Using group supervision for undergraduate dissertations: a preliminary enquiry into the student experience

This paper explores the student experience of the use of individual and group supervisory strategies with students undertaking their undergraduate dissertation on a social work programme. The findings indicate that small, supervisor led groups may be an effective mode for undergraduate dissertation supervision. This preliminary study suggests that there may be advantages of the peer group approach including: a higher rate for completion on time; greater student engagement maintained during the process and less ‘failure driven’ learning. The students’ results suggest that there is no detrimental effect on performance.