1. Marketing; Supervisor Approaches/Styles; Recommendation for Best Practice; Student Experiences Dr. Kate Armstrong & Lynn Vos Jan 2015 A project conducted for The Higher Education Academy

2. Study overview Key themes in the literature Key themes in the interviews Findings, limitations, future research Overview Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

3. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for best practice regarding the management, supervision, and assessment of postgraduate marketing dissertations in the UK. The data were collected using a qualitative approach, and ten in-depth interviews with academics involved in postgraduate dissertation management, supervision and assessment from a variety of old universities and post- 1992 universities across the UK were conducted. Purpose & Methodology Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

4. 10 in-depth, semi- structured interviews 6 male and 4 female dissertation supervisors with 5+ years of experience Both pre and post 1992 institutions (‘old’ and ‘new’) Comparison of findings from interviews with the literature to identify similarities/differences Objectives: 1.Explore the key challenges supervisors face with students on marketing dissertations. 2.Explore and identify approaches to preparing students for dissertations; 3.Examine expectations and marking criteria for dissertations; 4.Identify different approaches to supervising and managing students; 5.Identify examples of best practice at UK Universities Study Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

5. MSc Marketing; MBA Marketing; MA Marketing Communications; MA Advertising and Marketing Communications; MA Marketing; MA Strategic Marketing; MA Strategic Marketing Communications; MA Digital Media. Degrees Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

6. Marketing education – very few studies Higher education journals – studies on dissertations supervision and practice from Social Sciences, Language education, Sciences and Humanities Covering UG, PG and PhD Dissertations/Theses Advances in Business Education and Training Chronicle of Higher Education College Teaching Methods and Styles Cousellor Education and Supervision Discourse Educational Review English for Specific Purposes Higher Education Higher Education Research and Development Innovative Higher Education International Education Journal International Journal of Educational Integrity Journal of English for Academic Purposes Journal of Further and Higher Education Journal of Graduate Education Postgraduate Education and Training in the Social Sciences Quality in Postgraduate Education Research in Higher Education Studies in Higher Education Teaching in Higher Education Literature Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

7. The student-supervisor relationship; Teaching and learning research methods; Helping students through various stages of the process and ways to improve student motivation; The challenges of student diversity, cultural background and prior preparation for undertaking a dissertation; and Issues related to plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Key Themes in the Literature These issues and the related challenges are quite similar across academic disciplines Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

8. Respondent Code: Gender, Academic Level, Old University/Post-1992 The ‘academic level’ for the supervisor code refers to whether the respondent is a professor, reader, principal lecturer, senior lecturer or lecturer. The limitation of not being able to state the institution is that there is some duplication with the codes as there is more than one female, senior lecturer at a post-1992 university for example. The results of the study revealed five significant challenges that face the execution of best practice when supervising MA Marketing dissertations: Results Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

9. 1. Research Methods: Conferences ‘Typical Mistakes’ Advanced Research Methods VLE’s Blogs Student Task Manual Using mobiles/personal technology to engage in the research process 2. Supervisor Meetings Adhoc vs. Structured Innovations in Supervisor Approaches [very briefly] Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

10. 3. Virtual Support Email VLE’s Skype Blogs Facebook Innovations in Supervisor Approaches [very briefly] Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

11. Challenge 1: Language and Cultural Barriers Challenge 2: Failing the Research Proposal. Challenge 3: Choosing a Viable Topic & Conceptual Framework Challenge 4: Plagiarism: Disillusionment and a Desire to Raise the Academic Standard. Challenge 5: Mis-Matched Supervisors and the supervisory relationship. Challenge 6: Student motivation, comprehension and knowledge Key Themes from the Analysis Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

12. “It’s a difficult process for a lot of the students…we don’t recruit students who have excellent English, we have a lot of Chinese students and for these in particular, the dissertation process seems a particular challenge” (Male, Lecturer, Old University). “We have a range of students from a variety of cultural backgrounds and that brings diversity and range to our programmes, however, as our Masters programmes are only one year long, it’s a lot for them to take in…” (Male, Professor, post-1992) Challenge 1: Language and Cultural Barriers Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

13. “There is a significant gap between the supervisors’ knowledge and what is going on with the research methods classes and the preparations that the students go through before they come to us to be supervised” ” (Female, Senior Lecturer, post- 1992) “…they just don’t grasp the methodological issues sufficiently enough to proceed.” (Female, Senior Lecturer, Post-1992). Challenge 2: Failing the Research Proposal. Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

