This semester, I’ve had a few regular PhD students working
on their dissertations or dissertation proposals. At first, I wondered if I had
enough experience to consult this level of work, and I was especially concerned
about my lack of technical knowledge in fields like engineering. As I began to
work with these writers, I realized that being a graduate student myself, I
have a lot to offer in terms of the writing process and organizing principles
of a dissertation/proposal. Even when I don’t understand the specifics of a
study, I’m able to ask questions and point out inconsistencies or places for
further development. My biggest suggestions when working with graduate students
are to pull from your own strengths and knowledge about thesis/dissertation
writing, approach them as academic peers, and foster an environment of open
engagement.
Here are three more tips for consulting regular graduate
students working on theses or dissertations:
Have a goal for the hour. The
intake part of the session is especially important with regular graduate
students who are working on long documents. You can’t cover everything in one
hour, so at the beginning of your session, ask the writer what she would like
to accomplish and if there are any questions since the last session. It is
helpful for me to recap where we left off last time, and I usually ask the
writer what she has done since our last meeting. Decide on a goal together, and
make sure you leave enough time at the end to discuss what the writer will work
on between sessions. I usually make specific recommendations to structure their
work at home.
Print a section at a
time. Graduate students working on long documents are less likely to print
their work. While they might prefer working on the whole document on their
laptops, gently encourage them to print copies of small sections. This is
related to having a manageable goal for the session – if the writer wants to
focus on one section of her literature review, ask her to print just that
section. It will help keep on task, and you will both catch more than if you
were looking at a screen.
Keep the big picture in
mind. Even if you are only working on one section at a time, think of how
that section fits into the whole. Towards the end of each session, I ask
large-order questions about how a particular piece works in terms of the whole
document. I spend a lot of time looking at organization and making
recommendations about order and progression. I’ve noticed that much of the
time, graduate students want to talk about large issues of process and
organization, and as consultants, we can provide a sounding board as they iron
out the roadblocks they may be experiencing.
For more information on theses and dissertations, check out
these resources:
Writing Thesis and Dissertation Proposals: http://pwr.la.psu.edu/resources/graduate-writing-center/handouts-1/WritingProposals.pdf/
Parts of a Dissertation: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources/writing-dissertation
USF Thesis and Dissertation Guidebook (If you’re working
with a writer who is formatting her document for submission): http://www.grad.usf.edu/inc/linked-files/etd_guidebook.pdf
By Lorraine E. Monteagut, Ph.D. in Communication (in progress)
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