"TIPS" FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS WORKING WITH SORK
(Updated July 9, 1998)

by

Thomas J. Sork,  Professor
Department of Educational Studies
The University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Office located in Ponderosa Annex G, Room 17
( (604) 822-5702
FAX: (604) 822-4244
E-mail: tom.sork@ubc.ca
Department web site: http://educ.ubc.ca/edst/

This set of notes is intended for use by students who have asked me -- or plan to ask me -- to either chair or serve on their graduating paper, thesis, or dissertation supervisory committee. In this handout I have recorded some of my preferences and offered some tips on how to make the time we are working together most productive for both of us. In the past I have often conveyed these tips to students orally and, probably, inconsistently so I thought it might be useful to put them in writing.

I should also point out that my list of tips is mine alone and may be at odds with tips offered by other faculty members. Each faculty member has idiosyncrasies that become apparent to students as work progresses on various research and writing projects. I have not made any attempt to check these with my colleagues, so this document should not be construed to represent anything other than a brief summary of some of my personal preferences -- and necessarily only those of which I am aware.

If you plan to invite me to serve on your committee -- or to supervise your work -- I suggest you read these carefully. If anything is unclear to you, or if you are receiving conflicting advice from other members of your committee, let's move quickly to clarify issues or resolve any differences. Your advisor or research supervisor generally sets the ground rules regarding written work, so if you have asked me or plan to ask me to serve in this capacity, these "tips" will be important information. If I am now or you wish me to be a member of your committee or a second reader, it,s more important that you determine from your advisor or research supervisor how he or she would like you to proceed.

Responsibilities

Both students and advisors have responsibilities related to the final phase of graduate study. My responsibilities include providing the best guidance I can to help you successfully complete your graduating paper, thesis or dissertation; keeping your file up-to-date and submitting the paperwork required to confirm your successful completion of program requirements; and advising you about whether the deadlines you have set for yourself are feasible and the likelihood that you will graduate when you hope to graduate. Your responsibilities include keeping me -- and other members of your committee -- informed of your progress and any problems you encounter; following through on your approved proposal and seeking your committee,s consent if you have to deviate from the proposal; being aware of deadlines for submitting your work to meet graduation requirements; maintaining continuous registration and applying for graduation by the published deadline; ensuring that signed copies of your thesis or dissertation are submitted to the library by the published deadline; and submitting a signed copy of your graduating paper, thesis or dissertation, with the appropriate binding fee, to the department's Graduate Secretary.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies has produced a booklet, Guidelines for the Various Parties involved in Graduate Student Thesis Research, that is very helpful. It outlines the responsibilities of those involved in thesis research, including students and research supervisors. All M.A. and doctoral students should read this document and see me if there appear to be inconsistencies between what I tell you and what the booklet says.

The Department of Educational Studies has produced a document, Statement on Academic Climate, that spells out certain principles that we think should be observed. If you want a copy of this document, please ask me. If I seem to be behaving in a manner that is inconsistent with any of these principles, please call it to my attention or to the attention of the Department Head. I believe in these principles and wish to be held accountable to them.

Forming and Working with Committees

All graduating papers, theses and dissertations have to be approved by two or more faculty members. In the case of M.A. and doctoral theses, you will work with a research supervisory committee consisting of a minimum of three faculty members. If you want me to be your research supervisor, then we will normally discuss who the other members of the committee might be. Such decisions are based on our collective experience with the people involved, their ability to contribute to the study you intend to do, and their availability and willingness to serve. The membership of committees must meet the requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and of the adult education program. The requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies are spelled out in detail in Section 6 of the Faculty of Graduate Studies Policies and Procedures Manual. A copy of this manual is available in the Graduate Secretary's office in Ponderosa G and also on the Faculty of Graduate Studies, web site at http://www.grad.ubc.ca. The adult education program faculty have the added expectation that at least one member of all masters and doctoral committees for students focusing on adult education will be from the adult education faculty group.

