Sutanto, 2015 THESIS WRITING SUPERVISION: A CONTRIBUTION OF FEEDBACK TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
STUDENTS ’ THESIS WRITING
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Joyner 2005. This section discusses the criteria of well written thesis including topictile, contents and organisation, style and tone, and writing convention.
2.1. Writing Supervision
Writing is not just as simple as translating the images of our thoughts into words but transforming our thoughts, redefining them or, with great pain and effort,
giving shape to our ideas Viete et al, 2012. In other words ―Writing is an act of
creation, not limited to realistic boundaries or societal norm – we write because it
sets us free, it challenges our minds, it breathes life into our imaginations‖
Plessis, 2011. The norm of writing a thesis includes ―Think, Plan, Write and Revise‖ Barrass, 1991. It is understood as our messy ideas may lead to messy
writing: cluttered, disorganized, meaningless. That is why we need to think and plan before we write and revise by the assistance of supervisors or supervisory
team who are regarded as the experts. Their assistance is to exercise with insight and understanding of what the student needs and what the student finds most
effective Bitchener et al, 2010. The expert‘s goal of writing supervision is to help the novice students
come to a level of understanding of what is expected by the academic community Berlach, 2010. Academic community knows that thesis writing is based on
research. Research is finished only after it is written up; Clarity and brevity of thesis writing as to communicate ideas directly and clearly are shown in the whole
parts of the thesis including introduction, review of literature, methodology, results, discussions and conclusions Lindsay, 1997.
Thesis writing supervision known as research supervision is an academic activity which involves two parties: students who conduct the research
and lecturers who supervise the research. Connell 1985, p. 38 provides a definition of supervision:
Sutanto, 2015 THESIS WRITING SUPERVISION: A CONTRIBUTION OF FEEDBACK TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
STUDENTS ’ THESIS WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia |
repository.upi.edu |
perpustakaan.upi.edu
9
[Supervision] is a genuinely complex teaching task. It requires a substantial commitment of time and energy. It
involves grappling with a considerable range of problems, from technicalities of research design to the morale and
sometimes health of the student. And it never stands still, as the character of the relationship changes markedly over the
years of candidature.
The definition above has been focused more on a range of problems as reaction
and interpretation to the situation encountered during research supervision. Research supervision is a complex process to achieve a high quality of thesis.
Laske et al. in Zhao 2002. p. 5 give a further detailed definition signing that research supervision process is a process of fostering and enhancing learning,
research and communication at the highest level. This process involves knowledge creation, transferring and sharing, and knowledge access improvement
as well. The definition of the supervision process shows the complexity of the knowledge management process composing multiple roles and responsibilities for
both the supervisor and supervisee to acquire, share and utilize knowledge. Students expect that ―research supervision helps them to achieve a scientific,
professional or personal goal, and to learn about research and how to conduct research against the quality standards of the system
‖ and the supervisors expect ―to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge through creating
effective learningresearch situations and entail opportunities to conduct research projects with students which enhance their own learning, research and reputation‖
Zhao, 2002. From the information above, it is understood that research supervision involves both students and supervisors in process of communication
to achieve their realistic expectations to gain standard quality of thesis. In this study supervision is defined as a process of research writing
communication between supervisors and students to foster and enhance learning
Sutanto, 2015 THESIS WRITING SUPERVISION: A CONTRIBUTION OF FEEDBACK TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
STUDENTS ’ THESIS WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia |
repository.upi.edu |
perpustakaan.upi.edu
10
in order to produce a quality thesis within the allocated time of completion. The communication is done through written and oral discussions on the drafts of
students‘ thesis.
2.2. Writing Feedback
