Challenges in Completing Graduation Research Projects: A Descriptive Study of the Experiences of College of Education Students at University of Garmian

The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by fourth-year students in the College of Education at the University of Garmian while preparing their graduation research projects, and to identify differences in the participants' perspectives according to their scientific specializations. A total of 288 students from eight departments within the college participated in the study. In the first stage, the researcher created a 28-paragraph questionnaire to collect data from the research sample. In the second stage, the researcher used a Focus Group methodology to obtain a more in-depth understanding. The questionnaire was presented to a committee of specialized and experienced reviewers to establish face validity, and a preliminary sample of thirty people was used to ensure discriminant validity. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient ( = 0.825), and the split-half method confirmed the stability of the instrument. The findings showed that the prominent challenges students encounter are finding enough scientific materials, such as articles, books, and not having enough supervision or support from supervisors when conducting research. In addition, students found it difficult to balance their time between other academic and personal obligations and the demanding requirements of research. Students also experience low confidence in their research skills, primarily due to feeling that they have not received enough training and education in this area during their various educational stages. To increase students' confidence in their research skills, the study suggested that supervisor support should be increased, access to scientific resources should be expanded, and scientific research training programs should be improved.