1、The Senior Thesis:,Systems for Survival,or,The Senior Thesis: It seemed like a good idea at the time,Gina Sampson BA(Hons), MA, BEd The Writing Centre Immaculata Hall 867-5221 http:/people.stfx.ca/gsampson,What brings you here?,What is the one thesis survival question you need answered?,The Graduate
2、/Masters Thesis presents challenges on many levels,Intellectual Creative Personal Organizational,“We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us - the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path “ Joseph Campbell,Who
3、s here to help?,Your supervisor Your peers The Library The Writing Centre The Counseling Centre,How your supervisor will help you,Your first and most important support for dealing with all challenges. Some will be very hands on. Some will let you lead.,How the library staff can help you,Book an appo
4、intment for an individual consultation to plan your research approach. Ask for support using RefWorks. Use Novanet Interlibrary loan. Consult Undergraduate Thesis Collectionhttp:/libmain.stfx.ca/newlib/collections/,How the Writing Centre can help you,Create a time management plan. Discuss your ideas
5、. Review and strengthen your writing. Review documenting.,Meeting the Organizational Challenge,Organizing your time Organizing your search Organizing your findings Organizing your writing,A thesis requires multiple organizational plans. You need to allow yourself time to create these plans.,Can you
6、explain the systems you already use?,Time management system Research strategy Strategy for organizing your references Strategy for organizing information Strategy to guide your writing Plan for revisions and editing,The Time Management Strategy,TM strategies,Big tasks become manageable when broken i
7、nto small tasks. Schedule fixed dates first. Plan backwards. Block off thesis time. Dont wait for feedback to move on. Allow adequate time for revision. Ask you supervisor for input into your TM plan.,Sample TM Plan Term 1,Sample TM Plan Term 2,Time Management Tools,Not all planners are created equa
8、l. Use a combination of long term and short term planners. Daily Plan To Do ListsPost-it Notes Weekly Planner Monthly Planner Four Month Calendar,On line Time Management Tools,Rainlendar Customizable Calendar http:/vapaa.dc.inet.fi/rainy/Rainlendar.htmlCountdown Events http:/ Post-it Software Note h
9、ttp:/ Outlook,The Research Strategy,Research strategy,Work with your supervisor to create a research plan. The library can help as well. This strategy will produce a complete examination of past and/or current academic discussion on the topic.,Search within an academic discourse,Web of Science http:
10、/libmain.stfx.ca/newlib/Google S,More about research,Research is an organic process new directions grow out of findings. Look from broad to specific. Go back and forth between outlining, writing and research. Consider this when planning your time.,The Organizational Strategy,It is crucial to develop
11、 a system for recording, integrating, and organizing research findings. Why? What systems have worked for you?,How the note card system works,Each card contains only one idea plus bibliographic information. Add a category heading to each card. Add some critical or analytical reflection to each card.
12、 Cards are easily shuffled to outline paper.,Source Category,Your quotation or paraphrase one idea per cardBottom or back of card Your reflection, questions, etc.,Advantages of using a note card system for note taking,Easily integrate information from multiple sources Ideas do not get lost or forgot
13、ten Facilitates critical thinking Facilitates paraphrasing Easy to maintain organization Highly visual and kinesthetic Not technology dependent portable,Possible Disadvantges,All that writing? Transporting?,Try using PowerPoint instead,Gives you the flexibility of note cards in an electronic format
14、You can even print the slides ( in handout format) and cut them to give you the advantages of note cards.,Jacobs 2003 self esteem,DQ “High ability/learning disabled (LD) students perceive themselves as deficient more frequently in academic areas, which most likely increases their motivation to avoid
15、 school tasks.” Para Gifted/LD students are critical of their own performance and this can lead to underachievement,Compare Burns 1997 for suggestions about classroom strategies to deal with this. Is it possible that LD & G students have lower self esteem than LD students in general?,Sample “Note Ca
16、rd Note taking using PowerPoint,Organizing Bibliographic Material,What is RefWorks,RefWorks is web-based bibliographic software package that enables you to: Organize your research Include citations while you write your paper Build a bibliography in a variety of formats Import references from many da
17、ta sources Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)http:/libmain.stfx.ca/newlib/,“Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.” - H.H. Williams,Additional Resources,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http:/www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/honors.htmlSimon Fraser University MS Word and the Thesis http:/www.lib.sfu.ca/researchhelp/writing/thesesformatting/WorkshopPlan051.pdf PurdueUniversity http:/www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/dec/essay.dissertation.html,
