Professional Development – Current Grad Students https://gradstudents.carleton.ca Carleton University Sat, 20 Mar 2021 19:59:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 A New Approach to Graduate Professional Development https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2021/a-new-approach-to-graduate-professional-development/ Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:19:22 +0000 https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=46190 These days, Carleton graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have access to a newly revamped professional development (PD) program that is only growing in size and scope.

David LaffertyDavid Lafferty, Coordinator of Graduate Development, describes the need for a new approach: “We know that graduate students need more than just a series of workshops to help them succeed while at Carleton and beyond. What we have to build is a robust culture of graduate professional development.”

Karim Abuawad has been providing guidance to graduate students through individual writing support and career assistance sessions. The writing support sessions give students access to a non-evaluative, supportive environment for discussing and seeking solutions to the writing-related challenges they are facing. The consultations support students as they plan and write their theses and dissertations. Career assistance sessions facilitate career planning, brainstorming, self-evaluation, and goal setting.

Students may also seek guidance as they create their own Individual Development Plans (IDPs). Abuawad explains: “As part of our new series of workshops, ‘Establish Your Career Narrative,’ we encourage students to create IDPs by reflecting on their transferrable skills, researching various career options, and developing any needed skills through taking advantage of professional development opportunities they have identified. Each graduate student is in a unique situation, and we provide students with personalized and flexible approaches.”

KarimAs part of refocusing PD resources, Abuawad also designs and delivers professional writing modules on topics such as grant writing, business reports, and organizing academic articles. Through multi-session modules, Abuawad helps participants understand and critique writing principles pertaining to the topic of each module. Participants then compose a short sample to practise applying the principles learned during the sessions. The feedback students receive on their samples ensures that the module’s hands-on learning objectives are met.

Over the past year, the team has developed new programs and events adapted to online delivery, including a series of live interviews with Carleton alumni. During the interviews, alumni talk about their field of employment, discuss their experiences and the lessons they learned on the job market, and answer students’ questions. The discussions focus on either working outside of academia or securing alt-ac (“alternative academic”) positions.

Another goal of the professional development program is to encourage graduate students to engage with the public and share their ideas. As part of this effort, Lafferty is organizing a research competition called GRADflix. Originally developed at the University of Waterloo, GRADflix challenges students to present their research to a general audience in a video of one minute or less in length. Lafferty remarks, “This contest encourages graduate students to both learn how to communicate their research in a compelling way and develop video editing and multimedia skills that can be very valuable for future employment, whether in academia or in non-academic fields like communications.”

Lafferty and Abuawad have big plans for the future. They are designing a professional development curriculum that will provide students with even more robust preparation for life after graduation. “We want to help equip graduate students with skills that will benefit them in a variety of contexts,” says Lafferty. “And at the same time, we want to help them change their way of thinking, so that professional development becomes part of their everyday life.”

To receive regular updates on PD events and resources, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to add their email address to the PD mailing list.

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A Fantastic Professional Development Experience https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2020/a-fantastic-professional-development-experience/ Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:32:47 +0000 https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=43922 These days, Carleton graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have more resources than ever to assist them with their professional development (PD).

Says PD coordinator David Lafferty: “We know that students need more than just a series of workshops to help them succeed while at Carleton and beyond.”

With the hiring of Karim Abuawad over a year ago, Lafferty and Abuawad have developed a whole new, interactive approach to professional development. The delivery of PD resources has been reconfigured using methods that are more holistic and systematic.

The collection of disparate workshops that once existed under the title of Grad Navigate has been replaced with more streamlined and focused professional development workshops and personalized professional writing and career sessions.

Abuawad has been offering individual writing support, which provides students with a non-evaluative, supportive environment for discussing any challenges they are facing in their writing. These consultations support students as they plan and write their theses and dissertations. In addition to consultations, Abuawad has also been delivering professional writing modules on topics such as report writing, grant proposals and structuring academic articles.

In career assistance sessions, students are guided to create an Individual Development Plan (IDP) in order to facilitate realistic self-evaluation and goal setting.

Explains Abuawad: “As part of our new program Establish Your Career Narrative, we encourage students to create IDPs by reflecting on their transferrable skills, researching various career options, and developing any needed skills through taking advantage of professional development opportunities they have identified. We provide personalized and flexible approaches because we recognize that each student is in a unique situation.”

Over the past year, the team has developed new programs and events adapted to online delivery, including a series of live interviews with Carleton alumni. During the interviews, alumni talk about their field of employment, discuss their experiences and the lessons they learned on the job market and answer students’ questions. The discussions focus on working outside of academia and on securing “alternative academic” positions.

