Assessing the undergraduate dissertation teaching-learning process

Abstract

The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at USC has been a pioneer in the implementation of the undergraduate dissertation in the Spanish university. In this paper we analyze the valuation of the stakeholders (students and supervisors). The study is structured around five key elements of the teaching-learning method: support (supervision, information, training activities); the procedure to assign both the issue and the supervisor; the competences acquired; the dedication and the student assessment procedure. The analysis is supported by data coming from a survey of 115 students and 56 supervisors, in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 in the degrees in Business Administration and Economics. The results show that the undergraduate dissertation is perceived as a subject with an appropriate methodology for achieving the suitable skills and competences. Besides, 82.6% of the students say that the complementary training activities were unnecessary. The assessment criteria are considered suitable (78.6% of teachers and 44.3% of students, although the remaining 55.7% propose changes which are not significant). By contrast, the opinions about the procedure to assign issues and supervisors are widely dispersed. Supervisor plays a crucial role in the transmission of information to the student.We conclude that the undergraduate dissertation is a subject with a suitable methodology to achieve the objectives and competences raised. However, the level of effort required is high, and is scarcely acknowledged.

Keywords

• trabajo fin de grado
• enseñanza-aprendizaje
• valoración de los estudiantes
• valoración del profesorado
• grado en economía
• grado en ade