TY - JOUR
T1 - Industry requirements, thesis-writing and the emergence of flexible educational programmes
T2 - Reflections on the university learner experience
AU - Hunt, Ingrid
AU - Ryan, Alan
AU - hAodha, Mícheál
AU - Rezaei-Zadeh, Morteza
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - The transformation of new paradigms for online learning delivery has evolved rapidly over the past few years. For postgraduate programmes, the thesis module is regularly the capstone and significant in terms of academic credits. In reality, this module can be just an ‘add on’ set of resources with no dedicated online learning space. Industry students undertaking postgraduate programmes online traditionally feel overwhelmed while embarking on a thesis. Notably, too, they face the challenge of not being on campus and having the same learning opportunities as their on-campus counterparts. This paper highlights the importance of supporting and assisting online industry learners in participating fully with their thesis. The authors identify the challenges that face these learners at postgraduate level, recognising that a new way to help and prepare them to carry out and write a good thesis is essential. By focusing on a dedicated online module for ‘all things thesis’, the paper presents the positive experiences learners can have when participating in this module. The findings emphasise the need for educational providers to offer as part of their programmes a high-quality thesis module designed to support the postgraduate online industry learner.
AB - The transformation of new paradigms for online learning delivery has evolved rapidly over the past few years. For postgraduate programmes, the thesis module is regularly the capstone and significant in terms of academic credits. In reality, this module can be just an ‘add on’ set of resources with no dedicated online learning space. Industry students undertaking postgraduate programmes online traditionally feel overwhelmed while embarking on a thesis. Notably, too, they face the challenge of not being on campus and having the same learning opportunities as their on-campus counterparts. This paper highlights the importance of supporting and assisting online industry learners in participating fully with their thesis. The authors identify the challenges that face these learners at postgraduate level, recognising that a new way to help and prepare them to carry out and write a good thesis is essential. By focusing on a dedicated online module for ‘all things thesis’, the paper presents the positive experiences learners can have when participating in this module. The findings emphasise the need for educational providers to offer as part of their programmes a high-quality thesis module designed to support the postgraduate online industry learner.
KW - Industry learner
KW - online learner
KW - postgraduate programmes
KW - supply chain management
KW - thesis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111150521&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/09504222211032908
DO - 10.1177/09504222211032908
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85111150521
SN - 0950-4222
VL - 36
SP - 319
EP - 333
JO - Industry and Higher Education
JF - Industry and Higher Education
IS - 3
ER -