Thesis circle

A thesis circle involves a number of students and at least one professor, lecturer or instructor who collaborate in supervising and coaching final (undergraduate or MSc) projects. This tool for supervising students working on their thesis, also known as "thesis rings", was developed in the 1990s at Maastricht University.

Overview

Participants in a thesis circle meet regularly to discuss the progress of work on (mostly individual) final projects. Students are in charge of planning and chairing the sessions as well as managing and distributing information (e.g. draft chapters). The professor brings his/her disciplinary expertise and knowledge into the meetings of the thesis circle.

An important characteristic of thesis circles is the principle of switching roles: students participating in thesis circles frequently switch between their role as writer of a thesis (final project) and their role as co-supervisor of the other students in the circle. This mechanism serves to accelerate and deepen learning on key issues and challenges encountered in doing a final project (Romme & Nijhuis, 2000). In an educational sense, thesis circles are a particular form of collaborative learning, inspired by the sociocratic circular approach (Romme, 1999; 2003) as well as Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development.

Thesis circles appear to have a positive effect on both the quality of the supervision process and the performance of the students involved (Rompa & Romme, 2001; Romme, 2003). For example, a former participant in a thesis circle at Tilburg University observed that "the concept of a master thesis circle is an excellent idea to promote feedback among students and thus create a truly collaborative environment" (source).

A study of a large number of thesis circles set up at Tilburg University (Damen, 2007) concluded that many circles accomplished a particular culture of reflective (i.e. non-rhetorical) questioning and dialogue. Damen (2007) also found that the supervision style of the professor has a strong impact on whether this culture of reflection comes about. In thesis circles with a coaching rather than instruction oriented supervisor, more reflective questioning and dialogue was observed. Furthermore, reflective questioning among thesis circle members was found to substantively affect the appearance of complex, so-called multi-perspective cognitive outcomes (Suedfeld et al., 1992; Curşeu and Rus, 2005). Moreover, Damen (2007) observed that students with a stronger need for cognition (Cacioppo et al., 1996) and more openness to experience (McCrae & Costa Jr., 1997) also appear to engage more in reflection. Finally, reflective questioning in thesis circles turned out to contribute directly to group cognition, and over time tends to raise higher expectations among thesis circle members with regard to cognitive and learning outcomes (Damen, 2007).

Thesis circles have been set up, for example, in Maastricht University, Tilburg University, University of Utrecht, Eindhoven University of Technology, Open University of the Netherlands, University of Twente, Rotterdam School of Management and Fontys University of Applied Sciences.

See also

• Collaborative learning
• Zone of proximal development
• Sociocracy
• Need for cognition

Further reading

• Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., Feinstein, J. A., and W. B. G. Jarvis (1996). Dispositional differences in cognitive motivation: The life and times of individuals varying in need for cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2): 197-253.
• Curşeu, P. L. and D. Rus (2005). The cognitive complexity of groups: A critical look at team cognition research. Cognitie, Creier, Comportament, Decembrie 2005: 681-710.
• Damen, I. C. M. (2007). Making pictures in front of a mirror: A cognitive perspective on reflection in learning, Dissertation Tilburg University, Ridderkerk: Ridderprint.
• McCrae, R. R. and P. T. Costa Jr. (1997). Personality trait structure as a human universal. American Psychologist, 52(5): 509-516.
• Romme, A.G.L. en J. Nijhuis, Samenwerkend Leren in Afstudeerkringen, Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff, 2000. English translation: Collaborative Learning in Thesis Rings
• Romme, A.G.L., Redistributing power in the classroom: the missing link in problem-based learning. In: J. Hommes, P.K. Keizer, M. Pettigrew & J. Troy (eds.), Learning in a Changing Environment, p. 109-126. Dordrecht-London-Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999.
• Romme, A.G.L., Organizing education by drawing on organization studies. Organization Studies, vol. 24 (2003): 697-720.
• Rompa, R.M.G. & A.G.L. Romme, Kwaliteit van samenwerking en leerprestaties in afstudeerkringen. Pedagogische Studiën, vol. 78 (2001), nr. 5: 298-312.
• Suedfeld, P., Tetlock, P. E. and S. Streufert (1992). Conceptual/integrative complexity. In: Smith, C. P., Motivation and personality: Handbook of thematic content analysis, Cambridge, Cambridge University press.