In this previous study, there are some studies that discuss topics related to this research. There are some researchers also conducted research topics related to challenges or strategies in supervision.
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The first researcher is Prihandoko et al. (2022) “Complexities of Online Thesis Supervision during the Covid-19 Pandemic: EFL Lecturers’ Perception”.
These researchers used qualitative method. Moreover, they were using interviews and using an interactive model for analyzing data. The subjects were 30 lecturers from universities in Central Java and Papua. It aims to investigate the problems and solutions in doing online EFL undergraduate thesis supervision. The finding showed that several problems with online thesis supervision such as facing difficulties in following the transition from offline to online supervision, ineffective communication between lecturers and students, the time available to access online media continuously, difficulty in collecting data because many students the schools that were the target of their data collection held online learning, and experienced a decrease in student motivation. For the solutions, students should remind about their online supervision schedule, actively uses communication technology, and students can communicate with the authorities related to the object of research through their supervisors' help.
The next previous study is by Jannati et al. (2021) which entitled “Persepsi Mahasiswa Mengenai Layanan Bimbingan Skripsi Online”. The purposes of this research are to find out the perceptions that students have of online supervision and to perceive the challenges faced by students. The method of this study is qualitative, in which interviews and observations are used to collect data. In this study, the participants were ten students of Islamic Guidance and Counseling at UIN Raden
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Fatah Palembang. The result showed that most of the participants had a negative view of online supervision due to some of the challenges they faced such as the availability of online supervising time, time to do thesis repairs, unhelpful feedback provided by supervisors, and communication between lecturers and students that went fully obstacle.
There was a previous study by Naim and Danaphal (2017). They were also conducted research about students’ perception toward supervision and what challenges they might face entitled “Students’ Perception of the Supervisory Process:
A Case Study at a Private University in Malaysia”. The researchers used survey to obtain the students’ view about their supervision experiences. In addition, the sample in this research consisted of 100 students in a private university in Malaysia. The goal of this research is to seek undergraduate student perception and their challenges in doing supervision. The finding revealed that most of the students were dissatisfied with the guidance and support provided by their supervisor. In addition, the students felt the supervisor did not adequately guide them in terms of the research required.
Another research conducted by Sandria (2022) entitled "EFL Students' Perceptions of the Online Undergraduate Thesis Supervision Process", aimed to describe the students' perceptions during online supervision, especially students in English Education at University of Islam Malang. This study utilized a qualitative case study. In collecting the data, the researcher used a questionnaire for all students and interviewed four selected students for approximately 30 minutes. The researcher
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found students' perceptions regarding online supervision has two sides, namely positive and negative perceptions. The students stated that the positive things they felt included they did not have to pay for printing, flexible time, and did not get infected with Covid-19. On the other perception, the students expressed that feedback was slow to be sent by their supervisors and sometimes students also experienced misinterpretation from feedback that was not clear from their supervisors.
Henceforward, Djatmika et al. (2021) also conducted a research about online supervision which entitled “Lecturer Supervisors' Perception on Challenges in Online Thesis Supervision”. In this study, the data were collected through in-depth interviews with 23 lecturer supervisors from higher educational institutions in Papua and Central Java as participants. The researchers found that the challenges encountered by the participants were lack of time to always access the online media, the process of adjusting from offline to online thesis supervision, students' difficulties in collecting data in the field, less effective communication between students and supervisors, and a reduction in active student participation in online supervision.
In addition, there was a previous study by Kintama et al. (2021) “Online Thesis Guidance during the COVID-19 Pandemic for UWKS PGSD Students:
Obstacles and Solutions”. In this study, a questionnaire was used as a descriptive qualitative research instrument. It aims to investigate the obstacles and solutions from online thesis supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers used descriptive qualitative method by asking 17 questions to 20 PGSD UWKS students
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who took thesis course in 2019 as subjects in this research. The result showed that the obstacle faced by students was that students did not understand the feedback and materials conveyed by their supervisors during online supervision. On the other hand, the solution applied by students to handle the obstacle is that students communicate more intensely with their supervisors by using several applications such as WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype, Teams, and E-mail.
The last research conducted by Nurkamto et al. (2022) was entitled “Students' Problems of Academic Writing Competencies, Challenges in Online Thesis Supervision, and the Solutions: Thesis Supervisors' Perspectives”. The researchers used mixed-method research. The objectives of this study are to explore the problems faced by students in academic writing competencies, challenges in doing online supervision, and solutions to overcome those challenges based on the thesis supervisors' perspectives. The data collection technique was undertaken by giving closed-ended questionnaires, interviews and employed focus group discussions. The participants of this research were 50 thesis supervisors from Central Java and Papua.
They would fill out the questionnaires and 23 of them participated in the interviews and focus group discussion sections. The researcher was analyzed the data using interactive model-driven analyses. The results of this research indicated that the challenges faced were related to problems of technological competence, time management, unstable student motivation, and limitations of students doing field research.
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This research is similar to those previous studies in terms of challenges and strategies in conducting thesis supervision. Nonetheless, there are differences between this research and the previous research. The focus of this research is challenges and strategies in doing supervision mostly online. Furthermore, the participants of this research are undergraduate EFL learners at one public university in Jambi.
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