CALL for VOLUNTEERS!

What do you love most about GATAcademy?

If FREE FOOD and making new friends interests you, we have a wonderful opportunity being offered.

We are looking for volunteers for our annual GATAcademy, a full-day professional development event for graduate assistants (GAs) and teaching assistants (TAs). That means a full day of workshops designed to help you improve as a teacher, a professional, and a person (not that we’re saying you need it). GATAcademy is an opportunity for new and returning GA/TAs – and really just anyone interested in teaching and learning – to ask questions, share strategies, and hopefully gain the type of clarity and confidence that squashes all those nagging fears we have as educators.

The 2016 GATAcademy will be held in the Odette building at the University of Windsor on September 7, 2016.

We are looking for volunteers to be part of our team hosting this conference.  There are various positions available for you – room hosts, registration assistants, way finders, signage managers, food and refreshment assistants, and social media.  Volunteer training takes place on August 31, September 1, or September 2, 2016 (although, you only need to sign up for one training session).

To register as a volunteer go to http://uwindsor.fluidsurveys.com/s/gatacademy2016/. At this site you will indicate your preferences for days/times and positions and training time.

We recognize that you will be giving of your time and energy, and it will be worth it. Consider volunteering for this amazing opportunity to meet new people and expand your knowledge of public relations, event planning and management.  Go the link above to register- and get a few friends to do so as well!

For more information on the event, visit  http://cleo.uwindsor.ca/workshops/98/

The following post was written by our University of Windsor Visiting Teaching Fellow, James Paterson.

Myself, my wife and my two young children have been in your beautiful country less than a fortnight and what an incredible privilege it is to share a few personal thoughts about New Zealand and on teaching with you all. Canadians are special people; understated, friendly, humble, hardworking and enthusiastic, which are attributes that New Zealanders love and admire. New Zealanders adore these values because they reach out to people, they connect people and they add enormous value to families, friendships and communities.

On my first day on campus I was unsure of where or how to get to my office in the Centre of Teaching and Learning, which I now know is on the 2nd Floor of Lambton Tower. Not only was I jet lagged and sleep deprived from travelling some 20 plus hours with young children but my 11 year old daughter Ella, became very sick on arrival at Windsor so I spent from 10pm till 3am up at a local hospital’s Emergency department, waiting to see a doctor.

I asked a young Canadian lady for directions and at first she couldn’t fully understand my accent, but she was patient, she was friendly and courteous and once we understood each other, she smiled and said “follow me, I’ll show you”. For her, I doubt now that 12 days later, she would be able to even recall her act of kindness that she offered a lost and tired Kiwi, but for me it will be a memory of Canada and the type of people who work at the University of Windsor that I will likely take to my grave.

My point is when dealing with people, the little things matter and this is especially the case when people are put in new situations or new environments. Where they are unsure of what to do, with people they don’t know, with systems and process they are unaware of or at best are unfamiliar with. I think you’ll agree that some similarities might exist for students in Day 1 of one of your classes. It would be reasonable to expect students might be uncertain, anxious, nervous, wanting to just fit in with their peers or like me, arrive late to class because I was confused and unsure of the campus layout.

Maybe a good strategy on the first few sessions of a semester is to make students feel comfortable in class, by spending little if any time on content, and concentrate more of your efforts on building the foundations of a good learning space, by building student confidence, class cohesion and interpersonal relationships so that students are ready and committed to their learning. In New Zealand we call this process building student mana and building a sense of whanua. Translated this means enhancing a student’s personal pride and self-esteem, and creating a family of learners in the class, where learners collaborate and help each other rather than compete for grades against one another. Could I suggest also that as you think of differing ways to achieve this, don’t forget that the little things you do in these first few sessions, might be rather insignificant to you, but could be an entirely life changing moment for one or more of your students.

James Paterson

Visiting Teaching Fellow, University of Windsor

Visit the CTL Visiting Fellows site to learn more about James: http://odette.uwindsor.ca/ctl/paterson

Many of us have the instinct to do a quick Google search, so to save you the time we’ve complied a few relevant links for you here:

• Top 5 skills employers are looking for: UCL Jobs Market 2016
• Valuable Skills Employers are Looking for in 2016
• Which Soft Skills are Employers Looking For?

BUT WAIT!

