Senior theses: Creating a community of scholars for original, authentic research Supplementary material

Related article: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/849533

[Download PDF file ] Syllabus introduction

This document describes the institutional context for the course, including the structure of the Tri-College Linguistics Department, the requirements for the Linguistics major, and the desired learning outcomes for the thesis seminar.

[Download PDF file ] Sample syllabus: “Senior Thesis Seminar”

This syllabus provides detail on the day-to-day running of the thesis seminar, learning goals, weekly topics, logistics, assignments, and due dates. This version of the syllabus is lightly edited from that used in the Fall 2019 semester.

[Download PDF file ] Handout: About theses; Prospectus; Task Breakdown

This document is the handout used in the first class meeting. It gives the rationale and purpose of a thesis, describes what makes a good thesis topic, and explains the idea of a thesis prospectus. It then gives instructions for the first assignment, writing a short prospectus and research task breakdown.

[Download PDF file ] Senior thesis topic exercise: Brainstorming research ideas

This document gives a list of 18 targeted questions used to help students brainstorm thesis topic ideas.

[Download PDF file ] Annotated bibliography assignment

This document explains the structure and purpose of an annotated bibliography and gives instructions on how to produce one for the course.

[Download PDF file ] Handout: How to give a great presentation

This handout includes guidelines and tips for effectively presenting scholarly work. It is used in class prior to students’ first presentation, and comprises the assignment for that presentation.

[Download PDF file ] Peer review cover sheet

This document contains instructions for creating a cover sheet which students are asked to include with every draft or assignment they submit for peer review. The cover sheet is designed to give readers context about the draft, its goals, and what sort of feedback the author is most interested in.

[Download PDF file ] Assessment rubric for Senior Theses in Linguistics

This rubric is used by the department to evaluate each thesis according to our learning goals and to track the subfields students choose to write in. This rubric does not directly determine a student’s grade, but we use the resulting data for assessment of the thesis program and to track trends over time.