| •
Faculty Advisors • Pass With Distinction • Thesis Evaluation Rubric |
FOR FACULTY ADVISORS
THE HONORS
THESIS PROPOSAL
When
a student approaches you about serving as his or her thesis advisor, the
student should already have a thesis topic in mind. This topic may be
examined in the context of regular library or bench research, a community
service or internship project, a study abroad experience, a teaching experience
or a team project. We suggest that you and your student develop 4-5 questions
when discussing the proposed topic in order to generate a good discussion
of possible facets of the proposed topic and approaches to examining it.
Feel free to ask your student to complete further research before you
sign off on the final draft of the proposal.
Introduction/Literature Review: The introduction or literature
review should place the student’s hypothesis or research question
in context and should provide a necessary and sufficient background to
lead the reader directly to the research question asked.
Research Question: Students are expected to develop a cogent statement of their research question or hypothesis. This section of the proposal should be two sentences. A hypo thesis or research question should always be the focus of the thesis.
Methodology/Materials and Methods: An explanation of data to be collected and methods and materials to be used for the collection and analysis of that data should be included. Where human subjects will be used in the research, human subjects approval must be sought from the university. Projects that involve the creative arts should discuss the theme of the project and some bibliographic references to related work. In all cases, the student's proposal and subsequent paper must include published scholarship that relates to the question or hypothesis identified and the methods used in the analysis of the problem being researched.
Expected Results or Conclusions: This section contains one or two paragraphs describing the expected results of the thesis research and how those results fit into the known literature in the field.
Bibliography: We are asking that students submit an annotated bibliography of at least 5-6 sources with their proposal. This step will ensure that sources exist which clearly relate to the proposed topic. Please check for the validity and applicability of the sources chosen by the student. As an expert in your field, you are in a much better position than the student to judge the usefulness of the sources identified by your student.
Appendix: This section includes survey forms, interview questions asked and figures or tables which do not fit in the body of the thesis. In addition, where keeping of a journal is required, those journal pages should be included in this section.
Proposal Application Form: Once the proposal is ready to be submitted to the Honors College, you will be asked to sign the Proposal Application Form. Included on this form are a series of questions related to the bibliography, whether or not the student will work independently, whether the project makes a contribution to the field, and whether three credits of work are reflected in the project. After answering these questions, please sign the form and have the student staple it to the top of his or her proposal. Thesis proposals are reviewed three times during the year. You will be notified when your student's proposal has been reviewed and accepted by the Thesis Review Committee.
THE THESIS ADVISOR AS MENTOR
You will be approached to serve as thesis advisor for a student you've taught or whose work you have supervised. Each student will have different needs during this selection process and you need to keep in mind that you are mentoring the student in his/her research efforts. A good rule of thumb is to set up a regular meeting schedule that includes at least semi-monthly meetings to discuss the progress of the research. These regular interactions are key to the completion of a strong paper and attainment of intellectual growth by the student.
Although it is certainly not ideal, you may also be approached by a student who has not allowed enough time to permit a careful examination of a research question. Students who have applied for internship opportunities, for instance, often are notified that they have been selected during the last few weeks of the semester. This situation requires that a proposal be quickly developed, including the research question to be examined. It has been our experience that students are often very anxious about the possibility of developing a research question when this latter scenario unfolds. We ask for your patience if you find yourself in this situation. Any assistance you can provide a student regarding appropriate scholarship to include in the bibliography and direction for the research will be greatly appreciated by the student and by the Honors College.
On the other hand, you may serve as thesis advisor for a student who will not be in Pullman for the duration of the Honors project. This would be the case for students who are studying abroad or who have an internship off campus. Establishing a schedule for regular email contact with your student is the best way of maintaining communication in this case.
Students who are faithful in communicating with their advisors have proven to be the most successful in completing the Honors thesis. You are encouraged to establish such a schedule early on in this process.
THE WRITTEN THESIS
Students are expected to write at least 20 pages, in addition to an appendix, if required. Students who complete an internship, community service project, or teaching project must keep a journal. This journal will be placed in the appendix of their papers. Suggestions for the organization of the paper are available to the students in the Guidelines for Writing the Thesis. In all cases, the student's research should be placed in a larger context of the field in which he or she worked. For the traditional thesis, this context will be very obvious. For students completing an internship, community service project, or teaching project, the larger context will include scholarship related to the broader question being asked or the pedagogy that was utilized. We ask students to discuss what they found, discovered, learned, or uncovered.
Title Page: This page includes the student's name, title of paper, the semester the work is presented, advisor’s name, and department, and college. Following the Title Page will be the Advisor Signature Page . This form indicates that you have read the paper and find it satisfactory.
Table of Contents: This page designates the important sections of the paper. A List of Figures and Tables is suggested for papers that include more than two diagrams.
Precis: This section is a 2 page document that describes your research in terms a general academic layperson could understand. You can download the instructions for the précis.
