Strategies for EffectiveThesis/Dissertation Writingerdt.coe.upd.edu.ph/images/facultyworkshop/VI Presentation.pdf · Effective Thesis/Dissertation Writing •Beginning •Adviser

StrategiesforEffectiveThesis/Dissertation

WritingIsabelM.AustriaAssistantProfessor

ElectricalandElectronicsEngineeringInstitute

EffectiveThesis/DissertationWriting

• Beginning• Adviser• Topic

• StayingonTrack• TimeManagement• Howtoreadapaper• TheimportanceofPreliminaryWork• Gettingorganized

Whatisthefirststepindoingathesis/dissertation?

Whatisthefirststepindoingathesis/dissertation?Choosing:

Whatisthefirststepindoingathesis/dissertation?Choosing:Adviser

Whatisthefirststepindoingathesis/dissertation?Choosing:Topic

Whyisthechoiceofone’sadviserimportant?

• Youradviserwillbeasignificantinfluencetoyourgraduatecareer• It’salongtermcommitment• Establisharelationshipthattransforms• Youdonotstartasequals:apprenticeship• Shouldendascolleagues• Someevencontinuetohelpormentorbeyondthethesis/dissertation

R.Lipshitz,“OnChoosingaThesisAdvisor”,NoticesoftheAmericanMathematicalSociety,pp.191-193,February2019.Available:https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201902/rnoti-p191.pdf.[AccessedJune3,2019].

M.Loui,“HowtoChooseaThesisAdvisor”,February5,1997(RevisedJanuary24,2004).[Online].Available:https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~imarkov/advisor.html.[AccessedJune3,2019].

Somecriteriaforchoosinganadviser

• Hasexpertiseinyourtopicofinterest• AreyouinterestedinX’sresearcharea?• Areyoucomfortablediscussing<topic>withX?

• Activelydoingresearchandadvising• Advisingisadifferentskillfromresearchandclassroomteaching• Hasresources,projectfunding,contacts• Up-to-date

R.Lipshitz,“OnChoosingaThesisAdvisor”,NoticesoftheAmericanMathematicalSociety,pp.191-193,February2019.Available:https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201902/rnoti-p191.pdf.[AccessedJune3,2019].

M.Loui,“HowtoChooseaThesisAdvisor”,February5,1997(RevisedJanuary24,2004).[Online].Available:https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~imarkov/advisor.html.[AccessedJune3,2019].

Somecriteriaforchoosinganadviser

• IsX expectedtobearoundforthedurationofyourMSorPhDstudies?• HowdoesX expectstudentstofindresearchproblems?• Givesfirstresearchproblem?• Discussesopenquestions?• Expectsstudentstofindtheirfirstproblems?

R.Lipshitz,“OnChoosingaThesisAdvisor”,NoticesoftheAmericanMathematicalSociety,pp.191-193,February2019.Available:https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201902/rnoti-p191.pdf.[AccessedJune3,2019].

M.Loui,“HowtoChooseaThesisAdvisor”,February5,1997(RevisedJanuary24,2004).[Online].Available:https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~imarkov/advisor.html.[AccessedJune3,2019].

Howtochooseanadviser

• Takeacoursewithapotentialadviser• Readup:grantproposals,publications,etc.ofyourpotentialadviser• Considerworkingwithtwoadvisers• Meetandinterviewapotentialadviser• Personalchemistryisalsoimportant!

R.Lipshitz,“OnChoosingaThesisAdvisor”,NoticesoftheAmericanMathematicalSociety,pp.191-193,February2019.Available:https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201902/rnoti-p191.pdf.[AccessedJune3,2019].

M.Loui,“HowtoChooseaThesisAdvisor”,February5,1997(RevisedJanuary24,2004).[Online].Available:https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~imarkov/advisor.html.[AccessedJune3,2019].

Ifnochoices:beflexibleJ(Psychyourselfandsetyourexpectations)

Gettingalongwithyouradviser

Remember:youradviserisonyourside

• Openlycommunicatewithyouradviser• Informaboutyourstrengthsandweaknesses• Deviseadetailedplanwithyouradvisertoaddressshortcomingswrtthesis/dissertationwork

• Meetregularly• NEVER,NEVER,NEVERskipameeting• …especiallywhenyouencounterthesisproblems• ReportgoodresultsANDbadresults• Clarifydeliverablesfornextmeeting• Bringallpapers,results,etc.