M.Ed. graduating papers are reviewed and approved by two faculty members -- the supervisor and a second reader. I find it useful to identify a second reader early in the process of preparing the paper and invite that person to comment on the purpose and proposed structure before much work is completed.

In nearly all cases, I leave it to the student to contact potential committee members or second readers to determine if they are available and interested in serving. If you would like to invite someone to serve on your committee, but would prefer that I approach them, then please discuss this with me.

When you and I feel ready to share your proposal or drafts of your work with the other members of the committee, a meeting has to be scheduled. I generally leave it up to the student to make the calls necessary to get the meeting set up (including booking a room with Roweena Bacchus - 822-5374) and to insure that copies of the written work to be reviewed are delivered to each committee member at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

Once the committee begins working with you, it is very important that you keep everyone informed of your progress, especially if several months are likely to pass between meetings. Committee members appreciate receiving the occasional note (or e-mail message) explaining where you are in the process and indicating when they are likely to receive another instalment of your work. This is not only courteous, but also keeps your work in the consciousness of each committee member that will make meetings with them more productive.

Differences Between Graduating Papers and Theses

The department has approved a statement of the differences between graduating papers and theses that can be obtained from the Graduate Secretary. What follows is generally consistent with that statement, but is my interpretation.

When you read recently-completed graduating papers and theses, it may be very difficult to detect substantive differences between them. I believe that there should be a difference between the two because they have somewhat different purposes, even though I admit that it is often hard to detect these differences in the final product.

Both graduating papers and theses are substantial pieces of scholarly writing that should reflect an ability to communicate clearly, to critically analyse literature, and to link the topic of the paper or thesis with the broader field of adult education.

A thesis should demonstrate the writer's ability to conduct a formal piece of research. A formal piece of research is a project that has been developed and executed to explore one or more precise research questions using an established research methodology. A thesis is evaluated using criteria that are normally applied to the kind of research carried out and the methodology employed. Because it is a formal piece of research, a thesis is expected to contribute to an identifiable body of knowledge related to the broad field of adult education. The structure of a thesis is typically more predictable than the structure of a graduating paper because a thesis always has to present the research questions of concern, an analysis of previous work related to the question, a complete description of the research methodology employed, a presentation of the "data" collected, a discussion of how the data were used to answer the research questions, and recommendations based on what was learned in the study.

A graduating paper is not a formal piece of research but is a scholarly piece of writing on a topic, issue or problem related to adult education. Graduating papers can take many forms and are not subject to the same criteria as are formal pieces of research. There is little emphasis on methodology in a graduating paper and more concern with the purpose of the paper and how well that purpose is achieved. Many graduating papers analyse literature related to a specific dimension of adult education theory or practice; others begin with a problem of practice and use the literature as a source of ideas about how the problem can be better addressed. Some graduating papers are accounts of the contributions of various individuals and institutions to the development of adult education. There is much greater latitude in the structuring of a graduating paper than a thesis because there are no pre-conceived notions of what a graduating paper should include. The structure of a graduating paper should flow from its purpose and consideration of how the work done to achieve the purpose can best be presented.

Preparing Proposals for Papers, Theses and Dissertations

Preparing a proposal for papers, theses and dissertations is an important early step in this final phase of a graduate program. Following are brief explanations of what proposals should include for each.

Graduating Paper Proposals

A graduating paper proposal is a short document that contains the following elements: a clear and concise statement of the purpose of the paper; a brief rationale justifying the purpose; a description of how you plan to achieve the purpose; and a tentative outline of the structure of the paper (draft Table of Contents). A graduating paper proposal should have a cover sheet in the same format as Attachment A.

M.A. and Doctoral Thesis Proposals

Because a thesis proposal is a plan to conduct a research study, there are essential elements that must be included. These elements are often presented in three "chapters" or sections each of which will likely become separate chapters in the final thesis. First, there must be an introduction that indicates the purpose of the study, the context of the study, the significance of the study and the research questions or issues to be explored. Second, there must be a review of relevant literature including prior research studies on the same topic and any theoretical or conceptual literature that will inform the study. From this review there may be a conceptual, analytical or theoretical framework presented as part of the proposal. Third, there must be a detailed explanation of the research methodology to be employed including a step-by-step account of how you plan to proceed, a discussion of how you plan to establish the trustworthiness of any data collected, and the strengths and weakness of the methodology and how you plan to address the acknowledged weaknesses. In addition to these three essential elements, it is also useful to have a tentative Table of Contents attached to the proposal so that members of the supervisory committee can see how you envision the presentation of the remaining material. A thesis proposal should have a cover sheet in the same format as Attachment B.

