I've seen similar postings on TIPS regarding student writing, what's 'fair' to the student, and what precedents the department and college/university want to create. IMO, if a graduate student cannot write coherently by the time s/he gets to the thesis stage, something's terribly wrong. Assuming the department requires theses to adhere to APA Style, recommending the student spend some time with the Manual and refer to it regularly would be my first recommendation.
It may be a communication issue between the student and the advisor (i.e., the student doesn't understand why the advisor is not satified with the proposal). Perhaps sending the proposal to another committee member, or following Karl's suggestion of stepping down as chair of the committee, would help the student understand the problem. I can't imagine a situation where I would write a paper for a student, or recommend any faculty member do that. As Karl mentioned, that's a disservice to the student and to the faculty member. Particularly at the graduate level, if a student cannot do the work -- including communicating that work in writing -- s/he has not earned the degree. Julie Julie A. Penley, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Special Assistant to the Dean El Paso Community College PO Box 20500 El Paso, TX 79998-0500 Office phone: (915) 831-3210 Department fax: (915) 831-2324 email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> webpage: http://www.epcc.edu/facultypages/jpenley From: Wuensch, Karl L [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:24 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Thesis Woes Can you TIPSters offer any advice with the problem presented below? A friend who is an assistant professor at an institution that offers a masters degree asked me: I am trying to go over a thesis proposal so the student can get it out to his committee members, but I am having a good bit of difficulty with it. The information is there - in fact it is a rather exceptional review of the literature - but most of the manuscript is simply incoherent. We have had several iterations and his writing is just not getting any better. Do you have any suggestions? I am confident that this will be a problem when it comes to writing the thesis itself too. My response: I wish I could say that this is a problem I have never faced. My most recent experience with such a student damn near drove me over the edge. I have tried two basic tactics in the past, with limited success: * Keep sending the draft back with advice on what the problems are and how to address them. This is the high road, as it should result in the student learning how to write properly. Problem is, when YOU skid off the edge of the high road you have a helluva long drop. * Write the damn thesis yourself. This is the low road, as the student will not really learn much other than that passive aggressive behavior works. If, however, the student is simply incapable of professional writing, it may be the better choice in terms of the amount of YOUR time that is taken getting the thesis written properly. There are, of course, other options. One, which I have not taken, is to resign as chair of the thesis committee. Another is to insist that the student get professional help, either from your university’s writing center (if it has one) or from a paid professional. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
