The master thesis: ruptures and continuities. Professors’ views, students’ views

Abstract

Writing is a fundamental component of all courses in higher education; it is requested in all devices whose objectives come in terms of teaching, learning and training, from the first year of university through PhD. At Masters level, students and teachers are faced with a new dimension of academic writing: the production of scientific knowledge, insertion into a research field. Thereby, the master thesis presents for students a new subject relative to writings they have previously performed, new challenges related to the specific dimensions of writing during research training. As for professors, the accompaniment of these new writings is linked to specific expectations, strongly linked to different disciplinary epistemologies. This paper aims to understand and analyze issues of these writings in university education and the ways teachers and students comprehend them.