Writing Tips: Thesis Statements

Time: 9th June, 15:30-17:30

Location: Medical Building Tutorial Room 10

What is the Writing Tips: Thesis Statements session about?

Every PhD student should have a main point, a main idea, or central message. The argument(s) they make in their research should reflect this main idea. The sentence that captures the position on this main idea is what we call a thesis statement and this session will cover the same.

This session is limited to 15 students only. This is an activity session and will focus on the following aspects:

· Discussion on importance of thesis statements and their validity

· Pitfalls in writing thesis statements

· What should a thesis statement cover/address

All the delegates taking part in the session will be asked to submit a copy of their thesis statement/ research questions, which will be made anonymous during the session.

Session outline:

Students will be divided into groups of 3. The activity will have three phases:

Phase 1 (30 minutes): A brief talk by an academic outlining the aspects mentioned above followed by a Q& A session

Phase 2 (30 minutes): Each group will be given two-three thesis statements (anonymous) and they have to put their comments based on the talk given in Phase 1.

Phase 3 (30 minutes): The academic (facilitator) for the session will highlight some interesting points based on the discussion during Phase 2 and wrap up the discussion.

If you have any queries:

contact the Co-ordinator: Soum Chowdhury (soumc@dcs.gla.ac.uk)