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ABSTRACT
Master of Science (M.S.) programs, including geography through geographic information science and technology (M.S. GIST), play a key part in training the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce. A master’s thesis has been a traditional part of geography programs, and across all kinds of disciplines the value of a thesis is well-recognized. However, delivering master’s thesis supervision for large cohorts may result in lengthy completion times and poor completion rates. A growing literature focuses on master’s thesis supervision across a wide array of disciplines, but no study focuses on the master’s thesis for M.S. GIST programs. We offer a mixed-methods case study of a large, online M.S. GIST program showing how problems developed and were resolved over a 13-year period with program-wide structural reforms. Reform elements included increased attention to writing skills in admissions review, addition of writing instruction, earlier student engagement, staff engagement, faculty engagement, and development of thesis courses. Reforms shortened completion times and increased thesis completion rates while sustaining diversity and quality of thesis projects. Although this case study echoes many strategies found in the literature, it emphasizes that replication likely requires linking solutions together through structural reforms across a master’s degree program.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank three former and current staff members at the USC Spatial Sciences Institute who provided the deidentified secondary data on student progress: Dairon Caro, Monica Pan, and Ken Watson. The authors would like to thank John P. Wilson, Director of the USC Spatial Sciences Institute, for his leadership of the reforms in the thesis program and insights on drafts of this article. We would also like to thank the faculty and staff of the USC Spatial Sciences Institute and the M.S. GIST students included in the years covered by this study for sharing insights and working hard to make the reforms documented here a reality.
Disclosure statement
The author(s) are both employed full-time by the University of Southern California, Dornsife College, Spatial Sciences Institute. The authors have no other conflicts of interest.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2024.2316703