Dissertation Reflections

Stephanie Siviter - Institute for Transport Studies

Project overview

Dissertation Reflections will explore the dissertation journey, experiences, and perspectives of International Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students. It will look at each stage of the dissertation process and gauge how international PGTs experience the project. It will ask these students to express themselves creatively by using images, photos, videos, audio and text - with follow up focus groups.

I wanted to hone in on International Students as a cohort based on my experiences of teaching English as an additional language students for many years. I also wanted to focus on masters' students and dissertations after going through this process myself in 2020 - 2023. I feel like the intersection of both International and post graduate students are less of a focus in HE research - and their voices should be heard.

The research approach

I have a Microsoft form asking students what stage they are at in their dissertation and then asking them to reflect on their project at that stage. They are encouraged to respond in creative ways - such as uploading pictures, photos, video, audio, text. There will also be a focus group to follow volunteers up by expanding on this.

I hope that I will establish patterns of challenges, positives and everything in between that these students face at each stage of their dissertation. I hope that I get a real insight into the experiences of International PGTs at Leeds during this summative assessment - and ultimately this will lead to ways in which we can support them. I also hope that the findings will inspire digital and creative solutions to common problems - which could in turn shorten the awarding gaps in masters' results at Leeds.

If you would like to find out more about the project contact Stephanie Siviter

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn

Each fellowship has a project sponsor that helps the fellows achieve impact across the institution. The sponsor for this fellowship is Claire Wright.

Project start date: September 2025