14. Most of my students tend to want to do a case study of Starbucks! [laughs]... lots of students want to do almost consultancy type projects – a student yesterday for example wanted to do something on competitive strategy of iPad in China. Then you ask them two questions. Firstly, you ask them access can you get to proprietary information into the strategy and secondly, what sort of literature review will they base it around. Err is usually the response, ‘Hadn’t thought of that’ they say. So then you get to tell them that the literature review is the centrepiece of the dissertation and that they have to pick something to dovetail into that and that’s a challenge for a lot of them. Access to data can be an issue for a lot of their ideas. (Male, Professor, Old University) Challenge 3: Choosing a Viable Topic & Conceptual Framework Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

15. Some students come to me saying that they want to research ‘branding and trainers’ or ‘consumer behaviour and decisions making’ or ‘why people buy … whatever’ – it’s incredibly frustrating as we try to prepare them through our intensive and advanced research methods, yet we still have these problems once the student comes to the supervisor relationship, they just don’t grasp the methodological issues sufficiently enough to proceed. I do feel that I have to cover old ground with them when they come to me, which is frustrating, as at M level, they really should be more independent at this stage. The supervisor role is not to teach them it’s to guide them on their journey. But most of the weaker students just don’t get that. (Female, Senior Lecturer, Post-1992) Challenge 3: Choosing a Viable Topic & Conceptual Framework Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

16. “The future seems bleak with the amount of students that seem to be buying dissertations – with new technology it is harder and harder to track whether a student is guilty of plagiarism” (Male, Reader, post-1992) I think it’s a mistake that we don’t have Vivas, it’s a useful idea as it would give us an understanding of whether it’s the student’s work or not. However, from what I have seen at this University, it doesn’t seem like we can do much even if we do know that the work isn’t the student’s own work. (Male, Reader, Post-1992) Challenge 4: Plagiarism: Disillusionment and a Desire to Raise the Academic Standard. Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

17. “We just don’t have enough teaching staff in the right disciplines to match with students and we have had student complaints about this” (Male, Professor, Old University) “Different supervisor approaches can sometimes cause distress/displeasure and animosity amongst students who discuss the merits (and otherwise!) of their particular supervisors. Of course supervisors bring their own unique spin to the relationship and this should be encouraged. Student contribution shouldn’t be ignored either” (Female, Senior Lecturer, Post-1992) Challenge 5: Mis-Matched Supervisors and the supervisory relationship. Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

18. “I’m not sure what else we can do as supervisors to address this student apathy and disorganisation” (Male, Reader, post- 1992). “….if a student is lacking in motivation and doesn’t really want to be here then you have a problem for both you and them that is difficult to overcome” (Male, Professor, post-1992) Challenge 6: Student motivation, comprehension and knowledge Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

19. motivated, enthusiastic, dedicated students; students who read appropriate journal articles ahead of meetings; students who learn from supervisor feedback and incorporate that into their work for their next meeting; engaged in their discipline; have a specific dedicated dissertation course that runs alongside the dissertation; well-matched supervisor to student’s topic and research area. Supervisor ‘ideals’ wish list: Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

20. Armitage (2006) identified three types of students: 1)the hare; 2)the tortoise; 3)the ostrich. Student Types Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

21. Clear and persistent problems with the Marketing Dissertation (PG) from supervisors point of view Literature however, shows a real mismatch between student and supervisor expectations and perceptions Key themes in the literature very similar to those raised in the interviews Findings, Limitations, Future Research Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

22. Is it time to abandon the traditional dissertation? Some Universities (both pre and post 1992) have done so and are using projects Literature does provide a range of suggestions on managing the relationship; however, few articles on alternatives. Please see www.heacademy.ac.uk/disciplines/marketing for article: Vos, L. (2013). Dissertations at postgraduate level: A review of the research www.heacademy.ac.uk/disciplines/marketing This study: Very small sample Future research directions: Students: challenges, expectations and perceptions of the process The particular challenges faced by non-native English speakers Teaching research methods: student challenges; institution challenges and ways to mitigate Alternatives to the traditional dissertation Findings, Limitations, Future Research (cont) Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong

23. A chance to discuss the key issues presented to you here Let’s discuss your own experiences – do they reflect any that have been presented here? What have we missed? Discussion Lynn Vos and Kate Armstrong