Abstract
Background: Effective research supervision is vital for developing students' scholarly and professional competencies in higher education. The quality of undergraduate research depends heavily on the supervision practices, structural conditions, and institutional support that shape students' learning experiences.
Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to (1) assess the distribution of supervisory support across research phases, (2) evaluate the influence of institutional conditions on supervisory capacity, and (3) examine the alignment between faculty disciplinary expertise and student research outputs.
Design: A mixed-methods pilot study design was employed.
Methods: The study integrated a retrospective analysis of 50 undergraduate student research projects conducted between 2018 and 2024 with a cross-sectional survey of 17 supervising faculty members. Quantitative analyses examined research design characteristics, supervision patterns, and the alignment between faculty expertise and student research categories. Qualitative survey items explored perceived supervisory challenges and institutional barriers.
Results: Most student projects relied on cross-sectional designs (84%) and survey-based methodologies (88%), with limited methodological diversity, including pilot studies (10%) and clinical trials (2%). Faculty survey responses identified time pressure and limited protected research workload as major constraints on effective supervision. Despite most supervisors specializing in clinical nutrition, students predominantly conducted community-based research projects, indicating a significant misalignment between supervisory expertise and research focus (χ = 9.80, p = 0.0017).
Conclusions: The findings highlight systemic tensions among educational objectives, supervision capacity, and institutional structures in undergraduate clinical nutrition research. The piloted mixed-methods evaluation approach provides a practical framework for institutional assessment of supervision quality and alignment across academic programs.
First Page
50
Last Page
62
Recommended Citation
Eid, Noura Mohammed Saleh
(2026)
"Supervision Practices, Institutional Conditions, and Undergraduate Research Quality: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study in a Clinical Nutrition Program,"
Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Medical Sciences: Vol. 33:
Iss.
1, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64064/1658-4279.1037
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
