Students' ways of experiencing writing a bachelor's thesis: a phenomenographic interview study

• Published in: Higher education research and development Vol. 42; no. 7; pp. 1640 - 1653
• Main Authors: Henttonen, Ani, Ahlberg, Kristina, Scheja, Max, Fossum, Bjöörn, Westerbotn, Margareta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2023
• Subjects: Academic writing; Cooperative Learning; Educational Sciences; Learning; Lärande; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Nursing Education; Nursing Students; Phenomenography; Research Skills; Student Attitudes; Student experience; Student Projects; Student Research; Theses; Undergraduate Students; Utbildningsvetenskap; Writing Attitudes; Writing Skills
• ISSN: 0729-4360; 1469-8366; 1469-8366
• DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2023.2174085

A bachelor's thesis can be characterized as a proof of basic research and a trajectory of academic writing. This study addresses students' ways of experiencing the writing process at the halfway stage, a stage that has been ignored in research. In a phenomenographic interview-study design, semi-structured interviews with 15 nursing students were carried out. A phenomenographic analysis of the data represents an outcome space with four categories of ways of experiencing writing: A. Structure, B. Comparison, C. Shift, and D. Relation. The categories of ways of experiencing the writing of a bachelor's thesis constitute a range of foci, from solitary writing and assurance of the textual structure to a shared understanding, discussion, and transformation. This study confirms that sharing the preparation of texts in groups at the halfway stage can promote academic and relational skills. Conclusions address the nature of academic writing at the halfway stage and discuss potential pedagogical implications of the transformation from writing for oneself to writing for others, across disciplines and beyond academic levels.