I ask my M.A. and doctoral advisees for detailed proposals because I have found that there are far fewer false starts and misunderstandings when such detail is available to all members of the supervisory committee. It means that developing the proposal takes more time, but it also means that the first three chapters of the thesis or dissertation are largely completed at the time the proposal is approved. I am convinced that this practice speeds completion of the work because the student can then focus on completing the analysis and writing up the remaining chapters rather than having to spend time writing earlier chapters. These early chapters have to be edited -- sometimes substantially -- to integrate them with the rest of the document, but this process is still faster than writing the chapters from scratch. Note that a proposal describes something that you intend to do while the thesis or graduating paper describes something that you have done. In a proposal, the purpose of the research "is to" while in the thesis the purpose of the research "was to." In a proposal, the respondents "will be interviewed" while in the thesis the respondents "were interviewed." It is quite acceptable to write in the first person, active voice as long as you are consistent and clear.

Style Manuals

The Department of Educational Studies accepts either of two style manuals. They are:

I highly recommend that you purchase a personal copy of the manual you decide to use. Earlier editions are not acceptable! You will save yourself a great deal of grief if you learn the referencing system and other rules of style before you begin writing. Do not assume that the rules and conventions you learned earlier in life are still followed. Both manuals have strong points and weak points, some of which will be covered below. The important point is that you must take it upon yourself to thoroughly learn whichever system you plan to use. I expect your work will be consistent with the style manual you have selected. I will do my best to identify inconsistencies when I find them, but it is ultimately your responsibility to make sure that your work conforms to the style you select. FAIR WARNING! If you are using a style manual other than APA or Turabian, be sure to tell me what it is and then use it correctly and consistently. If you think I am suggesting changes that are inconsistent with the style manual you are using, please show me the section that applies so that I understand why you are doing what you are doing. DON'T IGNORE MY ADVICE WITHOUT TELLING ME WHY. It's fine if you disagree with me, but it's not fine if you ignore me!

UBC Production Requirements

The Faculty of Graduate Studies has prepared a booklet, Instructions for the Preparation of Graduate Theses, that all M.A. and doctoral students should have. This booklet sets out production requirements for theses, all of which have to be submitted to the UBC Library. Questions related to margins, pagination, paper quality, attachments, abstracts, etc. are all addressed in this booklet. These guidelines do not, strictly speaking, apply to graduating papers, but if you follow them you will produce an acceptable document. Note that when there is any inconsistency between the style manual you are using and this booklet, the instructions in the booklet should be followed. The booklet includes the following blunt statement: "If a thesis is not presented in the form required in these instructions, it will not be accepted finally, nor will the degree be conferred until corrections have been made" (p. 1). Enough said?

Headings

Proper use of headings seems to be a major problem for at least half the students I work with. Part of this is due to the way headings are treated in style manuals and part is due to lack of attention to headings in early drafts. Study the appropriate section of your style manual carefully. I do have a couple of suggestions regarding headings that may save both of us some frustration.

If you are using the APA Manual (4th Edition), see pages 90-93. For graduating papers, theses, and dissertations, I strongly suggest that you use the levels described under section 3.31. Level 5 headings should be used for chapter titles and should be bold; level 1 headings should be used for major sections within chapters and should also be bold; level 2 headings should be used for subsections within major sections; level 3 headings should be used for sub-subsections within subsections; and level 4 headings should be used for further sub-sections. In cases where the APA Manual says to underline headings (levels 2, 3 and 4), I am happy to have them italicised instead. Note especially that Level 4 headings are "paragraph headings" that are meant to be the indented first segment of a new paragraph. See the sample manuscript on pp. 261-263 for a good illustration of the proper use of this level of heading. If you follow this advice using APA, headings in each chapter would look like the following:

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

Level One Heading

Level Two Heading

Level Three Heading

        Level Four heading. Remember that level four headings always begin a paragraph.

