Requirements for successful implementation of Group Dissertation in Iran's universities

The low teamwork and groupwork skills of graduates, as well as the low quality of some theses and dissertations, are among the issues that Iran's higher education is facing. It is argued that the proper implementation of group dissertation not only improves the quality of theses and dissertations, but also develops teamwork and groupwork skills in students. Therefore, it prepares students for workplace better. Considering the significance of the subject, the purpose of the study is to investigate the requirements for successful implementation of group dissertation in Iran's universities.

This study is applied research and its approach is qualitative approach which uses Phenomenology Method to conduct the research. In this study, the tools of "Documentary Research" and "Semi-Structured Interview" were used to collect data. The contents of documents and interviews were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Accordingly, to interpret the qualitative data and keep the validity of research findings, “Exploration by the Subjects” and “Continuity of Evidence” have been taken into consideration.

dissertation group is a form of group research in which each student is still responsible for writing his dissertation or thesis. By participating in a group of 3 or 4 students, a student writes his dissertation or thesis richer, more regular, and faster. Results of this study reveal that there are eighteen requirements for the successful implementation of dissertation group in Iran's universities, which are divided into five levels as follows: requirements at individual level (knowledge requirements, skill requirements and disposition/attitude requirements), requirements at dissertation group level (cultural requirements, educational/ administrative requirements, financial requirements, and legal requirements), requirements at the higher education institute level (cultural requirements, educational/ administrative requirements, financial requirements, and legal requirements), requirements at national level (cultural requirements, educational/ administrative requirements, economic requirements, political requirements and financial requirements), requirements at international level (educational/administrative requirements and economic requirements). According to these requirements, the successful implementation of group dissertation requires the provision of suitable individual, group, institutional, national, and international contexts because there are close relationships among theses contexts. The impact of national and international contexts is that if competency-oriented as well as national and international competitions prevail in a country, organizations and companies must be equipped with efficient specialists, working teams, and working groups to stay in the competitive. In this circumstances, organizations and companies also put pressure on higher education institutes to educate efficient graduates who have the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions, including teamwork and groupwork skills.