Simply doing a search on your browser of choice isn’t always enough to understand how exactly these skills translate into behaviour and how you present yourself during an interview. Luckily, Career Services is offering a FREE Workshop:  Interview Skills that Get You Hired!

Interviews can be stressful. During this workshop you can learn how to prepare effectively to reduce the stress you feel, and demonstrate your “fit” for the position and company culture.  The workshop will teach you tips to sell yourself to your potential employer.

When: June 16, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Location:  Room #107 Welcome Centre
Register at:  https://success.uwindsor.ca (click on career, then on career events to register).  WALK-INS ARE WELCOME!!

Keep in mind that even if you’re not currently in the market for a job there remains much to gain from this (FREE) professional development opportunity.

Deadline approaching: June 10, 2016

Dear Graduate Students presenting at STLHE,

If you are attending the upcoming STLHE conference and are a graduate student, please consider applying for the TAGSA Award for Best Conference Session Led by a Graduate Student.

TAGSA Award for Best Conference Session Led by a Graduate Student

Description: The Teaching Assistant and Graduate Student Advancement (TAGSA) Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) will recognize a graduate student who facilitates the best conference student-led session at the annual STLHE conference. For more information regarding the award, please see: http://www.stlhe.ca/awards/tagsa-award/

Eligibility:

• Graduate students (including TAGSA members) who are currently enrolled in a Master’s or Doctoral program at a post-secondary institution or who were enrolled in a Master’s or Doctoral program at a post-secondary institution in the most recent academic year
• Listed as the first author on their conference presentation
• Presenting at the STLHE conference
• Graduate student members of the award adjudication committee are not eligible

Application Process: Graduate students (including TAGSA members) who have had a proposal accepted to the STLHE conference and are interested in being considered for the “TAGSA Award for Best Conference Session Led by a Graduate Student” must submit an application to the Chair of the TAGSA SIG via email (directions below) that includes:

Name:
Graduate Studies Status:
Program:
University:
Conference Session Title and Abstract:
Language(s) of Presentation:

In submitting this information, the submitter confirms his or her eligibility for this award.

E-mail Submission and Deadline: Submissions should be sent with “TAGSA Award for Best Conference Session Led by a Graduate Student” in the subject line no later than June 10, 2016 to tagsa@stlhe.ca<mailto:tagsa@stlhe.ca>. Adjudication criteria will be forwarded to each applicant before the conference.

Award: At the conference, volunteer adjudicators will circulate among the sessions of presenters who asked to be considered for the award in order to adjudicate the sessions. The award will be presented at the closing of the STLHE conference. The award, which is sponsored by the STLHE and the conference organizers, includes a certificate, reimbursement of all conference registration fees, acknowledgement on the STLHE website and in the STLHE newsletter, a one-year complimentary membership to TAGSA, and a one year complimentary membership to STLHE to recognize the contribution the award winner makes to teaching and learning in post-secondary education.

TAGSA Award for Best Conference Session Led by a Graduate Student Rubric

Name of student:
Name of reviewer:

Please circle your score and provide additional comments in each category, then insert the total score at the end of the sheet.  Thank you.

Clarity

• Message communicated effectively; large amounts of difficult-to-read text avoided; adopts innovative and visual approaches to communicating information; and presenter provides a more detailed explication in a handout that adds to the understanding and engagement of the participant
  • 3 points
• Attempts are made to communicate message clearly, but lack of visual approaches impede engagement and/or understanding; where technology or handouts are provided they are ‘added on’ rather than integral to the ideas
  • 2 points
• Message is significantly impacted by lack of clarity in organization, text, image, media, and/or handouts
  • 1 point

Contribution to knowledge base

• Demonstrates a robust conceptual basis, incorporating relevant sources and frameworks; material is explained, evaluated, and integrated into the field
  • 4 points
• Incorporates some theoretical/scholarly materials, but links to this scholarship are tenuous or superficially explored
  • 2 points
• Does not include scholarly materials or frameworks
  • 0 points

Conceptual depth

• Demonstrates originality, substance, and depth; clearly articulates contribution to the field
  • 3 points
• Demonstrates originality, but does not engage with the idea/question with substantial depth
  • 2 points
• Lacking originality and/or depth
  • 1 point

Contribution to graduate student advancement/Graduate teaching and learning

• Offers new and innovative contributions to the field of graduate student/TA advancement; highlights research, issues, or programs relating to graduate teaching and learning
  • 2 points
• Offers some useful contributions to the field of graduate student/TA advancement
  • 1 point
• Lacking useful contributions to the field of graduate student/TA advancement
  • 0 points