If you only need three levels of headings below the chapter title, then I recommend you use levels one, three and four.

A rule which governs the use of headings that is often violated -- one I will insist you conform to -- is that every time you move to a lower level of heading within a chapter, you must use two or more headings within that level. In other words, a chapter must contain at least two level 1 headings; if you use level 2 headings within any section you must use two or more of them within that section; if you use level 3 headings within any subsection you must use two or more within that subsection; and so on. Note carefully the rules of capitalization and punctuation for headings.

If you are using Turabian, see pages 10-12. As with APA, I suggest using all upper-case words -- centred and bold, but not underlined -- for chapter titles. For sections within chapters and subsections within sections, I suggest using Turabian's first-, third-, and fifth-levels if you need only three levels within chapters or her first-, second-, third-, and fifth-levels if you need four levels within chapters. If you find you need more than four levels within chapters, then use all five levels in the order specified. See the APA example above for use of boldface and italics at each level.

As a reader, I use the style and placement of headings to give me cues about the structure of what I am reading. If I encounter inconsistent, confusing headings, then I wonder if the author is inconsistent and confused. Avoid this problem by adopting a heading system and using it consistently throughout the document.

Inclusive Language

Whether you are using APA, Turabian, or some other manual, you should use "inclusive" language and avoid language that reflects or perpetuates bias. The APA Manual has a very good section on reducing bias in language and provides in Table 1, beginning on page 54, many examples of how to avoid it in formal writing. Two other useful sources that deal with sexist language and other related problems are:

I feel quite strongly about this issue and will not be swayed from my position, although I will be pleased to discuss with you the reasons for my stance.

Presenting Drafts of Your Work

The average number of drafts that students submit to me and their committee members before receiving final approval of their work is probably five. No one has finished with less than three, and a few produced as many as seven or more. Graduating papers, theses, and dissertations are serious pieces of scholarly work -- you will not likely ever again have a piece of your work as thoroughly scrutinized.

Use your word processor's spell checker on all drafts but don't rely on it to catch all errors. Sum words are fond in the dictionary butt they art the wrong words! A spill checker well oily flag worlds that ore spilled incorrectly; it wont flag worlds that are wrong!

I expect drafts of your work to reflect careful attention to detail. It is not my responsibility to be your copy editor and I will resent it if you try to put me in that position by submitting poorly written, poorly edited, or poorly organized material. My work is not perfect and I don't expect yours to be either. But I do expect you to devote reasonable care and attention to preparing material that you expect me to read with care.

Technical Matters

Type style. I prefer that all drafts be printed in an 11 or 12 point, serif typeface (like Times Roman, Garamond, Bookman, etc.), that all text be double-spaced, and that you use a minimum of one inch margins on all sides. It is impossible to insert editorial marks or make reasonable marginal comments if the text is single-spaced or printed too close to the edges of the page. Please avoid using sans serif typefaces (like Univers, Arial, Helvetica, etc.) for the body of the text. Long passages of text are much more readable in serif type than sans serif type. If you include material that is quoted from interview transcripts, it often works well to use italics to set these off from the other text. But use italics sparingly because it is also difficult to read when used in large blocks of text.

Submitting drafts. It will be to your benefit if you try to make every draft look like a final draft. By this I mean that it is well organized, carefully edited, nicely printed and otherwise demonstrates that you have exercised care in its preparation. Attach a cover page like the one that you expect me and other members of the committee to sign; include a table of contents, a list of tables (if appropriate), a list of figures (if appropriate), and a reference list; number the pages consecutively throughout and use a consistent referencing style. Avoid renumbering pages within each chapter. You cannot imagine how confusing it gets in a meeting when trying to locate specific pages when they are not numbered consecutively from beginning to end.

