Nepali universities provide extensive research programs across various streams. Each year, Tribhuvan University alone enrolls more than a hundred students in MPhil and PhD programs. The University Grant Commission provides fellowships to researchers for carrying out research in various fields ranging from science to management, humanities, education, agriculture, engineering, medicine to music, yoga and many others. Affiliated colleges are also running courses on research in Bachelor’s and Master’s level independently as well as in collaboration with different institutions. These programs have contributed to linking knowledge with society and driving a positive change. However, there is still a need to further harness students’ research skills through practical writing sessions.
Tribhuvan University has taken various initiatives to enhance the quality of research across its Master’s, MPhil, and PhD programs. It has made students’ presence in the classroom mandatory. The first two programs, i.e., Master’s, and MPhil, prepare the students for writing effective dissertations in their PhD. These programs have served as an effective means to sharpen students’ analytical proficiency. The students learn about different theoretical, philosophical, methodological and other necessary aspects of academic writing at these levels. They learn to write term papers, research proposals, literature reviews, and synthesis papers, and defend them. They also learn to make impressive presentations at the seminars. These skills contribute to harnessing their research skills. Tribhuvan University is effectively involving students in such investigative endeavors. However, the students continue to perceive writing sessions as insufficient. They remain uncertain about their abilities to develop ideas, structure them and prepare the final dissertation.
The researchers go through several problems during their research journey. Many think that the areas offered for pursuing their career as researchers cannot meet their interests. The limited number of resource persons forces students to compromise with the area they are not interested in. As a result, they do not put much effort into making their papers standard. This hinders the overall progress and sets the university back. Another challenge that the researchers face during their academic journey is the lack of cooperation and support from their supervisors. They feel frustrated due to inadequate mentorship and support. Supervisors, burdened by both teaching duties and inadequate pay, often find it challenging to give the attention needed to their research students' writing. They can neither read the researcher’s paper thoroughly nor provide them any feedback. Because of the scarcity of faculty members, they also have to supervise students outside their area of expertise. Despite their lack of expertise in those areas beyond their field, they still approve low-quality research papers for awarding a degree.
Despite the ongoing efforts to improve the monitoring and evaluation systems of our universities, progress continues to be sluggish. The internal examiners are usually the faculty members employed in the same institutions where the research candidates are registered. The personal familiarity and inherent biasness of the examiners may lead to narrow perspectives and potentially cause them to overlook critical aspects of research works. Surprisingly, some researchers in the universities of Nepal choose their supervisors based on their political affiliations. Research experts too, feel comfortable working with such students. Their alignments with certain political ideologies sometimes diminish the quality of the dissertations affecting both the supervisors and the researchers. During the dissertation defenses, they depict a lenient approach toward the researcher’s viva voce. Conversely, the examiners are sometimes under the pressure of universities to pass even an incompetent candidate as it helps the institutions to demonstrate a high success rate. Both of these conditions negatively impact research quality.
Supervisors, burdened by both teaching duties and inadequate pay, often find it challenging to give the attention needed to their research students' writing. They can neither read the researcher’s paper thoroughly nor provide them any feedback. Because of the scarcity of faculty members, they also have to supervise students outside their area of expertise. Despite their lack of expertise in those areas beyond their field, they still approve low-quality research papers for awarding a degree.
Promoting curiosity in learners, encouraging reading, writing and critical thinking are quite essential. Developing a strong research culture, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and interdisciplinary work are crucial for research activities. We must make the public and stakeholders aware in understanding and valuing the outcomes of research works. More than that, aligning research work with the local contexts and national goal is quite fundamental. Students carrying out research from different universities in Nepal lack access to information. The lack of digital libraries, journals, and global research databases has led researchers to rely on time-consuming traditional methods.
Nepali universities should shift from their traditional lecture-based approach to engaging researchers. Research excellence can be achieved only when the focus is shifted to extended writing workshops that can be incredibly valuable, helping researchers improve the quality of their work. The universities must offer tools, training, and resources to empower researchers at any stage of their writing. They should cover various aspects of effective writing, including drafting explication, writing precisely, preparing abstracts, term papers, manuscripts, chapters, etc. The researchers must be taught to identify problems in the existing body of knowledge and they should be asked to set questions that can lead them to explore the cause of the problem, analyze it, and find a convincing solution. The professors should teach about the writing process, including what to write in each section of a paper, and provide expert critical insight and feedback on improving students’ scientific writing skills. The workshops must be highly interactive, with practical exercises, group discussions, and question-answer sessions. Engaging participants in such writing workshops alone can improve their writing skills and foster self-discovery. Toward the end of the workshop, the mentors should inspire researchers to publish their papers in the top journals.
The revolution of digital technology has altered the methods through which we receive education. Students cannot maintain patience to listen to their teachers for hours and hours now. They begin to reflect their impatience if the teaching methods are conventional. The best way to make them engaged in learning is through writing activities. They need to be told to brainstorm ideas, draft them, put them into order, and creatively formulate them. Many students find it uncomfortable to communicate their ideas to the masses. They should also be given multiple opportunities to express themselves before an audience. This will contribute to their self-assurance and professional advancement.
(Dr. Madhav Prasad Dahal is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, TU)
