Essential writing skills part 3: planning and structuring ...

www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd

Postgraduate Researcher Development

Moving to completion

Dr Duncan Stanley

Student Development

http://www.le.ac.uk/slc


• What is Required & When?

• How to Keep the Examiners Happy!

• Managing Your Time

• Thesis structure

• Action Planning & Further Support

Completing your Research & Writing the Thesis

• Writing



What is Required and When ?

Notify Graduate Office of intended submission date

Submission Date(DEADLINE)

3 Months

Viva Voce

End of Registration Period

Final 12 Months


What Happens After Submission ?

Department of ……..

Student

Graduate Office

Head of Department

Faculty BoardGraduate Dean

Senate

Recommendation

for Approval of Examiners

University of …..

External Examiner

Internal ExaminerSupervisor

Department of …….


Thesis word limits

College of Arts, Humanities, and Law and College of Social Science

PhD thesis 80,000 words

EdD thesis 55,000 words

DSocSci thesis 50,000 words

MPhil thesis 50,000 words

These word limits include all appendices and footnotes.



University of Leicester Regulations

Research Student Handbook

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/gradschool/current/handbook

http://www.le.ac.uk/ua/ac/Regs/index.html

“To be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy a candidate shall

have presented a thesis on the advanced study and research which has

satisfied the examiners and contains original work, and contains material

which is deemed worthy of publication, and shall have satisfied the examiners

in an oral examination. A candidate may submit in support of the thesis any

published work in the general field of the approved study.”



If you want your PhD to be perfect it will never be finished!

You’ve got to stop somewhere



• Use your supervisor to help you to judge whether your work is ready for submission

• Push your supervisor to comment on your work as an exam piece

“Will it pass?”“Is it PhD

standard?”

Use Your Supervisor

Is it brilliant research ? can you think of anythingelse I should do ?

Ask

Don’t Ask



Research about writing

• Daily regime improves productivity – Boice 1990

• Writing is a thinking tool/mode of learning – Elbow 1973, Emig

1977

• Need a range of approaches and strategies – Murray 1995, 2000

• Text generation strategies better than cognitive strategies

(learning about how to write) – Torrance et al. 1993

• “To be a successful writer I know of only two methods; read a

lot and write a lot” – Stephen King (ok not really research)



One strategy: Freewriting

• Write for 5 minutes non-stop

– In complete sentences

– Don’t worry about grammar

– DON’T EDIT OR CROSS OUT

• “What are the main conclusions of my research and

how does this impact my field?”



Why use it?

• “There’s plenty of opportunity for self-doubt. If I write rapidly

I can keep up with my original enthusiasm and at the same

time outrun the self-doubt that is always waiting to set in”

Stephen King

• “The most effective way I know to improve your writing is to

do freewriting exercises regularly … It isn’t just therapeutic

garbage. It is a way to produce bits of text that are better than

usual: less random, more coherent, more highly organised”

Peter Elbow



Using Freewriting to find a structure• Freewrite to ‘What is this document about?’

Analyse for main headings

• Freewrite to ‘What are the themes in this section?’

Analyse for sub-headings

• Freewrite to ‘What are the ideas in this sub-section?’

Analyse for bullet points of key ideas



Editing and proofreading: aspects to address

• Is the structure coherent, or does it need amending?

• Language (expression): do certain phrases/sentences need to

be improved?

• Language (accuracy): check spelling, grammar and

punctuation

• Has all referencing been done correctly?




http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/sd/ld/resources/writing/editing


What are the Examiners looking for?

In pairs or small groups divide a flipchart into two halves.Give one half of the sheet the title ‘Magic’ and the other ‘Tragic’.Brainstorm what you think the examiners of a thesis are lookingfor (list under ‘Magic’) and what you think examiners particularly dislike in PhD’s they examine.

Magic

Tragic



A number of academics were asked what they most disliked

about PhD theses they had marked:

“The examiners really do not want to be concerned with pointing out the deficiencies in the technical production of the thesis. Their job is to examine the research. I'm thinking here of the production of the figures and of the references and the organisation of the thesis”

What Examiners Think…



Illogical structure and poor flow

What Examiners Dislike!

Reviewing previous work and then ignoring it

Poor spelling and grammar

Waffling – too much ‘padding’ – too long

Poor use of theory



Your thesis structure?

• What thesis structures are possible?

• Discuss with your group what different structures may work.

• Why might you choose one structure over another?



Where are you now ?



Product-based planning

• In groups:

– Start with your end-product – your thesis

– Working backwards, what steps do you need to

take to reach where you are now?



Tasks Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9

Design Plan of

Thesis

Format 'Word'

Create Diagrams

Draw Graphs

Write 1st Chapter

Write 2nd Chapter

Write 3rd Chapter

Review 1st,2nd & 3rd

Planning Your Thesis – Gantt Chart




Time-Line for the next 4 months

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Week No

Nov 10 Dec 10 Jan 11 Feb 11



What next?

• What are you planning to do after your PhD?




Are you interested in an Academic or Research Career?Academic Careers Evening

For the College of Arts, Humanities & Law and the College of Social Science

Postgraduate researchers (Post docs and Early Researchers also welcome)

6pm to 9pm Wednesday November 24th, Ogden Lewis Suite

Explore academic career opportunities

Learn about academic and research career opportunities

Learn about the reality of academic life post PhD

Speakers include both experienced and early career appointed academics

B BOOK your place now at: www.le.ac.uk/pgrd

Booking DEADLINE Friday 19th November 2010


http://www.le.ac.uk/pgrd


Summary

• Know the requirements for your thesis

• Write with your examiners in mind

• Keep a plan and keep it up-to-date



Action Planning

• Write down three things you will do in the next

month to help you towards completing your thesis.



Further information…

Resources

Text-based study guides, IT guides,

interactive tutorials, check lists,

templates and recommended links

to external resources.

Consultations

Study skills consultations intended

to complement the specific

guidance you receive from your

supervisor/department.

Workshops

A range of more than 20

different interactive workshops

(don’t forget to book)!

Future events

• Café Scientifique

• Doctoral Inaugural Lectures

• Charity Challenge

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Essential writing skills part 3: planning and structuring ...

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