To keep graduate students connected and to foster the exchange of ideas during the COVID pandemic, the PD team has established the Grad Café, a forum dedicated to informal discussions on a variety of topics pertinent to grad school life.

In an effort to enhance their outreach, the PD team started conducting class visits to talk to students about career development. They have also started a project to track and contact Carleton alumni who are then invited to conduct live and written interviews and to advise individual students interested in careers within their field of employment.

As part of his portfolio, Lafferty also organizes the annual Three Minute Thesis competition in which grad students talk about their research in three minutes or less, while vying for prizes. This year, he put together a virtual competition (the results will be available shortly.) The 3MT, along with other research competitions, helps students learn how to talk about their research to the media and the general public.

All of these changes fall on the heels of last year’s Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS) in which more than 54% of Carleton graduate students participated…the highest-ever response.

Overall, Carleton maintained the improved satisfaction level achieved in 2016, and was significantly higher in a number of areas than the provincial average.

One area which the CGPSS covers is professional skills development. In 2019, master’s respondents in course-based programs were more satisfied on almost all items while doctoral respondents in research-based programs reported similar to master’s respondents’ satisfaction levels with the professional skill development occurring in and around their programs.

“Since 2013, we have made continual upgrades to our professional development program,” says Lafferty. “We were delighted to see some of our efforts reflected in last year’s CGPSS and are excited to see how grad students will view our newest initiatives in the next CGPSS.”

Lafferty notes that professional development is a team activity and emphasizes that it’s a combination of work by individual departments, the Education Development Centre, graduate supervisors, the Library, Career Services, FGPA initiatives, etc. that make the entire platform work effectively.”

To receive regular updates on PD events and resources, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to add their email address to the PD mailing list.

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Interested in Supplementing Your Carleton Coursework? https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2017/interested-supplementing-carleton-coursework/ Fri, 22 Sep 2017 12:52:31 +0000 https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=28630 Carleton University has joined the N2 Network for a second year to allow all Carleton students, staff and faculty to apply for online certificate programs offered by the CITI program. The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) is a leading provider of research education content. CITI’s web-based training materials serve millions of learners at academic institutions, government agencies and commercial organizations around the world.

All of the certificate programs consist of several courses, and are free to you. They range from Animal Care and Use on through to The Responsible Conduct of Research. Here is a full list of what’s available: https://www.citiprogram.org/index.cfm?pageID=86  Note that all of the courses are offered online.

If you are interested in signing up for a program all you need to do is follow the CITI link (https://www.citiprogram.org/index.cfm), click to register, and follow the registration steps. Please note that you must use your Carleton email address when registering.

If you require assistance, please contact Carleton’s CITI Program Administrator Derrick Matthew Buchanan at MatthewBuchanan@cmail.carleton.ca or CITI Advisor Shelley King at Shelley.King@n2canada.ca.

This special project is being funded by the Faculty of Science.

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Why Participate in the 3MT? https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2016/why-participate-in-the-3mt/ Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:49:29 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=26445 2015 3MT winners

2015 Top 3MT Winners

There are countless great reasons to participate in the Carleton Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition!

Develop your Elevator Pitch
When you sign up for the 3MT, you’re going to learn how to give a clear, concise, jargon-free three minute description of what it is that you are doing in grad school! Not only will this pitch be an asset at conferences, job talks, and when meeting academics in other fields, this pitch will help in interviews outside academia, when explaining your work to friends and family, not to mention dreaded elevator small talk.

Clarify your Research Objectives
The process of developing your elevator pitch will strip your research down to its most basic form. Many participants have reported a moment when working on their draft where they wonder: “What is it I’m doing anyway?” While this moment can be distressing, it’s short-lived, and students report enhanced clarity and better research questions following the competition.

Build Confidence

With your new research objectives and polished elevator pitch in hand, you will likely feel much more confident discussing your research with other academics, at conferences, and with your peers. The 3MT can be nerve wracking—you’ll need to recite a memorized three-minute script in front of an audience—but it is tremendously gratifying and a great chance to conquer stage fright.

Research Exposure

Participants in the 3MT are a lucky group whose research is disseminated beyond their department in a compelling, clear format that anyone can understand. The audience at the 3MT, made up of your peers, students from other departments, staff, faculty, and community members, will likely always remember your research and follow up with questions and even opportunities for collaboration. Videos of the top 10 are posted online, and often generate continued interest in participants’ research.