Literature Review/Introduction: The main body of the paper should be at least 20 pages. All papers must be written in English. Spelling, punctuation, and grammatical correctness are very important. Careful proofreading on your part will ensure that your student's paper will receive favorable comments from the reviewers. The literature review/introduction must place the research question or hypothesis in perspective and lead logically to that question.
Methodology/Materials and Methods: This section outlines the methodology and/or materials and methods used in the collection and analysis of the student’s research work.
Results and Discussion: This section describes the results of the student’s research work and discusses those results in context of the literature of the discipline or field.
Bibliography/References: This bibliography should be compiled in a style currently used in your discipline. This reference list is not annotated, that annotation was limited to the thesis proposal.
Appendix: An appendix is optional unless the student's paper involves an internship, community service, or teaching option or uses surveys and interviews, then those forms should be included in the Appendix. A student who has completed a journal should type up their journal entries and insert them into the Appendix.
All papers must be spirally bound, not comb bound. Two final copies are due in the Honors College at the beginning of the week before oral presentations begin. Two Honors College Faculty will be selected to read your student's paper and evaluate it using the Thesis Evaluation Form.
THE ORAL PRESENTATION
Oral presentations of students' papers are held during one week each semester, typically during the 7th week of the term. This means that all papers must be near completion and in the final editing phase at the end of the previous semester. Please help your student plan ahead in order to reduce stress during the presentation time.
Two Honors faculty members are asked to read each paper before the presentations are held. We distribute the papers beginning on Monday of the week before the presentations begin, thus all papers are due then. The reviewers will be given the Thesis Evaluation Rubric to complete with space for comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the paper and the presentation. These comments will be sent to the student with a copy for their permanent file.
Many students will need coaching with their oral presentation. As you know, 15 – 20 minutes passes very quickly. Students are encouraged to use visuals of some type and to practice their presentation numerous times before the final delivery. The 15 – 20 minute limit is firm, as there are numerous presentations scheduled each day. All technology will be available in Honors Hall, which is where the presentations will take place. Please make arrangements for a "trial run" of your student's presentation. Despite the topic of the paper, the presentation should be understandable by a general audience.
Presentation times
will be advertised in the FLASH - the Honors College electronic newsletter.
Students are made aware that their advisors must be in attendance at their
presentations. In most cases, it is possible to find a time that does
not conflict with your teaching schedule and other obligations. Students
are free to invite friends, family, and other guests to their presentations.
The presentations are open to the public and advertised in the Daily Evergreen.
FINAL GRADE FOR THE HONORS THESIS
The Honors Thesis is a three-credit requirement that is graded Pass/Fail. It is our hope that every student will complete a paper and give a presentation that is a credit to themselves and the Honors College. As the thesis advisor, you, in consultation with the two Honors College reviewers, have the final word on the grade to be given to the student. No grades are entered until the Thesis Advisor is satisfied as to the quality of the final product.
You will be given a Final Grade Form at the beginning of your student's Thesis Presentation. You may, at that point, complete the form and return it to the Honors College. You may also take the form with you and submit it at a later point. If you wish your student to make further editing changes in the paper, simply do not return the Grade Form until these changes have been made to your satisfaction.
Students who have completed this requirement, including submitting two bound copies of the final paper and completing the oral presentation, will receive a letter from the Honors College explaining that the requirement has been satisfied.
Two faculty from the Honors College will be selected to read your student's paper and attend the oral presentation. These faculty will probably not be from your discipline. Therefore, every effort should be made by your student to make certain that both the paper and presentation can be understood by a general audience, unless the paper is intended for publication in a scientific journal. Their comments will be recorded on the Thesis Evaluation Rubric.
"PASS WITH DISTINCTION"
Each semester, a few students receive the designation "Pass with Distinction" on their papers. These are the papers that reflect a very high level of scholarly writing, including the relevant literature, are analytical, well argued, well written, and exhibit the potential for publication.
If you wish to nominate your student, you must prepare a typed statement which addresses the points made above. You may also wish to include information on the length of time the student spent on the project and other pertinent information about the student’s performance. If the two Honors College faculty members who evaluated your student's paper and the presentation agree that the paper merits Distinction, it will be submitted to the Honors Council for review.
Members of the Honors Council represent a diverse cross section of the faculty on campus. They read the papers very carefully, looking for substantive content, excellent writing, and potential for publication. The full Council meets in a special session to discuss the papers. Final determination of the Pass with Distinction Awards is made at that time. Students so recognized have a notation made on their permanent university transcript and are recognized at the Honors College Commencement Ceremony.
Representative winners
of this award have agreed to have their papers made available through
this web site. You
can download these representative samples in a PDF file.
Note: The Honors College is always available to answer questions you might have about this requirement and process. Please feel free to contact us at 335-4505 for clarification about any aspect of the Honors Thesis.