in Russia – Country Profile
        • Work in Spain – Country Profile
        • Work in Sweden – Country Profile
        • Work in Switzerland – Country Profile
        • Work in the United Kingdom – Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Work in Australia – Country profile
        • Work in New Zealand – Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs
    • Need help advertising a job?
    • About jobs.ac.uk

Undergraduate Dissertations: Getting the Balance Right

dissertations

This is the time of year when many final-year undergraduates are grappling with a substantial piece of written work in the form of a dissertation. Despite this usually being a fractional component of the larger degree the dissertation can carry disproportionate weight in the mind of the student, drawing attention away from coursework that may be of equal or greater importance in terms of assessment, and becoming a focus of some degree of anxiety. Of course, this is not always the case: not all students are obliged to do dissertations; some universities place prior attainment obstacles on entry to a dissertation module (an unintended consequence of which, however, can be to increase the premium attached to them in terms of student perception as a whole); and, of course, some students sail through them, treating them proportionately, and benefitting from the exercise of producing a long, self-directed, and focussed piece of research.  But these caveats aside, what methods can be put in place to offset the gravitational pull of dissertations, and how might academics address its potential pitfalls?

Start with the basics

Early on, preferably towards the end of their penultimate year of study, undergraduates need guidance in what, exactly, dissertations are. Be explicit about this. Students may use the word ‘dissertation’ without fully grasping what it entails, thinking of it as a vast and complicated piece of work that sits, somehow, far above the usual run of things (the interchangeability of the word with masters and even doctoral dissertations does not help). Clarify with them that the dissertation is a continuation of their work in an extended form, but it is not more important. Tell them the percentage weighting of the dissertation in any assessment of their final degree, and discuss with them how much time they should spend on it as a consequence. Finally, show them a couple of examples, so they can see that their fellow students have done it before them, successfully.

Encourage good habits

Reading into the subject is, of course, critical in any dissertation. Encourage your students to read as much as possible in the initial stages of their dissertation. You might even consider prompting students to dive into the reading in the summer period beforehand by making one of the early feedback points or hurdles the submission of an analytical literature review. But bear in mind, too, that students can also spend far too long reading and researching their subject, and may be paralysed by anxiety when it comes to writing. Students, therefore, may also need guidance on how to create good writing habits. Spend some time in tutorials addressing this directly, so that students have the opportunity to discuss their individual approaches to the process of writing, as opposed to the content. Encourage students to listen to each other’s experience of writing, and to discuss ways in which they might develop the habit of writing small amounts on a regular basis, rather than binge- or crisis-writing. If possible, ask them to produce their own suggestions for micro-writing aims each week, and discuss how these might align with the overall module timetable.

Reviewing structure and timings

A further way of helping students avoid working up to the wire is to set a series of staggered, interim tasks whereby the students submit a small piece of written work for informal feedback. Such tasks might, for example, include any or all of the following: writing a dissertation proposal (this could come at the end of the second year, and be a requirement for acceptance onto the module); writing a short literature review; compiling a bibliography, and writing a full draft.

Checking resources

Undergraduate students may need further support on using library resources for the more self-directed tasks of dissertation writing. Ask your library for guides to resources or for refresher sessions which will help your students orient themselves. If you have a thriving postgraduate community, consider setting up a ‘buddy’ mentoring scheme, whereby postgraduates gain some informal supervisory experience while undergraduates benefit from being exposed to higher-level students. This could also work as a way of introducing students to the possibilities of Masters-level study, and serve as a foundation on which future taught and research postgraduate communities may be built.

What did you think of our article? - please rate

0 / 5. 0


Share this article

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

  • Supporting Individual Researchers in a Publish-or-Perish Culture

    Supporting Individual Researchers in a Publish-or-Perish Culture

  • Online education training and e learning webinar on internet

    Basic skills in Moodle management

  • Diverse Team Working Together in Modern Co Working Space planning a conference

    How to organise a conference

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

13 − 2 =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Searching for a job in the United Kingdom

Latest Jobs

  • Faculty Position in AI/ML for Biosciences

    Department of Biosciences and Bioinformatics, Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

    Location: Suzhou

    Salary: Competitive salary in the market


  • Apprentice - Chemical & Environmental Engineering

    Engineering, University of Nottingham

    Location: Nottingham

    Salary: £23,563 - £23,946 per annum, depending on skills and experience.


  • Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term)

    Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge

    Location: Cambridge

    Salary: £32,546 - £45,413 per annum


  • Professor of Computer Science and Head of Department

    School of Mathematical Physical & Computational Sciences - Computer Science, University of Reading

    Location: Reading

    Salary: Competitive Salary plus excellent benefits


  • Head of Student Marketing & Recruitment

    College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow

    Location: Glasgow

    Salary: £49,559 - £57,422 Grade 8, per annum


  • CISM Research Assistant

    Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University

    Location: Swansea

    Salary: £34,132 - £38,249 per annum


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025