Assan Zhulamanov (MBA), London School of Commerce, UK

Saule Iskendirova (PhD), Ulzhan Zholaman,

Kokshetau University after Sh. Ualikhanov, Kazakhstan.

WHY DO STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PROJECTS OFTEN FAIL?

Abstract. This paper aims at discovering any positive and negative factors that influence on results of a student’s academic projects or a dissertation, particularly at the final period of study program. Students may find the accepted research methods, written format styles and ways of quoting/referencing works are different from those they are used to. Further, this article provides literature review of the previous and current situation in the field of study. Due to the fresh questionnaire results and up-to-date information from newspapers, the authors tried to differentiate this paper from others.

Key words: Academic projects, MBA dissertations, research methods.

I. Introduction. Typically, the MBA dissertation aims to allow the student to develop and demonstrate powers of rigorous analysis, critical inquiry, clear expression and independent judgment in relation to an area of business activity. Most MBA dissertations are normally based on an in-depth investigation into a managerial problem within the student’s own organization. The most usual requirement is for more than just problem-solving typical of management consultancy since it requires the student to stand back from the problem, conceptualize it and explore its wider implications for other managers outside the particular case. [Gill & Johnson, 1997].

According to White [2002] the dissertation is an important phase of a Masters programme, in that it allows you to individualize your programme and research an area of business and management that interests you. It allows you to demonstrate in a positive way the business and professional skills you have acquired to date. However, the thought of having to write up to 25,000 word dissertation often causes the most able student to feel undue pressure and anxiety. In fact, the first word which comes to mind for many students when faced with the task of starting a dissertation is HELP!

If you are undertaking your research project as part of a course of study the most important attribute will be that it meets the examining body’s requirements and, in particular, that it is at the correct level. This means that you must choose your topic with care. Some universities require students to collect their own data as part of their research project while others allow them to base their project on data that have already been collected. You therefore need to check the assessment criteria for your project and ensure that your choice of topic will enable you to meet these criteria. [Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2000].

Meanwhile, White [2002] gives his own description about the time management as an important criterion in any project writing process. Start writing up as soon as you have gathered any material, don’t keep putting it off, or you will end up with huge amounts of data that are very difficult to sort out. Plan a realistic time schedule for writing up, and then stick to it. Remember that this should include time for writing, typing up, printing out and binding your work. If one aspect of the work is going slowly, don’t be afraid to leave it for a few days, and return to it another time. The change of material helps you to see the overall context. Because dissertations are so long, you can often lose sight of this and can get bogged down in one section, especially if that section appears to be difficult to write.

Interestingly, Fabb and Durant [2005] demonstrate the following techniques: look for ways of making time for yourself to work, and a place where you can work productively. Home may be too full of distractions, and the boundary between work and other activities may be too thin there, so you may need to define somewhere else as your working place. If your working place is also your bedroom, then you maybe in danger of not building a clear enough barrier between the stresses of your work and you need to sleep. If the library isn’t quiet, look for an empty room somewhere else, and work there. Exploit gaps; take something to read on the bus or while waiting in a queue. Keep a pen on you and some paper so that you can record good ideas whenever you have them. ‘Where small things make a big difference’: some company’s advertising slogan said. We would substitute the ‘things’ for the ‘ideas’. So that really express the essay writing process.

II. Research objectives. Our position is to make clear that the main approaches to management research – namely experimental research design, action research, survey research and ethnography – are all imperfect. Each has advantages and disadvantages in the kinds of data it affords and in its vulnerability to particular kinds or error. One way of overcoming each method’s weaknesses and limitations is deliberately to combine different methods within the same investigations, a strategy we call “multimethod research’… Students have also reported some difficulty with the ethnography sections. This we believe is probably because such a methodology is strange to students brought up in a predominantly positive culture. [Gill & Johnson, 1997]. Most project tutors will argue that one of the a good knowledge of the literature, enable you to assess the extent to which your research is likely to provide fresh insights on the topic. Many student believe this is going to be difficult. [Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2000].

What about the information sources?

So, what facts of student’s study process we can also consider as a somewhat negative. As mentioned by Zinsser [2001]: “You only write as well as you make yourself write”. So, let us examine the interesting factor named ‘Plagiarism’. Plagiarism comes from the Latin word ‘plagiarius' which means kidnapper. Generally, the word means theft or use of someone else's work without giving proper recognition or reference to it. In England (and America) it is considered CHEATING.

According to a survey published by the Freshminds recruitment consultancy, as many as one in four university students may have cheated by copying material for essays from the internet. The online survey was sent out last month to 600 recent graduates from all disciplines and 1000 officials of the National Union of Students. A total of 363 people responded. The survey included 10 returns from students who had done a health related degree, but most replies were from arts students. It showed that 16% of respondents had plagiarized work more than once and that a further 9% had plagiarized once. The detection rate among those who had plagiarized was 3%. The survey defined plagiarism as "inserting sections of text from any outside source into your own work, whether they are left whole, or amended to conceal their origins." [Eaton, 2005].

