ERIC Number: EJ1477528
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1356-2517
EISSN: EISSN-1470-1294
Available Date: 0000-00-00
'She Should Have Explained and Convinced Me!': Student Engagement with Supervisory Feedback on Undergraduate Dissertations
Teaching in Higher Education, v30 n5 p1122-1139 2025
Informed by basic psychological needs theory, this multi-case study explored four supervisors' feedback practices and their effects on Chinese English-major students' engagement with feedback on their undergraduate dissertations written in English. Data comprised interviews with students and supervisors, stimulated recalls with students, audio recordings of supervisor-student conferences, and students' multiple dissertation drafts with supervisory feedback. Cross-case comparisons were made to gauge the supervisory support. The analyses revealed salient differences in pedagogical caring, optimal structure, and autonomy support provided by the supervisors. The supervisees engaged affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively with supervisory feedback to different extents, and their engagement depended on the types and amounts of teacher support available. The findings of the study contribute to the application of basic psychological needs theory by extending it to undergraduate dissertation supervision. Practical implications for improving undergraduate dissertation supervision in the Chinese context are proposed.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Theses, Supervisors, Supervisor Supervisee Relationship, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Academic Language, Foreign Countries, Feedback (Response), Psychological Needs
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School of Foreign Language Studies, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong