Who me? Assess a thesis?

Postgraduate students doing research are often likened to apprentices. The student learns the methodologies and processes of research on the job while being supervised by an academic in the area of their research interest. Does this one successful research effort 'qualify' the student who goes onto an academic career to assess other theses and dissertations? How does one 'learn' how to assess a thesis or a dissertation?

There are a number of publications providing guidelines for supervisors and postgraduate students in the development of a research proposal, the conduct of a research and the writing up of a thesis or dissertation including Delamont, Atkinson and Parry (1997), Long, Convey and Chwalek (1985) and Moses (1985). These guidelines could also be used to develop criteria for the assessment. At university, faculty and department levels, criteria are sometimes provided to guide the student (and supervisor) in the research process and/or guide the examiners. A quick perusal of some of these criteria published by a number of universities indicates that they often are quite vague in describing what is expected of the student and the final product. Even with university or departmental criteria and even if the assessors come to an agreement on what criteria to apply to a given situation, 'there will inevitably be discrepancies among individuals on how the criteria are applied to the same phenomena in the same context' (de Vries, 1999).

With often vague criteria as a guide, a small sample of theses and dissertations against which to norm reference and the possible intrusion of the assessor's value judgements, how does one learn the assessment process and come to a final decision on a thesis or dissertation? Perhaps there is a need for the apprenticeship which started in the postgraduate years to continue in the formative years of the new academic's career. An apprenticeship or mentor program could enhance the foundation of knowledge and skills of the new academic to better equip them to assess a broader range of theses and dissertations. De Vries (1999) argues for the socialisation of assessors, giving them greater exposure to assessments, reviews, external examining, audits and academic judgements of different kinds where they would meet and discuss issues with their peers and place their values under the microscope, as well as training sessions within departments where examples of student work are discussed.

How did you learn to assess theses and dissertations? What do you think would assist new academic staff in assessing them?

• Delamont, S., Atkinson, P. & Parry, O. (1997). Supervising the PhD: A guide to success. Buckingham, U.K.: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
• de Vries, P. (1999). What skulks behind the criteria? A study of dissertation assessment in four social science departments. <http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/may99/deVries1.htm>
• Long, T. J., Convey, J. J. & Chwalek, A. R. (1985). Completing dissertations in the behavioral sciences: A systematic guide for graduate students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Moses, I. (1985). Supervising postgraduates. Kensington, NSW: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia.