Perspectives upon knowledge

“The first encounter with thesis work is to ask oneself what knowledge actually is. What does the student think is meant by knowledge and knowledge generation? Usually, this is the first discussion that I have with students who show interest in writing a thesis and ask me to supervise it. In this context, I detect various perspectives.

The dominant perspective is that knowledge is objective and is represented by science. It determines methodology. Professors are the carriers of knowledge, and can convey to the student how knowledge generation takes place. The student has to demonstrate to the professor that (s)he can learn these methods and that the professor can give the student a good grade for it.

The second perspective is predominantly driven by a career motive. Students say that the MA thesis is the last component that they need to accomplish their studies. The student needs a good grade, but is trying to reduce the time needed for completing the thesis. Hence, the motivation is to get done with the thesis as quickly as possible, with minimal resources invested in it. The expectation of the student towards the supervisor is: Make my life easy!

The third perspective is that a student comes and confesses that he doesn’t yet quite understand what knowledge means. The student is searching, and the thesis helps to explore the question of what knowledge means for him/her. These are the students who enter the thesis process with a predominantly open mind.”

(Urs Jäger)