Although the thesis is an integral part of the study programme, the way the guidance for this work is supervised can highly differ between supervisors. Writing the thesis is a complicated process requiring tailored guidance, that is often not feasible due to increasing numbers of students and need for efficiency. One possible solution is working…

Whether a broad undergraduate curriculum prepares students well for academic and professional specialization is a much-debated question. This discussion is particularly relevant in the context of European liberal arts bachelor's programmes, which recently re-emerged as an exception to the continental norm of specialized undergraduate curricula.…

This paper describes the development, evaluation, and the changes made to a research course for part-time Master of Science students in accounting. The course prepares students for their Master of Science thesis and aims to develop their research skills. On top of this, it managed to overcome barriers between faculty members who were chiefly…

Despite the importance of goals in educational theories, goals in master's thesis projects are rarely investigated. Therefore, this study explores how goals play a role in master's thesis supervision in terms of: defining the goals (up-component); locating where the student stands in relation to the goals (back-component); and how the student can…

The number of international Chinese students enrolled in research programmes in Western universities is growing. To provide effective research supervision to these students, it is helpful to understand the similarities and differences in the supervision process between the host country and their home country. We explored which learning outcomes…

To be effective, feedback should be goal-related. In order to better understand goal-related feedback in Master's thesis projects, the present study explores the goals of supervisors and students in supervision dyads and similarities and differences within and between these dyads. Twelve supervisors and students were interviewed, and their goals…

Research supervision can be investigated from social-emotional and cognitive perspectives, but most studies include only one perspective. This study aims to understand the interplay between a social-emotional (supervisor-student relationship) and cognitive (feedback) perspective on the outcomes of master's thesis supervision in specific, by…

Master's thesis supervision is a complex task given the two-fold goal of the thesis (learning and assessment). An important aspect of supervision is the supervisor-student relationship. This quantitative study (N = 401) investigates how perceptions of the supervisor-student relationship are related to three dependent variables: final grade,…

This article reports on an action research project in which the value of critical friendship for students doing research and writing their dissertations within an international master's course has been explored. This course is run jointly by Roehampton University (London, UK), Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) together with Fontys OSO…