ChoosingaTopic

J.Cham,“Thesistopic- gradschoolapplication”,PiledHigherandDeeper,www.phdcomics.com.[Online].

ChoosingaTopic

J.Cham,“Thesistopic- Epiphany”,PiledHigherandDeeper,www.phdcomics.com.[Online].

Choosingyourtopic

• Feasiblewithresourcesonhand• Hardware/softwaretools• Accesstorawdata• Adviserexperience• Techsupport

• Significant• Distinguishyourcontributionfromexistingwork• Contributetolab’sresearchprogram

• Interesting

Tipsonchoosingatopic

• Joinalaborresearchgroup• Moretechsupport• Easiertoidentifytopics• Contributetothegroup’sprogress

• Conversewithpeers/peopleinyourlab• Day-to-daydeep,intellectual discussionspromotecreativityandinnovation

StayingonTrack

“Full-time”gradstudentsarenotentirelyfull-time• Dailyerrands• Dutiestofamily,lovedones• Administrativeoverhead• Traffic/dailycommute• Physicalandmentalexhaustion• Facebook,Netflix,…

TimeManagement

• Detailedplanning• Riskmanagement:PlanA,PlanB,…• Explicitday-to-daysched

Thekeyisnottoprioritizewhat’sonyourschedule,buttoscheduleyourpriorities.— Stephen Covey• Startwithyourgoals,prioritizethem,thenfocusonthemostimportanttasksthatwillhelpyouachieveyourgoals• UseanEisenhowerMatrix

IntroducingtheEisenhowerMatrix,www.eisenhower.me. [Online].Available:https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/.[AccessedJune3,2019].

The“rock,pebbles,andsand”analogy

Imagetakenfrom:http://www.mattdouglas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/jar-of-rocks.jpg

Readingpapers

J.Cham,“References”,PiledHigherandDeeper,www.phdcomics.com.[Online].

Howtoreadapaper:Three-PassApproach

• Firstpass• Title,abstract,introduction• Sectionandsub-sectionheadings– ignoreeverythingelse• Conclusions• TheFiveC’s:

• Category:measurementpaper?Analysispaper?Prototype?• Context:whatisitrelatedto?Theory?• Correctness:assumptionsappearvalid?• Contributions• Clarity

S.Keshav.“HowtoReadaPaper”.ACMSIGCOMMComputerCommunicationReview,Vol.37,No.3,July2007.

Firstpassisreadingforbreadth

• Bird’s-eyeviewofthepaper• Whatdidtheydo?• Considercredibility

• Howuseful/relevantisit?• Skip,file,orgoon?

SecondPass

• Lookcarefullyatfigures,diagrams• Areaxeswelllabeled?Resultswitherrorbars?

• Notereferences• Whicharefamiliar?Whicharenot?

• Graspcontent,summarizemainthrust• Takesroughlyanhour• Mayormaynotunderstandfullyatthispoint

Thirdpass:Readingindepth

• Challengewhatyouread• Examinemethods• Examinestatistics• Followproofs/derivations• Examinereasoningandconclusions• HowcanIapplytheirapproachtomywork?

TheimportanceofPreliminaryWork

• Readingisnotasubstitutefor‘HelloWorld’• Startplayingwithyourtools• Bettertolearnbydoing• Sanity-checkyourhypothesesearly

• Startresearchbeforeproposalisapproved

GetOrganized!• Putorderinyourresearchtools,references,software,digitalfiles,etc.

• Takenoteswhenyoureadapapertoavoidhavingtore-readtheentirepaperlateron

• Documenteverything• Backupeverything• Chooseyourwriting/researchweaponofchoiceandmasterit• Latex,Overleaf,Lyx• Jabref,Zotero• GoogleScholar

Imagetakenfrom:https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/why-marie-kondos-de-cluttering-method-life-changing/

Finally:yourbiggestdragonisyourself.MasteryourselfJ