UBD Doctoral Theses

This research study investigates students' ways of understanding academic writing through a phenomenographic approach, aiming to identify the qualitative variations in how students experience and approach academic writing tasks. Phenomenography focuses on the differences in learners' perceptions and the relationships between these perceptions, making it an ideal method for exploring the diverse ways students comprehend academic writing. By examining how twenty undergraduate students from Social Sciences programme interpret key elements such as structure, style, argumentation, and referencing, the study reveals patterns of understanding that range from surface-level to more profound, complex engagement. To explore how these students' understanding of academic writing can be improved, the study employs lessons guided by Variation Theory and conducted through a Learning Study. Variation Theory posits that learning occurs when students discern critical aspects of a subject by experiencing systematic variations in those aspects. In this study, instructional interventions were designed to help students discern critical features of academic writing, in particular the thesis statement, through targeted use of variation in classroom examples and tasks. Rather than focusing solely on instructional design, the study investigates what happens when lessons are guided by Variation Theory, in terms of how such an approach influences students' discernment of critical aspects and their overall conceptual development. Findings suggest that this approach supports a shift from fragmented to more integrated conceptions of academic writing. The outcomes offer practical implications for enhancing teaching practices and curriculum development in academic writing. particularly in helping students gain deeper and more transferable writing competencies.