EFS 698B - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Advanced Graduate Writing
EFS 698B - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Advanced Graduate Writing
Thesis and Dissertation Support: notes from class workshop
I. Introductions: name, field, thesis type (MA/S or PhD), and current state of progress
II. Group discussion: dissertation experience so far and identification of problems
III. Discussion of group discussion
IV. Note external and internal barriers
V. Presentation of TAD website: http://www.stanford.edu/~efs/tad/
Group discussion questions
In your groups, discuss the following questions. Note that if you have not yet begun your thesis research, you may not have answers to several of these questions. You have 20 minutes.
1. Briefly describe your thesis topic, your progress so far, and the expected completion date.
2. Have you written a formal thesis proposal? If so, briefly describe the process and any feedback you received. If not, how did you (or will you) get started?
3. Describe what your advisor has done to help you so far. What else would you like him or her to do?
4. What have been (or what do you expect to be) your biggest external barriers to completing the thesis in a timely manner?
5. What have been (or what do you expect to be) your biggest internal barriers (ones you control) to completing the thesis in a timely manner?
6. Which of the following have you done or plan to do?
a. Set up a reasonable timetable for completion
b. Plan writing on a regular basis (e.g., several times/week)
c. Find one or more model theses relevant to your work
d. Link thesis research to paper-level publications
e. Get a thesis buddy or join a support group
7. What other questions would you like to discuss?
Other Links
Online dissertation examples
University of Minnesota dissertation calculator
Dissertation support group links:
Using a dissertation support group (University of Michigan)
Stanford
dissertation support group
Online dissertation support group: PhinisheD
See also thesis and dissertation links