III. Evaluations of findings. In order to find out the other non-positive factors on the topic field, the following cognitive studies of National Student Survey helping us with this. According to analyst Knight more than 150,000 students were questioned how "satisfied" they were with their course. It can be seen from these surveys that there is no absolute measure of "satisfaction"; it is only a measure of the gap between expectation and experience. Therefore, if you have low expectations and all turns out well, then you are very satisfied. And vice versa, if you have high expectations and these are not met, then you are dissatisfied. In addition, the studies show that the main determinant of "satisfaction" is the subject, not the university. These groups of students are more dissatisfied than any other about assessment methods. The most satisfied students are those studying philosophy. The least satisfied are on art and design courses. To answer the topic question ‘why do student’s academic projects often fail?’ this paper produces the following outcomes.

Positive factors	Non-positive factors
Intellectual and practical skills Choosing your topic with care Individualizing your programme and researching an area of business that interests you Exploit gaps and record good ideas Collecting your own data as part of research project Library and information retrieval skills Checking the assessment criteria for your project Main determinant of "satisfaction" is the subject	Research methods, written format styles and ways of quoting/referencing works are different Teaching methods and different forms of assessment Rigorous analyzing, critical inquiry, clear expression and independent judgment Time management Place where you can work productively Writing and note-taking skills, research skills, personal skills. ‘Plagiarism’

Arguably, the positive factors chosen from the literature review as a theoretical part of this essay mean the factors more preferable for students and likely help them to improve for example practical or information retrieval skills easily. But ‘non-positive’ side includes more or less difficult and to some extent complex factors that students may have. As some thoughts concerning the major reasons for failure are based on the theoretical material, it would be interesting to look at the primary data.

The results that have come recently from our ‘Questionnaire’ research method demonstrate us more or less the real picture. Practically, the lecturers, tutors, marketing and examinations department’s officers (14 respondents) at London School of Commerce have been asked to select the main factors that affecting the students while they are writing the academic dissertations. Analyzing and comparing the contents that questionnaires have we can arrive to an interesting conclusion. Ranking the preferences/levels of impact on each factor reporting the following outcomes:

Table 1. Respondent’s replies. (Low level -1, 2; Middle level - 3; High level- 4, 5).

factors	Raiting
	1	2	3	4	5
Plagiarism	x	X	xx	Xxxxx	xxxxx
Part-time job	x	Xxx	xxx	Xxxxxxxx
Wrong research method	xx	Xxx	xxxx	Xxx	xx
Cheating	xx	Xxxx	xxx	Xx	xx
Topic misunderstanding	x	Xxxx	xxxx	Xxxx	x
Teaching methods/ quality of teaching		Xxx	xxxxxx	X	xxxx
English language		Xxx	xx	Xxxxxxxx	x
‘Culture shock’	Xx	Xxxx	xxxx	Xxx	x
Paraphrasing		Xxxxx	xxxxxx	Xx	x

The table 1. shows us the following:

Plagiarism and English language were recognized as the most affecting factors by 10 respondents and only 2 of them ticked the low level. Part-time job is very close to be at the same level (8 and 4 respectively). Further, there are three factors (Wrong research method - 4, Paraphrasing - 6, , Teaching methods - 6) in the middle position. So, this means that student’s projects often fail for these reasons also. Finally, ‘Culture shock’ and Topic-misunderstanding share the middle and low levels (4/4 and 4/4) but Cheating (4) is selected as the less influencing factor.

In addition, respondents mentioned other different problems students usually have such as: no extensive research, no critical evaluation, late submission of assignments, lack of planning, no improvement, student’s life is ‘partying’, time keeping, supervision etc.

IV. Summary. To sum up, the authors would like to believe that students can solve all of the problems they might have doing an academic projects in their courses by themselves. Such aspects as plagiarism and paraphrasing seem to us widely distributed even in the high-level standard universities and schools. However, nowadays the teaching methods and quality of teaching are still the important parts of student’s life. Therefore, the Board of Education must pay attention to them firstly. In fact, we live in a crazy computerized world, world of clever machines, in the era of information technologies and these facts extremely influencing the human being. And the easiest way to get any useful information or study material is just to click the ‘mouse’ cursor.

The literature.

Gill, J & Johnson, P. (1997) Research Methods for Managers, 2^nd.ed., Paul Publishing Ltd., London, p.viii, pp.3,4,14,15

Saunders, M, Lewis, P, Thornhill, A. (2000) Research methods for business students, 2^nd ed., Pearson Education Limited, UK., pp.13, 14, 16, 17, 51

Zinsser, W. (2001) On writing well: The classic guide to writing non fiction, New York, Quill

White, B. (2002) Writing your MBA dissertation, Continuum, London and Biddles Ltd., UK, pp.2, 7, 8, 9, 141.

Knight, P. (2005) Satisfaction depends on proximity to cows, The Guardian, Nov.15
Fabb, N & Durant, A. (2005) How to write Essays and Dissertations, 2^nd ed., Pearson Education limited., UK., pp.2,3,4,5.

Eaton, L 2005, A quarter of UK students are guilty of plagiarism, survey shows.

Retrieved: December 2, 2005 from http://www.bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abridged.html