This paper explores how the individuality of students affects their time management strategies in doing undergraduate final year projects. This study attempts to investigate how four students responded differently to the same time management advice given by the supervisor of their final year projects in two different teacher education programmes on teaching English as a Second Language. The strategies that each student used to cope with time management and the supervision strategies that the supervisor used in response to their coping strategies are explored. The areas of satisfaction and contention as revealed in the emotional reactions of the students and/or the supervisor during the decision-making process are also portrayed. The reasons for the students’ and the supervisor's final strategy choice are examined. Pedagogical implications are discussed.
Many programmes in Hong Kong universities as well as universities in other parts of the world require students to do final year undergraduate projects, which means writing a thesis on a topic specifically related to an area studied in the programme. The topic is usually chosen by the student. Generally, students working on their final year projects have to complete their reports within a certain period of time. Extensions are usually not allowed. Any student who submits the report late could have marks deducted. Thus effective time management becomes a significant key to success. In related literature, great importance has been attached to time management when giving advice to supervisors on how to help their students succeed (Moses, 1992 and Kelly, 1990).
One important strategy used in time management is planning. The importance of helping students to plan the research from the very beginning is widely stated in the literature (Allen, 1973, Mauch and Birch, 1989, Moses, 1985, Moses, 1992, Rudd, 1985, Watson, 1970, Zuber-Skerritt and Knight, 1992 and Gottlieb, 1994). Effective planning can reduce wasted time (May, 1997). Gottlieb (1994: 112) suggests that a supervisor should assist the supervisee to devise a proposed schedule for activities to be undertaken at a very early stage and ensure as much as possible that the schedule is followed. Such a plan exerts a greater demand for structured and disciplined use of time on the part of the student (May, 1997: 60). It is suggested that dividing the project into smaller and more manageable units which can be planned and controlled makes what seems a huge task more attainable (Graham and Grant, 1997). Identifying expected dates for completion of each phase is important. Safety time can also be built into the plan to allow for catch-up periods. Though it may seem tedious to plan time in such a detailed way, the results will be worthwhile. A week by week schedule is most desirable (May, 1997). When devising the schedule, it is helpful to start with an expected date of completion and work the phases from the deadline backwards (May, 1997). It is also stressed in the literature that it is important to ask for a regular submission of written work from the very beginning (Allen, 1973, Moses, 1985, Moses, 1992, Nightingale, 1992, Rudd, 1985, Watson, 1970 and Gottlieb, 1994). For example, it should not be a difficult task for the student to submit such written work in alternate weeks.
This study generates insight into the coping strategies of the students and the supervisor as regards time management. From this study, it can be seen that each student is different in terms of his or her beliefs, motivation, ability to work independently and systematically and the strategies employed to do the project work. They responded to time management guidelines differently. It can be seen from this study that when a supervisor chooses his or her supervision strategies, it is important to take into consideration the individuality of each student and the strategies employed by each student in doing the project work. In this study, based on the different factors affecting each student's progress and the different strategies used by each of them, the supervisor appropriately employed different supervision strategies with each student. This flexibility in the choice and use of supervision strategies is important in bringing about successful supervision. The insights obtained from this study should be a useful source of reference for supervisors, course designers and policy makers in university departments or other tertiary institutions in similar learning contexts in other countries. It is hoped that an improvement in the quality of supervision will help to bring about a better quality of student learning. Since this is an exploratory study and the sample size is small, the findings cannot be generalized, but they can definitely help in giving insight into the issues arising from the study. It is hoped that the study may be replicated with different students and supervisors from other disciplines so as to shed more light on the areas of investigation, to the benefit of both supervisors and students alike.
