Thesis Tutorial Lab
NMDS 5952
School of Media Studies
The New School
Fall 2019
Course webpage is here: http://peterasaro.net/courses/2019Thesis.html
Course Description
This course supports students working on their Masters Thesis projects for the Master of Arts in Media Studies degree.
Open only to M.A. degree candidates who have completed their Thesis Proposal the semester prior. Students refine their project and begin research and production. The class mixes group workshops, in which students give progress reports and receive feedback, and one-on-one meetings with the Tutorial instructor and thesis advisors. By the end of the semester each student will have produced the first draft of his/her thesis, and will complete the thesis during the subsequent semester(s).
OFFICE HOURS: By Appointment
Please email me to setup an appointment.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING:
Welcome to the Fall 2019 Thesis Tutorial
The goal of Thesis Tutorial is to encourage and guide your research for your thesis. You should already have an approved Thesis Proposal, signed by your First Reader (Thesis Advisor) and Second Reader, and submitted to School of Media Studies, prior to enrolling in Thesis Tutorial. Please contact me if you do not.Because every Thesis is different, the structure of Thesis Tutorial is one of guided peer-learning and sharing. Which means students mainly share their research projects, questions, methods, strategies, issues and challenges with each other and receive helpful criticism and feedback from each other, as well as guidance and feedback from myself as the instructor.
Because we have such a small cohort of Thesis students this semester, we will be meeting primarily on-line and/or co-meeting in a hybrid setting for you to make presentations on your thesis projects, and to observe and respond to the presentations of your peers.
This course is graded Pass/Fail, and in order to Pass you must continue to meet with your Thesis Advisor (First Reader) and make progress on your Thesis, and complete ALL SIX of the Tutorial Lab requirements: 2 One-on-one Meetings with me 2 Presentations of your Thesis Project to the group 1 Methods written Exercise + 1 Revision of Methods Exercise
You will have one short written assignment, a research Methods exercise. In it, you will write out your Research Question as clearly and succinctly as possible. You will then describe how you will Operationalize your Research Question, and the Research Methods you will deploy to answer it. You will also be expected to write a revised version of this assignment based on my feedback.
I strongly recommend that you review the readings for Week 4 "The Research Question: Formulation and Operationalization" of my research methods course Designing Methods for Media, which examines various ways of mixing methods to answer research questions about media, and prepares students to write a Thesis Proposal. Depending on your project, the readings for the other weeks may also be helpful for you as you think about your methods.
A major theme of the Methods course is that your research question and methods will, and should, evolve as you get deeper into you research project. This is true at the Proposal stage, but also as you begin to conduct the research during Thesis Tutorial. The iterative improvement of your research question and methods, based on feedback and initial results and discovery, are key to any successful research project.
You will be expected to make 2 presentations of your Thesis project to this class during the semester, once towards the beginning and again at the end of the semester. Details for the objectives of each presentation are below.I will schedule a time and space for these on campus (for on-site students) or on-line in either real-time Skype sessions or pre-recorded digital presentations (for on-line students). Hopefully, on-line students will be able to participate as audience for the on-site sessions and vice versa.
You will all also have at least 2 meetings with me to discuss your Thesis projects and progress.The first presentation of your Thesis project will be by the end of September. You should email me to arrange our first meeting to discuss your project in the first or second week of September. If you are on-line we can meet via Skype, and make arrangements for you to present your work on-line.The second presentation date will be before the end of the Semester.
Your Methods Assignment, stating your research question and methods, will be due October 21, and the revisions will be due November 11.
Both presentations will be video recorded in order to share with our on-line students, and on-line students will provide feedback.Presentations should aim to be 10 minutes long, with 5 minutes for questions. That is not much time so try to be concise and to the point, and recognize what your audience might already know and what you need to tell them. Practice your presentation for time. Powerpoints and other visuals are optional, but most students tend to use them.
Key Objectives for the First Presentation:What is your research topic and why is it interesting?
Key Objectives for the Second Presentation:
What is your research question and why is it relevant?
How do you plan to answer your research question (methods)?
What results/impact do you expect from this project?What are the early results of your research?
What was unexpected and what did you have to change about your research plan?
How do you plan to interpret your results?How do you plan to present your results?
What more do you need to do to complete the research, or what research questions have presented themselves for further research (after the thesis)?
By the end of this semester, you should be prepared to write your thesis, and register for Thesis Supervision.
*Important Note: Thesis Tutorial is not a substitute for meeting with your Thesis Advisor/First Reader as well as your Second Reader. It is your responsibility to schedule those meetings and maintain progress through a plan of work with them.