Potential for engagement

• Demonstrates potential to inspire active learning, by fostering interaction between audience and presenter
  • 2 points
• Includes some elements that might inspire interaction, but these elements depend on the audience’s initiative to be appreciated
  • 1 point
• Does not include elements that might inspire interaction between audience and presenter
  • 0 points

Presentation skills

• Well organized, excellent use of the presentation space, clarity of voice, and professionalism
  • 4 points
• Most of the elements of a good presentation demonstrated
  • 2 points
• Lacking presentation skills, which inhibits communication of content
  • 0 points

Connection to STLHE conference theme

• The overall presentation clearly links to the STLHE conference theme for the year
  • 2 points
• Links to the conference theme are tenuous
  • 1 point
• Does not link to the conference theme or is superficial
  • 0 points

Total mark for presentation …………… out of a possible 20 marks

In honour of the Organization of Part-time University Students (OPUS) 47 years of existence, OPUS is once again organizing Open House events next month for all part-time and mature undergraduate students. These events will hopefully bring in more students to study on a part-time basis at the University of Windsor.

To learn more about OPUS, visit their Home Page, Facebook, and Twitter.

The following article examines ways that attendees can get the most out of their professional conference experiences. The author, Linda K. Shadiow, PhD, is a member of the Teaching Professor Conference advisory board and a professor emerita at Northern Arizona University.

The original post can be found here.

An initial look at a conference program can lead attendees to become (in the words of a former colleague) “paralyzed by the possibilities.” There are just so many sessions we’d like to attend that it’s hard to choose. At a recent conference, a new faculty member asked me for advice about negotiating the labyrinth. Here is a collection of strategies that I have developed over the years to help me make the most of the conference experience—before, during, and after the event.

PRECONFERENCE PLANNING

For sessions

• Consider treating the conference as a personal independent study. At a teaching conference, my topic of study might be “hybrid classes.” In preplanning my agenda, I piece together a breadth of sessions that examine hybrid classes from multiple perspectives. I seek out a variety of presenters from different disciplines, approaches, and session types (poster, keynote, workshop, panel). Depending on the size of the conference, I may identify a “major” and a “minor” for my independent study. The effect is that each session augments another. By the end of the conference, I have the equivalent of an extensive review of literature, a multi-institutional (even multi-national) perspective, an array of stories from the field, and a collection of key resources and contacts.
• Pick one “outlier” session—a topic or approach that is unfamiliar or a complete departure from something you would normally pursue. Over the years, this has been a source of unending connections to new ideas for me. A session on how students perceive the veracity of online sources, for instance, led me to apply the notion of “perception of credibility” to student classroom interactions and brought insights I otherwise could not have articulated. We’re always encouraging our students to move outside their comfort zones; it’s good advice for teachers as well.
• If you write notes by hand, buy a notepad with a bright cover. This is a small thing, but the notebook will become a visual reminder of the conference: when you see it on your desk months later, it can prompt you to go back to the thoughts, resources, and items you noted.

For networking

• Check the program for names of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Touch base to see what they are working on now and perhaps try to get together for a meal.
• Bring extra business cards to exchange with fellow attendees. When someone gives you a business card, jot a little note on the back to remind yourself of the conversation (e.g., interested in sharing writing assignments).
• Plug into social media. Almost every conference now has a conference hashtag that conference organizers and attendees use leading up to and during the conference. Following the hashtag is a great way to see what other attendees are talking about, share resources, and stay current on conference announcements. (Incidentally, the hashtag for next month’s Teaching Professor Conference is #tprof16.)

AT THE CONFERENCE

• Start the conference with a blank “think about” sheet. This sheet remains separate from the notes you take in each session and serves as a generative source on a phrase, theory, image, example, or reference you want to think about later.
• While conferences can provide chances for you to spend time with colleagues from your own institution, going to sessions on your own opens up windows for serendipity. By not sitting with friends, you’ll have freedom to meet new people, talk further with the session leader, or even take a moment at the conclusion to reflect.
• Relish your role as a learner in an environment with teachers from other institutions, disciplines, regions, and countries. Be open to perspectives shared by the presenters and other attendees. Asking questions serves both you and other session participants and helps create robust discussion.
• Strike a balance. Going to sessions all day can lead to information overload. I have a colleague who only attends every other session. Between those, she goes to her room and writes out how she can apply what she just learned. Another has breakfast with colleagues from home. Others of us skip group dinners and opt for something more low-key.
• Take care of yourself. Traveling can be hard on the body. Set aside time to exercise, get a little fresh air, sip some green tea—whatever it is that helps you recharge.