Most word processors have a feature called "widow/orphan protection" that prevents a single line of a paragraph from being printed at the bottom or top of a page. Please enable this feature so that you do not have single lines of text that begin or end each page. Note, too, that there should never be a heading at the bottom of a page without any accompanying text. If this happens on screen, then force the heading onto the next page.

Table of contents. I strongly recommend that your table of contents include only chapter titles and main headings (first-level "below" the chapter title) within each chapter. Tables of contents that contain all headings within the paper or thesis simply end up being too long and detailed to be very useful to readers. Please learn your word processor's table of contents generation feature; doing so will be a very good investment toward maintaining your sanity through what sometimes seems like countless revisions.

Citing the work of others. Be sure to follow the usual conventions regarding citing ideas and material that you use from other sources. The APA manual has a good section on plagiarism (pp. 292-294) and how to avoid it. If you have questions about what these conventions are, please discuss them with me early in your project. I expect everything you write to be your own work unless someone else is cited as the source. Paraphrasing the work of others is acceptable, but only if you cite the original source. Don't forget to list exact page numbers for all direct quotations that you use. See the APA or Turabian style manuals for advice on how to cite material and how to present quotations from which you omit material (see Ellipsis points in both manuals).

Copyright permissions. If you intend to reproduce charts, tables or diagrams from published sources, you must have written permission to do so from the copyright holder. It is usually no problem to get such approval for use in academic work, but it does mean that you must submit your request to the copyright holder in advance and have written consent before the thesis or paper is completed. The Department's Graduate Secretary has a form that can be used for this purpose.

Using a word processor. As you can tell from what I said above, I assume that all student work is on some kind of electronic word processing system and that you can therefore make substantial changes without undue hardship and within a short period of time. If you do not have access to such a system, then you should learn to use one of the many personal computers available in on-campus labs (like those in the EDST computer lab) and for hourly rental at copy shops and at other locations both on and off campus. Non-credit, low or no-cost courses are offered every year to help people learn how to use personal computers and word processing software. Although it may seem cheaper to pay someone to do your word processing for you, in the long run it will end up costing you a great deal of money because of the many changes that usually occur as drafts of the material are submitted. If you arrange to have someone else type your work on their equipment, be sure you reach an understanding about how much it will cost you to have revision work done and to have fresh drafts printed.

Receiving Feedback

I will make every effort to return drafts of your graduating paper, thesis, or dissertation -- with written comments and suggestions -- about two weeks from when I receive them. It is up to you to schedule an appointment during which I can return your work and provide you with oral feedback to supplement my written feedback. Sometimes these meetings will be between the two of us (in the early stages of your work) and sometimes will involve the entire committee. The best time to schedule this meeting is at the time you submit the material to me, or shortly thereafter. If you have identified the other members of your committee, I prefer to meet with the entire committee present so that all feedback can be provided at one time and any conflicting advice resolved as a group. If you are located away from the campus, then you will have to use the phone, e-mail, faxes, couriers/mail, etc. to accomplish the same thing. Having and using an e-mail account so that we communicate with one another without playing phone-tag is especially important if you are completing your paper or thesis away from Vancouver. I am happy to schedule telephone conversations during which we can discuss my reactions to your work. We also have an audio-teleconference unit that can be used to have a committee meeting "at a distance" if that becomes necessary. Ask me about this option if you think it might be useful.

Please do not expect me to give your work preferential treatment as the deadlines near for meeting graduation requirements. I generally read and respond to drafts in the order in which they are received, although it sometimes helps if I know when you intend to have a draft in my mailbox. If you feel you will be pressed for time as you approach the end of your program, please discuss it with me.

There are two "crunch times" in the year during which it is possible that turnaround time on drafts will increase. Not surprising, these times begin about 10 weeks prior to the deadlines for final approval of papers and theses and end -- rather abruptly -- on these dates. So the fall "crunch time" runs from about August 15-October 15 and the spring "crunch time" runs throughout March and April. These are the times of year when students are finishing their programs and want quick turnaround on drafts. These are also the times of year when I am beginning and ending terms and trying to help several students meet these deadlines. I will do what I can to accommodate your needs during these crunch times, but please do respect my needs to have weekends and the occasional evening for family and rest. Don't give me something to read on Friday and expect feedback on Monday!