Media Exposure

3MT participants have been featured in Carleton news stories, departmental websites & newsletters, YouTube, CBC Radio, and the Ottawa Citizen. Get the word out there about the great work you’re doing!

Cash Prizes and Travel!

3MT winners will be rewarded for their efforts! People’s choice and 3rd place each win $250, second takes home $500, and 1st place wins $1,000 plus an expenses-paid trip to the 3MT provincial championships in April!

Register for one of the training sessions today, and make sure to read the 3MT website first for more details.

3MT group 2015

2015 Top 10 Three Minute Thesis Finalists

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Life After Grad School https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2015/life-after-grad-school/ Mon, 30 Nov 2015 13:34:18 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=25923 On Nov. 26, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, along with Co-op and Career Services, sponsored a Professional Development day to help grad students explore careers outside academia when they graduate. Part of that day included a panel discussion by five Carleton alumni. Here are some of the tips they shared.

all five panelists

Rod Story and Gord Allan

Gord Allan smiles as Rod Story makes a point.

Gordon Allan (PhD/09, Electrical Engineering)
Engineer working at Hittite Microwave

  • Be flexible on starting salary and responsibilities. Let the employer know that you are willing to accept their ‘discounted’ view of academic experience for now, but that you will be looking quickly to make up the salary discrepancy once you have proved yourself. Then prove yourself!
  • Focus on the practical application of your research and sell it, and your role in it, from that perspective. It can be a far off goal, and you may have only played a small part in it, but anyone will be impressed if ‘you are working to cure cancer’, but may glaze over if you start discussing the details of the expression of the xyz protein at the start.
  • Study for every [job] interview as though it was your comps.
Lindsay Beaton

Panelist Lindsay Beaton

Lindsay Beaton (PhD/13, Medical Physics)
Radiobiologist, Healthy Environment and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada

  • Consider ways of presenting your work in a manner that is approachable and interesting to people who might not be familiar with the field. What makes it interesting and exciting? When networking and chatting with people about your projects, having a few key summary statements about your work can lead to more interesting follow up discussions and new opportunities.
  • Ask questions about what people do around you; sometimes it’s hard to know what a job entails from the job title or company alone. Finding out what a job really involves could lead to a much better fit for your skills, and can help you discover new and interesting opportunities you might never before have considered.
  • Check out the government procurement website: https://buyandsell.gc.ca/ [for contract work with the government]. It’s a bit daunting, but there’s a page on getting started, and I’d recommend bookmarking a search result for some key words.
Glen Barber

Panelist Glen Barber

Glen Barber (MA/13, Economics)
Auditor in the Field of Performance Audit, Officer of the Auditor General of Canada

  • My biggest piece of advice would be to find opportunities to participate in conferences, extracurricular activities, and volunteering whenever possible. These activities provide a great avenue for professional networking, but also help develop many of the soft skills related to working in any organization. Simply helping to organize a public lecture or volunteering to support a student initiative can demonstrate many of the core competencies required for most job applications, especially those that may not always be easy to demonstrate from academic work alone.
  • The main website for government job applications is www.jobs.gc.ca.
Jessica Haynes

Panelist Jessica Hayes

Jessica Haynes (PhD/12, Canadian History)
Evaluation Officer, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada

  • Keep an open mind. Identify what you like doing from your academic work (research, teaching, etc.) and explore any position or avenue that allows you to do something you like and find important. While I identified during my graduate years that I would like to work in government and contribute to society that way, I did not necessarily focus on what was then CIDA as a likely employment area. But because I was open to the possibility, I found a position which I really enjoy and one that matches well my skills and interests.
Rod Story

Rod Story

Rod Story (PhD/12, Management)
Financial Analyst, Expenditures and Revenue Analysis team, Parliamentary Budget Office

  • Besides the obvious method of continuously networking, the other one is discovering how to package your diverse skillset to be of value in the marketplace. I didn’t know the concept of being a data scientist before I started my job search and that my various skills allowed me to do this job. It is through the discussions and interviews that you refine your value proposition. Think of it as both product and market development. Seeing the need and marketing yourself as the solution for it.
  • As a PhD graduate you are often viewed as being too specialized, over-qualified, or not practical enough for “real-world” work. It is unlikely the people who might hire you will know how your skills will be useful to them. By presenting yourself as being able to solve a problem which the employer needs solving, you are simultaneously showing them you can think practically and that the skills you have can be of use to them. Also, don’t hesitate to start at a firm as a contractor. Once they see your value, they will often offer you full-time employment. If not, you’ve gained valuable experience that will help in getting your next opportunity.