AFTER THE CONFERENCE

For the plane ride home

• Look over the “think about” sheet and add a question following each entry. This begins the conference processing phase and will help you keep the momentum from an invigorating conference experience.
• Use the “think about” sheet to generate your to-do list. Start each entry with an action verb so the task is clear: (e.g., email this speaker, order this reference, read this essay).
• Reflect on how you could contribute to the conference in the future. Jot some notes on possible proposal ideas and how your participation this year informs your proposed topics.

For back at the office

• Plant visual reminders—your colorful notebook, the conference pen, or a mug from the conference city—where you’re most likely to use them. We often return to our campuses with a head full of ideas, which then get buried under our everyday tasks. These visual reminders are key to helping us implement what we have learned.
• Respond to the conference evaluation. Your feedback is important to conference organizers and does influence the planning for the next year.
• Develop an opportunity to meet with others who went to the conference and suggest a once-a-semester departmental meeting or campus faculty development session on conference findings.

Thats right, GATAcademy 2016 is finally in sight! In fact, pull out your calendar right now and save the date: September 7, 2016. GATAcademy will feature a full day of interactive workshops on teaching and learning just for GAs and TAs. Sessions will be held in the Odette building and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will hold orientation immediately after.

While we’re still sorting out the details, we can provide a tentative list of workshops being offered:

For those that are not taking classes this Summer/Intersession, your summer vacation has begun.

But don’t be so quick to forget how you told yourself last summer that you would accomplish so much—and then didn’t. You may have made a list, and even told a few people, but the end of the break came all too quickly and that list was left largely unchecked.

Let’s change that this summer. Let’s set realistic goals and develop realistic approaches to achieving those goals.  And let’s start by addressing challenges to our productivity, including the effects of sleep deprivation.

Consider the following posts to motivate your pursuit:

1)   Taking a Break from Academia
2)   Making the Time for Personal Development
3)   Reviewing Your Project List
4)   Working on Your Teaching and Learning Philosophy
5)   Slaying your Email Dragons

Enjoy videos? Check out this TED Talk by Tim Urban: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window — and encourages us to think harder about what we’re really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.

If you’re interested in a TED Talk under 5 minutes, check out Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep. Huffington argues that we can sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness — and smarter decision-making.

Ultimately, remember that productivity comes in all shapes and sizes, though as with most things in life, organization and perspective tend to be essential elements.

The following post reflects key factors that require consideration when selecting a dissertation topic. The information is drawn from Chapter 4 Choosing a Dissertation Topic, in the book, The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation, by Carol M. Roberts. Published by Corwin, A SAGE Company, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, California 91320, (800) 233-9936, Fax: (800) 417-2466, www.corwin.com Copyright © 2010 by Carol M. Roberts.

The first major challenge in the dissertation process lies in choosing a dissertation topic. Your choice determines how long it will take you to complete your study. For most doctoral students, it is an agonizing decision, mainly because of the uncertainty surrounding it. Has it already been adequately researched? Is it worthy of investigation? How original does it have to be? Is it manageable in scope? To know whether or not it has been researched, or if it is important to the field, you must first immerse yourself in the literature base. It would not be worthwhile to conduct another study about a problem that has been sufficiently investigated unless, however, you conduct a meta-analysis, meta-ethnographic analysis, or literature synthesis. These research approaches synthesize findings across several studies.

Approaches to Choosing a Topic

In selecting a research topic, students sometimes use what Ray Martin (1980) called “dreaming in a vacuum.” He stated that some students believe great ideas come from moments of inspiration; students who walk in the park, backpack in the mountains, or sit in quiet places to contemplate learn a lot about parks, backpacking, and contemplation, but little else. Waiting for inspiration is not the best approach to topic selection. Dissertation topics do not mystically appear. Some students attempt to find a topic that fits a set of already-collected data, a certain population to which the student has access, or a preferred research methodology.  This backward approach is also inappropriate and certain to irritate a potential advisor. The most effective and efficient ways to select a topic are the following:

(1) Become steeped in the relevant literature.

