Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda

This study aimed at exploring the prevalence and nature of examiners’ comments on the appropriateness of draft M. Ed dissertations at Islamic University in Uganda. A total of 530 reports were stratified according to specialisations and examiners from which a sample of 300 reports were randomly selec...

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Main Author: Maimuna Aminah Nimulola
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Islamic University in Uganda 2018-12-01
Series:Interdisciplinary Journal of Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.journals.iuiu.ac.ug/index.php/ije/article/view/15
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author Maimuna Aminah Nimulola
author_facet Maimuna Aminah Nimulola
author_sort Maimuna Aminah Nimulola
collection DOAJ
description This study aimed at exploring the prevalence and nature of examiners’ comments on the appropriateness of draft M. Ed dissertations at Islamic University in Uganda. A total of 530 reports were stratified according to specialisations and examiners from which a sample of 300 reports were randomly selected. Content and thematic analyses were conducted on the reports whose findings were interpreted using Bourke and Holbrook’s (2013) indicators for assessment of Masters’ thesis quality. Findings reveal that under Contribution, ‘originality’ attracted few comments which tended to be neutral, while ‘substantive’ and ‘advancement of knowledge’ tended to be inappropriately done. The Literature Review ‘accuracy’ and ‘application’ categories were among the most highly commented on, with most of them tending to be inappropriately done, while relatively few comments were made on ‘literature coverage’. Under Approach/Methodology, ‘research design’ tended to be appropriately done while ‘sampling’, ‘validity’, and ‘reliability’ tended to be inappropriately done. In Analysis/Findings, ‘quantitative data presentation’ tended to be appropriately done, while ‘qualitative data analysis’ and ‘interpretation’ tended to be inappropriately done. Throughout the dissertation components, concerns on Presentation: ‘communicative competence’ and ‘expression’ were common. It is recommended that the university should engage Masters’ students more in seminars and workshops on research methods and scholarly writing.
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spelling doaj.art-8e3ff7ff06884464bd3ca94e3d92926b2023-03-07T07:10:09ZengIslamic University in UgandaInterdisciplinary Journal of Education2616-90882616-90962018-12-0112186207https://doi.org/10.53449/ije.v1i2.57Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in UgandaMaimuna Aminah Nimulola0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-8965Islamic University in UgandaThis study aimed at exploring the prevalence and nature of examiners’ comments on the appropriateness of draft M. Ed dissertations at Islamic University in Uganda. A total of 530 reports were stratified according to specialisations and examiners from which a sample of 300 reports were randomly selected. Content and thematic analyses were conducted on the reports whose findings were interpreted using Bourke and Holbrook’s (2013) indicators for assessment of Masters’ thesis quality. Findings reveal that under Contribution, ‘originality’ attracted few comments which tended to be neutral, while ‘substantive’ and ‘advancement of knowledge’ tended to be inappropriately done. The Literature Review ‘accuracy’ and ‘application’ categories were among the most highly commented on, with most of them tending to be inappropriately done, while relatively few comments were made on ‘literature coverage’. Under Approach/Methodology, ‘research design’ tended to be appropriately done while ‘sampling’, ‘validity’, and ‘reliability’ tended to be inappropriately done. In Analysis/Findings, ‘quantitative data presentation’ tended to be appropriately done, while ‘qualitative data analysis’ and ‘interpretation’ tended to be inappropriately done. Throughout the dissertation components, concerns on Presentation: ‘communicative competence’ and ‘expression’ were common. It is recommended that the university should engage Masters’ students more in seminars and workshops on research methods and scholarly writing.https://www.journals.iuiu.ac.ug/index.php/ije/article/view/15master’s dissertationsquality indicatorsdissertation examination
spellingShingle Maimuna Aminah Nimulola
Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda
Interdisciplinary Journal of Education
master’s dissertations
quality indicators
dissertation examination
title Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda
title_full Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda
title_fullStr Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda
title_short Examiners’ Comments on Masters’ Dissertations at the Islamic University in Uganda
title_sort examiners comments on masters dissertations at the islamic university in uganda
topic master’s dissertations
quality indicators
dissertation examination
url https://www.journals.iuiu.ac.ug/index.php/ije/article/view/15
work_keys_str_mv AT maimunaaminahnimulola examinerscommentsonmastersdissertationsattheislamicuniversityinuganda