You may also want to read this 18-part series featuring PhD alumni talking about their personal success stories.

You may want to watch this video from Yvonne Collins (Co-op and Career Services) about how to look for work outside academia.

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Why Professional Development is so Important https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2015/why-professional-development-is-so-important/ Tue, 08 Sep 2015 12:31:44 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=25141 More and more graduate students are looking for ways to gain practical skills and experience to ensure success in their studies and to be more prepared when looking for work.

In fact, “soft skills” such as teamwork, problem solving, communication and interpersonal skills, time management, leadership capabilities, and proficiency in planning and organization are often just as important to employers as your technical and academic skills.

We know that grad students are extremely busy – juggling their classes, research, TAships, family and relationships, work and generally trying to kick start a career. But professional training can enhance your grad experience while setting you up for success when you graduate. It’s not ‘just one more thing do.’

And there’s an added bonus. You can connect and network with other grad students, making friends outside of your department.

Graduate training at Carleton used to be geared at TAs. With the introduction of Grad Navigate two years ago, all graduate students can now access a wide variety of training topics. And for those who are TAs, all workshops count toward TA hours.

What training is available? You can find workshops in the categories of Research & Writing, Professional Skills, Teaching Skills, Career Planning and Wellness. Here are just some of the topics we offer:
• Project Management
• Facilitating a Discussion Group
• NVivo Qualitative Research Management for Grad Students
• Media Training
• Resumé Writing and Skills Identification for Grad Students
• Finding Work Outside Academia
• Networking Strategies and Interview Skills for Grad Students
• Managing Challenging Teaching Situations
• Improving Your Teaching Through Feedback
• Giving Effective Presentations
• Managing and Decreasing Stress Levels
• Balancing Work, Life and School
• How to Handle Procrastination

As you can see, there is something for everyone! In fact many of the workshop topics were created because graduate students requested them.

FGPA is delighted to collaborate with fantastic people from Coop & Career Services, the Educational Development Centre, International Student Services Office, Department of University Communications, MacOdrum Library, and Health and Counselling who offer most of the workshops.

So you might be wondering – When is the best time to start developing your professional skills? We encourage you to start RIGHT NOW! This is an ongoing process with no set timeline, but it’s always a good idea to plan ahead especially since the whole experience can be time-consuming. Take a look at the available training and see which workshops you are most interested in and which fit with your schedule. If you can squeeze in two or more workshops per term you are a rock star! As these workshops fill up quickly, it’s a good idea to register as soon as possible.

To see upcoming workshops, visit the Grad Navigate website and click on each category to see what’s available. Be sure to also follow @CUGradStudies on Twitter and look for TheGraduate@Carleton newsletter in your inbox to hear about upcoming workshops and events.

You can also access online training through MyGradSkills.ca. However, please note that these online training modules do not count towards paid training hours for TAs.

For other questions, or if you have an idea for a workshop, please email Holly Gilroy, Co-ordinator of Graduate Professional Development at: holly.gilroy@carleton.ca.

And don’t forget about our Grad Research Link initiative. You can find out all the details about going to this website.

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Professional Development is Not ‘Just One More Thing to Do’ https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2014/professional-development-just-one-thing/ Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:01:35 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=18713 More and more grad students are looking for ways to gain practical skills and experience to ensure success in their studies and to be more prepared when looking for work.

Up until last year, graduate training at Carleton was geared almost exclusively to TA training. This has changed dramatically. With the introduction of Grad Navigate workshops, all graduate students can take advantage of a wide variety of training topics. And for those who are TAs, all workshops count toward TA hours.

There’s no doubt that grad students are extremely busy – juggling school, research, TAships, family and relationships, not to mention trying to kick start a career. But professional training enhances the grad experience and is not ‘just one more thing do.’ Actually, it’s not terribly time consuming and it’s a great way to connect with grad students outside of your departmental bubble. But there are other questions I’m sure you have:

WHY is Professional Training Important? Graduate programs do a great job of instilling the building blocks of research, critical thinking and analytic skills. Think of professional training as filling in some of the gaps and offering hands-on training that will help you develop a well-rounded skillset. Building a diverse and dynamic skillset is key to being confident and competitive in the job market. Grad Navigate can get you there.