(2) Engage in discussions with faculty and other scholars in your field.

(3) Write about your topic to help crystallize and organize your understanding.

Commonly, students consider three to five potential topics before finally settling on one. Scrapping a topic and starting over at least once is the norm.

Where to Look for Potential Topics

Dissertation topics rarely emerge out of the blue; you must proactively search them out. Here are some potential sources:

1)     Your own professional interests. What excites and energizes you? What career goals could be enhanced by studying a particular topic?

2)     Faculty members, professional colleagues, and fellow students. Listen to their suggestions about potential topics.

3)     Professional journals in your field. This is where you can find out the hot topics of the day and for the near future.

4)     Librarians. Ask them to help you run a database search on some topic of interest. Make a list of key words and phrases to initiate the search. The results of a computer search should help you discover whether a dissertation is possible on this topic or whether the topic has been “done to death.”

5)     Dissertations. Review previously written dissertations. Consult Proquest Dissertations and Theses Dissertation Abstracts International and American Doctoral Dissertations, from whom you can order dissertations of interest. Chapter 5 of most dissertations includes a section titled “Recommendations for Future Research.” This is a gold mine of potential topics.

6)     Oral defense. The discussions that occur during a dissertation’s oral defense often suggest potential topics. Attend as many of these as you can. It opens your eyes to what happens during a dissertation defense.

7)     Current theories. Have any new theories come out in your field, or are existing theories being questioned?

8)     The Internet. A variety of sources exists on the Internet.

9)     Conferences and seminars. Often these deal with current interest areas in the field. Talk with presenters and authors to get their ideas about researchable topics.

10)  Outside agencies or professional organizations that conduct research. Excellent resources are the 10 Regional Educational Laboratories, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), http://aera.net.

11)  Leading scholars in your interest areas. Usually, authors and researchers eagerly talk with someone interested in their ideas and research. Call and find out what they are currently doing, and ask their advice about potential studies.

12)  Your current job setting. Are there problems that need solutions in your workplace? Your boss might have a pet topic that could enhance your career opportunities. However, be cautious. If you think a topic might be suggested in which you have no interest, you are better served not to conduct this research. A dissertation is an extensive, scholarly endeavour, and the topic should be one in which you have strong interest.

13)  References in your field. Many handbooks and bibliographies exist in most subject areas. Some useful examples in the field of education are the following:

a)     Handbook of Research on Teaching. Published by the AERA, this handbook provides highly comprehensive reviews of educational research.

b)     Harvard Educational Review. Edited and published by graduate students at Harvard University, this journal provides reviews and opinions on the most topical educational issues.

c)     Review of Educational Research. Published by the AERA, this quarterly journal review articles that summarize, in a comprehensive and integrated fashion, research on educational topics.

d)     Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (NSSE). Since 1902, the yearbook has published an annual volume organized around some central theme, for example, Behaviour Modification in Education.

Distinguished scholars in these areas write the articles. The topics are selected because of their timeliness or immediate practical value to educators and researchers (Martin, 1980, p. 7).

All discipline areas have their own encyclopaedias, handbooks, or yearbooks. You can access them on the Internet by keying in your area (e.g., sociology, psychology) followed by the word handbook, yearbook, and so on.

Some Criteria for Topic Selection

How do you know if your particular topic has the potential to become a scholarly dissertation? Most universities and doctoral faculties agree that the doctoral dissertation should be an original piece of research and significant to the field.  However, what constitutes originality or significance is open to interpretation and usually differs among various faculty advisors.  Madsen (1992) clarified the elusive term originality. He claims that a topic must have the potential to do at least one of the following: Uncover new facts or principles, suggest relationships that were previously unrecognized, challenge existing truths or assumptions, afford new insights into little-understood phenomena, or suggest new interpretations of known facts that can alter people’s perceptions of the world around them. (p.38)

No hard-and-fast rules exist for selecting a topic. Ogden (1993) reminded us that “the basic purpose of a dissertation is to demonstrate that you can do acceptable research in your field. It is not your life’s work” (p. 39). Following are some general criteria for considering potential topics:

1)     It needs to hold your interest for a long time. It takes longer than you anticipate to write an acceptable dissertation.

2)     It must be manageable in size. Most students begin with a topic that is too large. Remember you can’t do it all. Your goal is to add a small but significant piece to the knowledge base and graduate! Save the Nobel Prize-level research to do as a postgraduate.

3)     It must have the potential to make an original and significant contribution to knowledge. Can you find a hole, a gap, a missing piece in the knowledge base that you can fill and that would be useful to theory or practice?

4)     It must be doable within your time frame and budget. Given your current situation, is it a feasible topic to undertake? Traveling to Russia or conducting a longitudinal study may not be possible.

5)     It has to have obtainable data. You must be able to collect data for the study from an appropriate sample size in a reasonable period of time.

6)     It has not already been sufficiently researched. There is no value to conducting one more study about a topic that has been researched over and over again.

7)     It should be acceptable to your advisor and committee members. The signatures of these individuals determine whether or not you become “doctor.”

Text Box: Helpful Hint

Start a dissertation topic file. As you get ideas about possible topics, place them in a separate file folder that you can review from time to time. This helps keep your topic antenna up and alert for new ideas.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of making a concerted effort to become familiar with the literature and to talk with experts in your field. You cannot know for certain if the topic you desire is significant, nor can you have a clear notion about what is known and not known about the topic. Just because you don’t know, doesn’t mean it is not known.

Text Box: Helpful Hint

–      A truism: You will encounter a wide range of opinions regarding the worth of any dissertation topic. Some might think it outstanding, while others claim it has no value. Such a variety of opinions reflects each individual’s particular interest, experience, or bias. The thing to remember is that you only have to satisfy your dissertation committee to pursue a topic that interests you.

–      Another truism: Stubbornness in pursuing a dissertation topic no one believes worthy of research can lead to ABDism. Time spent pursuing a lost cause can cost you valuable time and make it difficult to obtain an advisor. In other words, as the adage says, if the horse dies, get off!

Replication Studies

One strategy in pursuing a dissertation topic is to replicate a previous study. Replication simply means doing the study again. Often students think repeating another’s study is cheating and just an easy way out. It is quite the opposite. Knowledge accumulates incrementally through studies that build on each other over time, and replication adds strength and clarity to research findings. You can make a valuable contribution by repeating an important study.

It may be important to verify, reinforce, or contradict the results of earlier studies (Balian, 1994).

Text Box: Remember

Caution: It would not be wise to replicate a trivial study or one with weak methodology or incorrect statistics.

Research studies may be replicated in several ways. You might choose to alter parts of the research design of a previous study. It would also be appropriate to add or subtract variables, restate the research questions, or alter the research instrument(s). You might replicate it in a different geographic area, with a different population, or using different instrumentation (e.g., an interview instead of the original survey). These modifications, provided there is justification, can help clarify existing results.

You may adapt the research instrument(s) to fit the new population under study. However, if you use the exact instrument from the previous study, it is a “professional nicety” to ask the author’s permission. You also must invent a whole new literature review. Replicating a study is not nearly as easy as it seems.

In writing the dissertation, you must state a rationale indicating why replication is important (the previous study was conducted 15 years ago, there are updated variables that may influence the results, etc.). You must also acknowledge the replication and compare your findings with previous findings.

Replication Studies Dos and Don’ts

Do:

–      Highlight the need to replicate
–      Cite replication
–      Contact original author for agreement (put agreement letter in appendices)
–      Make it your own study
–      Bring a copy of the original study to your advisor
–      Mention the replication in your purpose statement and in your findings and interpretation chapters

Don’t:

–      Choose a topic for convenience
–      Appear to be plagiarizing
–      Copy bibliography, literature review, or table format
–      Confuse adaptation with replication

Summary

Selecting an appropriate topic is one of the most important decisions you make on your dissertation journey. This chapter suggested some effective and efficient ways to select a topic and offered seven criteria to consider. Replicating a previous study is often desirable and appropriate since knowledge accumulates through studies that build on each other over time.

With the necessary gear and a topic that interests you, the next step is obtaining expert guides to help you reach the peak. The next chapter concentrates on selecting and working with your dissertation advisor, committee members, and others responsible for guiding the dissertation process.

Bibliography

Balian, E.S. (1994). The graduate research guidebook: A practical approach to doctoral/masters research. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Madsen, D. (1992). Successful dissertation and theses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Martin, R. (1980). Writing and defending a thesis or dissertation in psychology and education. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Ogden, E. (1993). Completing your doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis in two semesters or less. Lancaster, PA: Technomic.

The original post can be found at: https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1482