I usually know several months in advance when I will be out of the office for any extended period. Discussing your timetable far in advance of the deadline is usually the best way to avoid disappointment and hardship. Every faculty member is entitled to vacation time each year and occasional study leaves. I also have other commitments that take me away from the campus from time to time. I do my best to keep students informed of plans for extended absences from campus, but cannot always inform everyone who may be affected. I will post notices on the door to my office indicating when I will be away from campus for extended periods. If you are not on campus or do not have access to e-mail, call me and I will be pleased to let you know when I plan to be away.

When the End is Near

As you near the end of your program there are several administrative matters that will need attention. It is up to you to be aware of the deadlines for completing papers, theses and dissertations. These dates are published in the University Calendar each year and there are few exceptions made to these deadlines. The current University Calendar is on the web at http://www.student-services.ubc.ca/publications/pub/calreg/. You must "apply" for graduation several months before you expect to complete program requirements. Contact the Registrar's Office or the department's Graduate Secretary for the form and procedure, but it is your responsibility to complete and file the form by the deadline. Also, be sure that you are duly registered during the session when you will be completing program requirements and that you do not owe the university any money.

The other paperwork required to graduate varies depending on whether you are an M.Ed., M.A. or doctoral student. I always like to have a meeting with the students I am supervising close to the end of their program to review the coursework that has been completed, to make sure it is clear which of us is responsible for which tasks, and to answer any questions about the process and deadlines leading up to graduation. M.A. and doctoral students must deposit copies of their approved thesis or dissertation with Special Collections in the main library by the deadlines indicated in the Calendar. Confirmation that this has been done is required by the Faculty of Graduate Studies before you will be cleared for graduation. You are also responsible for making sure that you have paid all outstanding tuition, fees, fines and other charges. Graduation is the last chance the university has to collect what you owe so you will not get your diploma until you have paid up!

All students in the Department of Educational Studies are expected to provide one unbound copy of their paper, thesis or dissertation for the collection in the Coolie Verner Memorial Reading Room. A binding fee for this copy must also be paid. If you want to have other copies of your paper, thesis or dissertation bound, the Graduate Secretary can provide you with the names and addresses of local binderies. You are responsible, however, for picking the bindery and making the necessary arrangements. Ask the Graduate Secretary for a copy of the Graduation Procedures handout for the degree program in which you are enrolled.

If you get in a hurry toward the end of your program you can fax or courier material to me, but don,t expect me to courier a draft back to you or to fax dozens of pages. We have no budget for such expenses so the best advice I can give you is to allow plenty of time to get the paper, thesis or dissertation completed.

I,ll do my best to work with you so that you can graduate as planned, but remember that you are not the only person who is trying to get finished. The few weeks prior to graduation deadlines are very hectic for both faculty and those students trying to finish, so good planning and constant communication are essential.

Again, if you have any questions about the material I have included in this handout, please let me know and I'll try to answer them.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Attachment A--Sample Cover Sheet for M.Ed. Graduating Paper Proposals
(Rev. May 20, 1998)

A Clear and Concise --Sometimes Even Witty --Title Goes Here

A graduating paper proposal by

[student's name]

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Education

Department of Educational Studies
[name of program area or specialization]

[date proposal submitted]

Proposal approved:

___________________________________
Graduating Paper Supervisor

___________________________________
Second Reader

Date approved:______________________

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Attachment B--Sample Cover Sheet for M.A./Ph.D. Research Proposals
(Rev. May 20, 1998)

A Clear and Concise --Sometimes Even Witty --Title Goes Here

A research proposal by

[student's name]

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of [M.A., Ed.D. or Ph.D.]

Department of Educational Studies
[name of program area or specialization]

[date proposal submitted]

Proposal approved:

___________________________________
Research Supervisor

___________________________________
Committee Member

___________________________________
Committee Member

Date approved:______________________

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA