Doctoral Support Center & Doctoral Programming Blog

Operation Dissertation Acceleration at the Orange County Center this Fall

ODA WORKSHOP DATES
Thursday, 09/22/11 9 AM – 9 PM
Friday, 09/23/11 9 AM – 9 PM
Saturday, 09/24/11 9 AM – 9 PM
Sunday, 09/25/11 9 AM – 5 PM

Operation Dissertation Acceleration (ODA) is an intensive writing retreat for doctoral students who want to set aside a serious block of time to make a significant push toward the next step in their dissertations. The retreat is designed for students who:

A) Have research question(s) but have not been able to complete chapters 1, 2, and 3 (the proposal); or

B) Have defended their proposal and collected data, but have not completed chapters 4 and 5.

Retreat participants will be selected and assigned to work directly with a DSC writing advisor. For the Orange County ODA, the ratio of advisor to students will be 1-4 which means students will have significant support and interaction on their project. In addition, participants will exchange papers and support each other through peer-to-peer feedback. There is no fee, and space is limited to eight students, so apply early and well before the deadline of August 29: Download ODAOrangeCountySept2011.

 

 

Summer Reading: They Say, I Say

If you're like me, in the summer you want to spend time outside, but at the same time there's a desire to do something enriching and work on research and writing.  With these contradictory impulses in mind, I'm going to write some reviews of books that would likely be a help in working either on writing or doctoral research.

The first book I recommend to all graduate students is one on doing research writing called They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein.  This is a great book, in my opinion, wherever you are in your academic life.  It's simply written, easy to understand (it's written on an undergraduate level), but offers important advice on doing research writing.

The book is yet another book about writing, but it is about the very specific style of writing academia requires.  It offers concrete suggestions and templates for "moves" like presenting the research of others while transitioning into ones own.  It also contains essays and exercises, which can be useful practice, but I found it best to take their suggestions and then apply them to my own work.

I haven't read anything else that's explained half so well how to use the arguments of others (whether they agree with you or not) to help set up your own work.  Those sort of rhetorical tools are very useful in helping construct a literature review. 

Let me know what you think!

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/aafromaa/

What's My Cohort?

The Doctoral Support Center at Rossier uses a cohort model to insure that every student has a writing advisor assigned to them. Each cohort works directly with a writing advisor. This writing advisor will be ready to work with you on reviewing your papers and dissertation chapters. This way you can contact your writing advisor when you need their help. 

The advisors and their cohorts are as follows:

2010, 2007 and 2004: Gokce Gokalp Ph.D.
gokalp@usc.edu
(213) 740-3845

2009, 2006, and 2003: Linda Fischer Ed.D.
lfischer@usc.edu
(213) 740-3831

2008, 2005, and Legacy: Ilda Jimenez y West Ph.D.
ijimenez@usc.edu
(213) 740-2199

 

Summer DSC Writing Workshops

It's summer time!  Time to get that dissertation or classwork completed. 

The DSC Writing Workshops provide students the opportunity to commit to writing and have an advisor available to assist with questions regarding academic writing or the dissertation process. There is no cost for attending.

The Summer 2011 Writing Workshops will be in session from May to July 2011. There are weekend workshops and Thursday Night Writes. All Doctoral Students are welcome to attend, as we support students in all phases of the program.

The next workshop will be hosted on Saturday 11 June and Sunday 12 June from 9 to 5 pm in WPH B49.

Please see the attached flyer for future dates. Download Summer Workshops 2011.  Mark your calendars. Please contact Dr. Linda Fishcer at lfischer@usc.edu if you have any questions.

Write On and Fight On!  Linda

60 Minutes Isn't Very Long

As you'd know if you've come anywhere near me in the past month, I recently finished my final edits, received final approval and uploaded my dissertation to the Graduate School.  This chapter of my life has ended. I'm going to share something that worked for me.  It's just a trick but, as I said, it did work.  Maybe it could help you too.

Toward the end, when I just needed to edit and write, I found it hard.  I had become too focused on the big picture, on everything that had to be done. Getting myself to sit down and do it was a struggle.  Finally I made these signs the read, as you see here "60 Minutes isn't very long," and taped them up on the wall above my desk and everywhere else I was working (I move around a lot).

Then I set the timer on my iPhone for 60 minutes and told myself that just for that amount of time I would do nothing but write and edit. No checking email, no answering the phone, not even any reading of research.  Just writing.  After 60 minutes I could stop, do all those things, get a cup of tea or whatever and then decide if I had 60 more minutes in me. 

This worked for me, one hour at a time.  It isn't very long. 

Apply now for the Orange County Operation Dissertation Acceleration

Operation Dissertation Acceleration (ODA) is an intensive writing retreat for doctoral students who need or want to set aside a serious block of time to make a significant push toward the next step in their dissertation.

 

The retreat is designed for students who:

 

  A)   Have research question(s) but have not been able to complete chapters 1, 2, and 3 (the proposal); or

 

B)    Have defended their proposal and collected data, but have not completed chapters 4 and 5.

 

Retreat participants will be selected and assigned to work directly with a DSC writing advisor. For the Orange County ODA April 29 – May 1, the ratio of advisor to students will be 1-6, which means students will have significant support and interaction on their project.  In addition, participants will exchange papers and support each other through peer-to-peer feedback. To attend, download the application below and submit it by Monday, April 4.

 

Download ODAOrangeCounty

Defining and Dealing with Procrastination

Don't you wish you didn't procrastinate?  I sure do, especially as I consider how much I could have written if only I'd started sooner. But why do I procrastinate when I know it makes me unhappy?

Over on the 21st Century Scholar blog, Professor Bill Tierney has written about procrastination and how to define and deal with it. 

His first entry: "Procrastination and Getting It Done" focuses on procrastination as a "mental conundrum"  and how to divide tasks so we aren't tempted to procrastinate.  His second entry: "Procrastination vs. the Importance of Timing," deals with the differenc between procrastination and chosing to delay response. 

For me, I feel I have the art of the useful delay down.  But the topics in the first piece, figuring out why I procrastinate and learning how to break large tasks down so I do it rather than work on something else is hugely useful. 

What do you think?

---

(Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.)

 

Spring 2011: Thesis and Dissertation Editing Forums

Worried about formatting your dissertation for submission?  Got questions for the thesis editors?  Come to the Spring Dissertation Editing Forums hosted by the Graduate School.  Below is a copy of their informative email regarding the sessions.

Dear Students,
 
In anticipation of the April 1, 2011 spring submission deadline, the Editors will be holding two forums focusing on the thesis/dissertation editing process.  While attendance is not mandatory, we encourage you to attend especially if you plan on submitting your thesis or dissertation by the April 1 deadline.   No handouts will be distributed and a RSVP is not required.


·         UPC: Tuesday, March 1, 2011 from 1:30-2:50 in VKC 156

·         HSC: Thursday, March 3, 2011 from 1:30-2:50 in CHP 102


We are sorry, but we will not be holding any “make-up” sessions.  The next set of forums will be held in early June.


If you have any questions, please email us at thesised@usc.edu

 
For more information, see the website: The Graduate School

You can also contacted Annemarie at the Doctoral Support Center for questions about thesis editing.

How to make good use of assignment prompts?

If you pay close attention to the assignment prompts you receive for your course papers, you’ll notice that they provide many clues about how to write your paper. For example you can basically develop an outline of your writing assignment just by analyzing the prompt carefully. Let’s examine the review of an empirical article assignment prompt as an example, the prompt indicates that you should first provide the purpose of the study and within this section you are asked to state what the author attempts to do, indicate what kind of a study this is, and report the research questions and hypothesis. Here’s what the outline would look like:

I. Purpose of the study

     a.What author attempts to do

     b.Type of study

     c.Research questions/Hypothesis

In the next section of the prompt, you are asked to describe the theoretical foundation and variables and within this section you are asked to briefly describe the underlying theory for this study, then you need to summarize operational definitions and construct validity the author provided for the variables of the study, then you need to either describe the phenomenon being observed or indicate what the independent and dependent variables are depending on the type of the study the researchers conducted: Here’s what the outline looks like with the addition of this section:

I. Purpose of the study

      a.What author attempts to do

      b.Type of study

      c.Research questions/Hypothesis

II. Theoretical Foundation and Variables

       a.Underlying theory

       b.Operational definition/construct validity

       c.Describe phenomenon or provide the IVs and DVs of the study

You would continue to do this for each of the other sections and this way you’ll ensure you covered everything you were asked to talk about in this paper.

And guess what? You can apply this to all other assignment prompts as well. Even assignment prompts, that aren’t structured with bullet points or questions you should answer, have embedded in them what major sections/headings you need to include in your papers. And if you use those as the headings of the major sections, this will ensure that you’ve discussed everything the prompt ask you to cover.

If you have any comments or suggestions you’d like to share about the use of prompts effectively for well written papers, feel free to share them here.

Good Effort!

Note: The image is from Rob Helpychalk's photostream. Thank you Rob Helpychalk!

Avoiding Procrastination When Writing Your Dissertation

  (These tips are based on a hand-out available at the Doctoral Support Center.)

Procrastination is the behavior of postponing tasks.  Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but when we're working on our dissertation, procrastination can have serious consequences.

How can you avoid procrastination?  Here's some tips to keep from being overwhelmed.

1. Work in an envirnoment with minimal distractions.   Try to modify your environment to reduce distractions from things like the phone, email or people.  Choose a space where you can spread out your documents where you can focus and concentrate.
2. Establish a realistic routine.  Dedicate specific times earch week or day to work on your dissertation.  Protect that time from other activities and keep up your momentum.  Be realistic though -- planning to work two hours every day after work isn't practical if you come home feeling mentally or physically drained.
3. Work on bits and pieces. Thinking about your whole dissertation can be overwhelming.  Therefore set goals based on smaller pieces of the dissertation.  Focus not only on one chapter at a time, but on individual sections at a time. 
4. Reward yourself.  When you have met your goals, take the time to reward yourself.  You may find you need more frequent rewards (such as when you complete a section) or for larger tasks (such as the draft of a chapter).
5. Seek social support. Partner with people who are able to complete tasks.  Having positive role models can help motivate you to start and complete your own.
6. Make a public commitment.  Once you make a goal or set up a routine, annouce it publicly.  Making the statement publicly will make it more difficult to avoid completing it.
7. Practice telling time.  Procrastinators tend to underestimate the time needed to complete tasks.  Be realistic.  If you have any question, get estimates from faculty and former students. 
8. Create intermediate deadlines.  Focusing only on the Graduate School filing deadline may create anxiety.  Instead, establish intermediate deadlines that work you more gently toward the larger one.
9. Be flexible.  Even the most well thought out plans and realistic deadlines can hit a snag.  At these times its important to be flexible and readjust your strategies.  Remember, we're here to help you through the rough times.

Contact the Doctoral Support Center: rsoedsc@usc.edu for more information.