Higher education aims to encourage independent learning (Burland, 2005) and in general, the postgraduate degrees allowed students greater independence than undergraduate study, if only in terms of topic choices. Tom had been motivated to study in order to gain an increased sense of independence (contrasting with his military career). The master’s degree required Tom to be self-directed, particularly because he was studying as a distance learner. He did at times struggle with the extent to which he was expected to be self-directed, relying on his supervisor for feedback on his draft assignments and becoming disappointed when final marks were lost but no advice had been given on ways to improve:
I wasn’t particularly happy with the feedback I got erm which I passed back up [to his supervisor] because a lot of the things I was marked down for I felt were avoidable, erm with a bit more guidance from my tutor. I certainly think they should have been picked up on some of my drafts considering they basically stopped me getting a distinction. (Tom, phase 3)
Many of the students desired a sense of independence in terms of studying topics of interest and leading their own research projects, whilst still requiring support and guidance as they became socialised into postgraduate study. The feeling of personal autonomy and control
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over the master’s degree provided a sense of achievement for Jodie, as unlike the rest of her life in which she focused upon her children and work portfolio, the master’s provided her with an opportunity to have:
that sense of having something that was, you know, yours alone; that didn’t have to be promoted to anybody or sold to anybody or had any bearing on anyone else, you know, it was your thing and you were responsible for it (Jodie, phase 4).
Jodie described the degree as an opportunity to reconnect with her younger self. Perhaps after becoming a mother and wife she felt disconnected from earlier interests and identities. Returning to study allowed her to focus on a personal interest away from the rest of her priorities and commitments. Jodie appeared to be facing a subordinated identity at the start of the degree (Britton & Baxter, 1999) as her children had taken precedence over her own interests and values. Through studying the degree Jodie was able to regain a feeling that she was doing something challenging for herself.
Jodie felt that the main difference between undergraduate and postgraduate study was the increased responsibility for independent decision-making. The master’s degrees had a narrower focus than the students’ undergraduate degrees which meant that the majority of students were already studying topics closer to their personal interests, with two of the three institutions also allowing free-choice dissertation topics (with guidance from
supervisors). Encouraging independent work in a safe environment where individuals feel able to take risks is thought to be conducive to creativity (Cole, Sugioka, & Yamagata-Lynch, 1999), therefore free-choice assignments may be more likely to lead to more innovative work and approaches by the students. According to achievement goal theory, when students feel a sense of autonomy they will engage more deeply and show greater interest in an activity (West, 2013). Six of the seven tutors spoken to highlighted independence as an outcome of their courses, displayed through a free-choice approach to the dissertations. These tutors felt that enforcing set questions upon students reduced the opportunity for them to develop their independence and would be less challenging than free-choice
assignments. It appeared that for many of the students, the perceived freedom to choose an interesting topic led to higher levels of enjoyment, however, there were still variances within this. Matt and Laura were enrolled upon the same course, and faced the same restrictions regarding dissertation topics, but reacted in different ways. Both were required to choose their top three dissertation topics from a list of possible questions (all of which involved quantitative research methods) and were then allocated to appropriate supervisors and
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questions depending on class demand. Matt enjoyed the greater sense of freedom he felt over his master’s dissertation (see also 6.4.2). He felt that he was still being guided towards success, but had a greater sense of control over his own project:
I get to do more research, you know, while being supervised, […] in a sort of a safety net, but, you know, without being as supervised I guess, a lot more independence. (Matt, phase 2)
Matt was interested in his topic, despite it being unrelated to his PhD proposal. He therefore approached the dissertation as a training exercise, in which he could broaden his skills and interests and learn to work independently. The benefits of allowing students to choose assignments from a list were negated when individuals found none of the topics interesting. The effect was worsened when individuals felt forced to study a topic they were not
interested in for an assignment. This prevented students from feeling autonomous and achieving the satisfaction of developing and designing their own research assignment:
It’s not as though any of us are like actually interested in what we’re doing, it’s just about showing that we can do it, so I guess that’s a little bit disappointing because you don’t get, there’s not really like the passion in the subject, so yeh it’s all about the process rather than the content (Laura, phase 2)
Fixed assignments could prevent students from studying something relevant to them which negatively impacted upon their working style and perseverance. Laura struggled to maintain her motivation in her dissertation project as she felt restricted in her choice and unable to study her area of interest. She felt ‘they should understand that it’s our project not theirs and if we don’t get it done in time then it’s our problem’ (Laura, phase 2). Without the sense of self-determination allowed by choosing her own topic, Laura lacked the intrinsic
motivation to pursue the assignment (Ryan et al., 1985). Whilst Laura felt that the
dissertation may help her develop skills she did not value the project and therefore struggled to make the most of her time during it. Therefore, it was Laura’s lack of interest in the set questions which negatively impacted upon her motivation in the assignment. Matt coped with the fixed assignments more effectively as he still felt the available choices were interesting and relevant, whereas Laura was unable to gain a sense of autonomy over her dissertation topic due to feeling the choices were irrelevant.
Independence was generally perceived to be a valuable skill within academia and students’ lives more generally:
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The dissertation is not in and of itself, you know, it is important as much for how it impacts upon someone’s ability to erm to grow and, you know, to develop as an individual in all sorts of ways particularly in this case as an independent operator […] to have initiative to make decisions, significant decisions about how this is going to happen, erm, and to be able to defend those decisions you know, and I think that’s […] just going to be something you have to come up against in any line of work at any point (Institution A, musicology tutor)
Independence may also impact upon employability as HEFCE report that employers look for key behaviour attributes in their employees, including the ability to take responsibility for one’s work (Mason et al., 2003). It would seem that developing independence whilst remaining in the relative safety of the academic institution is likely to benefit students in their future careers. However, students at master’s level do still require support as they learn to become more autonomous:
[…] students [can] really blossom and enjoy that independence [of the free-choice dissertation] and they really become super motivated, whereas with some of the other stuff they may be less motivated, but it can also be the other way round that students find that degree of independence frightening and need a lot of guidance and support because they’re not used to working independently (Institution B, music psychology tutor)
The quote above highlights the heterogeneity of the master’s cohorts who, having come to postgraduate study from different disciplines, at different ages, and with different levels of higher education, approach the courses in different ways. Once again it depicts the need to adopt a student-centred approach to ensure students are supported to develop their full potential. Within institution B students were all interviewed before being accepted onto the course in an attempt to ensure that the cohort could manage the pressures of the master’s degree. Despite this application process it is clear that there is still a margin within which students may sit, where they may have the potential to complete the course, but need more or less support in order to do so. The tutors highlighted the difficulty of balancing the course so that those who are already able to be independent may challenge themselves, whilst those that need more support are guided towards feeling more confident to work
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In some ways we don’t prepare them well for [the dissertation] at all because the first semester is very structured and we get lots of great assessments and then suddenly it’s like going oh do what you want […] Yeh I suppose it takes a very particular kind of student to cope well with both of those things, but the very organised, kind of very motivated ones are absolutely fine (Institution A, music psychology tutor)
Within all the institutions, the initial assignments were viewed as training to develop the skills and independence needed to successfully complete the dissertation. However, the quote above suggests that the highly structured first semester of the full-time course is not in itself preparation for the dissertation. Students must also prepare themselves and develop effective coping mechanisms for working on a large scale project.