This paper describes the introduction of the Patchwork Text format into the dissertation on a Master's degree in Social Work. The rationale for rethinking the conventional dissertation is discussed ...and the 'patches' making up the revised dissertation format are detailed. The paper draws upon the completed dissertations of two students on the programme to illustrate how the characteristics of the Patchwork Text have provided a very different learning experience for the students involved; and in doing so offers a preliminary evaluation of the Patchwork Text as an alternative mode of supervising and assessing dissertation students.
Reviews 270 theses and 133 dissertations in family and consumer sciences completed in 2002. Identifies productivity by institutions; suggests ways to use the list for students, faculty, researchers, ...and practitioners. (SK)
The writing of student theses is an important activity at universities and is expected to demonstrate the students’ academic skills. In the teacher-education programme, examiners from different ...academic disciplines are involved in supervising and examining student theses. Moreover, different subject disciplines have different traditions concerning what is seen as knowledge and the way research is performed, which could result in different assessment practices and judgements. Earlier studies demonstrate a fragmented picture concerning the importance of the examiners’ academic discipline in judging theses. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether examiners from different academic subject disciplines emphasise similar or different criteria when assessing student theses. A total of 66 examiners from six universities with teacher education programmes in Sweden have answered an online Q-survey where they compared different criteria and rank-ordered them. The results demonstrate minor differences between individuals from different academic disciplines: Only two out of the 45 criteria had significant differences between academic discipline groups. Thus, the results indicate that teacher education is a boundary-crossing, multi-disciplinary field which primarily uses generic criteria.
First there was University Microfilms, Inc., soon shortened to UMI, founded by Eugene Power in 1938. When the library world moved írom print to digitized dissertations, plain black (usually) bound ...books confined to the shelves of just one library transformed into electronic forms, easily able to be widely shared. Advanced search on OpenThesis offers field codes for abstract, advisor, author, document language, document title, document type, full text, keywords, publication data, and school, along with syntax examples that explain how to use the codes in a search. The advanced search functionality includes the ability to search by subject, title, creator, description (not all records have a description included), publisher, and language.
While Bontrup's text based analyses do yield some interesting insights beyond what has become the leitmotifs of earlier scholarship by critics such as Miller-Seidel, Pfeiffer, and Anz, they do ...ultimately fall short of providing new vistas, primarily because "... such nur ein Bild" lacks a coherent contemporary theoretical framework. ...problematic is the lack of critical negotiation between the representation of death and disease in clinical literature and literary works. The failure to establish a realistic thesis and a lucid methodology appropriate to the book's stated agenda results in diffuse discussions of discrete issues that might have been more effectively presented in a series of shorter articles rather than in a book-length study. ...arguing the large issues proposed in the cover text, the introduction, and the suspiciously short conclusion requires a more comprehensive interdisciplinary discussion that would include historical and cultural information.
Large numbers of ESL students are undertaking degrees throughout the world where they are required to write a thesis or dissertation in English. These students often have difficulty in meeting the ...demands of the kind of writing required of them at this particular level. They are often unaware of the level of preparation writing a thesis or dissertation requires of them. This article describes a program which aims to help ESL students prepare for thesis and dissertation writing by focusing on the thesis proposal as an important part of that process.
Describes the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), an effort involving over 120 universities around the world. It aims to enhance the skills of all graduate students ...preparing theses or dissertations so that they are empowered to create an electronic thesis or dissertation and to effectively use digital libraries. (EV)
My research centers upon designing transformative learning environments and supporting technologies. Kitchen Science Investigators (KSI) is an out-of-school transformative learning environment we ...designed to help young people learn science through cooking. My dissertation considers the question, 'How can we design a learning environment in which children discover the utility of science in their lives and their own scientific capabilities?’ I have explored this question in the context of designing and enacting KSI. We designed the environment (i.e., activities, facilitation, and technology support) so that in the midst of cooking, participants generate personal goals that they need science to achieve. Our design integrates software to promote scientific practices in a real world context. In my thesis research I analyze how learners are developing identity as scientific reasoners in this environment. I also make recommendations about the design of learning environments and technologies to help with scientific development. My dissertation study is a longitudinal study of individuals in our most recent implementation of KSI. My current analysis of KSI shows significant development of disposition and identity development among focal learners, as well as a set of causal factors. I found that as learners connected cooking and science, and as they participated in science socially with their friends, they began to increase their scientific participation in and outside of KSI. My findings suggest guidelines for software support, facilitation, and activities for getting learners engaged in scientific inquiry in ways that promote the development of scientific identities.
