How much input should a tutor/ mentor have in a dissertation?

[Cocolepew]

DD is in her final year of a geography degree, she's the only member of our family to go to university so everything is a bit new to us.
Her mentor told her that DDs original idea for dissertation was good, then later persuaded her to change it saying it would be too hard to collect data for it.
DD had a meeting with her a few weeks ago to talk about her anxiety concerning her final year. DD has anxiety and OCD.
It didn't go well, the tutor wasn't particularly sympathetic to DD asking for reassurance.
The tutor is going abroad at Christmas and DD hasn't heard if anyone will be taking over from her.
DD finds it hard to speak up for herself. I have told her to do what she finds easier to do, but this seems to be the opposite of what the tutor wants her to do.
Sorry this is a bit garbled

For an honours dissertation I would expect some guidance on the choice of topic, guidance on structuring the dissertation and advice on pacing the work through the year. Other than that work of the dissertation should be down to the student. Probably there would be a few meetings and some emails initiated by the student, but the support would be quite hands off.
For a student with adjustments for a disability then more can be required of the tutor, they should be meeting the stated adjustments, which could include more help with organising the work. The learning outcome of a dissertation probably includes independent work, so that’s what it should be. I’m not sure if the mentor and the tutor are the same person in your post, a disability mentor and a dissertation tutor are very different roles. As a dissertation tutor many staff would be reluctant to get too involved with pastoral rather than academic support, unfortunately. If not already getting support from the disability service, your daughter should look into it. Without official adjustments in place no allowance is likely to be made for anxiety.

Ds has already had several communications with his tutor about his. He had to submit a proposal and has had a review of progress to date. He is now collecting more data, will have another review on request and emails queries. He also has learning support through DSA weeklyish during which he can discuss more general issues and strategies.

I'd have said some guidance at the start to find a topic and angle and advice on how to approach it but other than that it should be an independent piece of work by the student.

I do think some undergraduates (not saying this is ypur DC OP) seem to think dissertations and uni work are just like GCSE and a level coursework where tutors should hold their hand at each stage, lots of drafts etc. As a result I'm aware some universities do pander to this mentality so there'll be some places where endless tutorials and spoon feeding is accepted.

When I was at a Russell Group uni (15 years ago ) my tutor did this with me:

• initial meeting at end of second year to discuss ideas for dissertation topic
• I was then expected to produce an outline plan over the summer holiday
• meeting at start of third year to discuss outline plan
• wrote a chapter before Xmas and met to review it in January

And then if I remember it right, it was up to me to finish it and get it in before the Easter break.

Thanks, yes I meant the same person, I wasn't sure what they were called!
DD is more than happy to be getting on with it by herself, she likes to work independently.
I think she is worried the tutor is trying to get her to change things that DD would prefer to be doing, for example the tutor told her to bring more human geography into it which DD hates , she is going more towards the conservation of animals/flora side.
DD just needs to have more confidence in her own ideas, and be able to express these to the tutor I think.

Thank you for the replies

DD hasn't gone to Disability Services, she accessed the counselling service last year, she has a tendency to overwork herself.
She also paid to see a therapist she went to after a breakdown when she was 11.
She's trying her best to manage her anxiety, it just wears her out sometimes.

I think she is worried the tutor is trying to get her to change things that DD would prefer to be doing, for example the tutor told her to bring more human geography into it which DD hates , she is going more towards the conservation of animals/flora side.

As a tutor this was what I found hardest about supervising dissertations - guiding them towards the project that gave them the best chance of success without taking over or doing too much. I advise she listens carefully to why the tutor is saying that - if it's just 'it might be more interesting if you...' then she can stick with her own ideas (but accept that she might get the same feedback from the examiners!), but if it's about viability of the research then I'd take it seriously. I'm a historian and in my area I have often have to talk students out of doing their project 'from the view of the ordinary people' because it's a really laudable aim but the sources either don't exist or aren't accessible by an undergraduate. I always give them options though - 'either you could look at x but do it more through elite writings/parliamentary legislation/whatever or, if you want to do something that's focused on non-elite perspectives, what about looking at y?'. If your daughter really doesn't want to shift towards human geography as the tutor suggested it might be worth talking about other ways to tweak the project.

DD did change her topic on the advice of the tutor, the tutor said it was easier to get data and and would probably get better marks, DD was happy enough to take this guidance.
I think the problem is DDs need for reassurance, she obviously can't, and wouldn't, run to get assurance from the tutor its going ok. Unfortunately she then looks for me to give it to her, I know sweet fa about dissertations or geography!
I'll pass on what your advice Lisa, thank you .

Get your DD to check what the faculty's policy is on this. There will be one, and usually it will be accessible to students. It'll specify (for example) that there will be x number of meetings, or meetings at x frequency, or whatever. It will set out what a tutor should do and what is the student's responsibility.

If for whatever reason your DD can't find this information in her student handbook, she could follow it up with her general supervisor/head of year, maybe by emailing to clarify.

There's not much point comparing on here, because different universities can have really different expectations and requirements, even when you're looking at the same subject. In some places you'll be expected to work very independently and will be given a lot of credit; in others, there might be more guidance for a project that isn't judged as being so significant to the overall result. We can't know what the situation is with your DD's university.

Thanks LRD.

DD had a meeting with her a few weeks ago to talk about her anxiety concerning her final year

The issue for the tutor here is that if your DD hasn't got a properly worked-out letter or statement from her university's disability/access services, then the tutor can be sympathetic, but can't make adjustments officially.

The tutor may be giving her advice (not "persuading") on the basis of their far more extensive knowledge of what topics will work, for which research topics your DD can garner appropriate data & evidence in the given time and resources, and so on.

It might be wise for your DD to listen to the tutor's advice. They usually do actually know what they're talking about.

And everything Lisa and LRD say: as a guide, in my department students have the option of seeing their dissertation supervisor fortnightly across 1 x 12 week term for around 20 minutes each time. They also do 2 group seminars at the start of the dissertation term, plus give a work-in-progress presentation, and do an (assessed) short literature review.

They still complain that they don't get enough face to face time ... but what are we supposed to do?

A dissertation is independent work: the point of the dissertation is to show the world what they can do pretty much on their own, as in my department, it's the final piece of assessed work before they graduate & go out as people supposedly qualified to do this sort of research and writing.