WHAT Training is Available? You can find workshops in the categories of Research & Writing, Professional Skills, Teaching Skills, Career Planning and Wellness. A snapshot of topics include:

  • Project Management
  • Dealing with Emergencies in the Classroom
  • Facilitating a Discussion Group
  • NVivo Qualitative Research Management for Grad Students
  • Media Training
  • Resumé Writing for Grad Students
  • Skills Identification for Grad Students
  • Networking Strategies for Grad Students
  • Interview skills for Grad Students
  • Managing Challenging Teaching Situations
  • Study & Lifestyle Balance
  • Get Motivated, Manage Time & Relax!

WHO is Professional Development for and WHO Provides the Training? Professional development is available to all full-time and part-time graduate students. There is something for everyone! In fact many of the workshop topics were created because grad students requested them.

FGPA is delighted to collaborate with fantastic people from Coop & Career Services, Educational Development Centre, International Student Services Office, Department of University Communications, MacOdrum Library, and Health and Counseling who offer most of the workshops.

WHEN is the Best Time to Start? Right now! Professional development is an ongoing process with no set timeline, but it’s always a good idea to plan ahead. Take a look at the training available and see which workshops you are most interested in and which fit with your schedule. If you can squeeze in one or two workshops per term you are a rock star!

WHERE Can I Find Workshop Options? You can view the Grad Navigate website and click on each category to see upcoming workshops. Be sure to also follow @CUGradStudies on Twitter and look for TheGraduate@Carleton newsletter in your inbox to hear about upcoming workshops and events.

For other questions, or if you have an idea for a workshop, please email Chris Manor, interim Co-ordinator of Graduate Professional Development at: christopher.manor@carleton.ca.

The above article was written by Leah DeVellis, Former Coordinator of Graduate Student Services & Professional Development, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, and edited by Chris Manor.

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Work-Life Balance: Don’t Let Your Dissertation Define You https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2014/work-life-balance-dont-let-dissertation-define/ Fri, 04 Jul 2014 14:23:55 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=20791 By Shaun Stevenson, PhD Student, Carleton University

The dissertation process can be all-consuming. With constant deadlines, committee meetings, research, writing and endless hours of anxiety-ridden procrastination, tackling your dissertation can easily become the single most defining feature of your life. Do not let your dissertation define you. This article offers a few helpful insights on how to strike a sustainable work-life balance while getting through your dissertation. For the sake of full disclosure, the examples provided do have a Humanities/Social Science leaning, although I do think the tips and tactics discussed can prove useful across disciplines.

Manage your time so that your time doesn’t manage you

In a post on the blog Dry-Erase Writings: Teaching in the Humanities, PhD graduate PhebeAnn Wolframe offers her take on how to get through the dissertation writing process in a timely fashion with, “some semblance of work-life balance.” Wolframe completed her entire PhD in four years, but didn’t let the process take over her life. Wolframe attributes her speedy completion time to setting deadlines that she was “hell bent on meeting.” She broke her time down quite deliberately, and while she is clear that time frames work differently for everyone, she ultimately ended up with a strict six-week deadline per chapter. Wolframe credits this stringent time management schedule to ensuring she completed x number of hours a day, ultimately confining her dissertation work to weekdays and freeing up her weekends for social activities.

Make time for other things

My next point goes hand-in-hand with good time management strategies: do things outside of academia! For Wolframe, reading, knitting, hiking, and studying music on weekends helped her feel more rested “and less reluctant to resume ‘thesising’ on Monday.” It is too easy to get stuck at home and your computer. Making time to see friends, going outside, and getting exercise can make thesis writing less alienating. Making room for what non-academics might refer to as “hobbies,” harkens back to a distant pre-PhD era, where we were free to define ourselves beyond the narrow purview of ‘research interests.’ Time management goes a long way in setting and achieving realistic goals surrounding your dissertation, with the added benefit of freeing up time for friends, family, relationships, attention to your physical and mental health – you know, the important things.

Write Something Else

Really? Is a good way to get away from writing… more writing? Blog writing for academics is increasingly championed as a useful means of both developing your writing skills, while also building international networks of like-minded research contacts and followers (Seriously! People will read blogs on just about anything!). The University of London’s online magazine London Connection suggests blogging as an excellent way to enhance your research profile or collaborate with fellow students. The blogosphere has the ability to get you away from the staunch framework of your dissertation, allowing you to explore your research more freely and in less formal ways while also having your research reach wider audiences. It allows you to approach your work with a little more personality and humour.

Publicly posting your thoughts and feelings, let alone exposing the fact that, at least half the time, you’re wondering if you know what you’re talking about may not be for everyone. Our good friend, Dr. Wolframe, offers an alternative method to help distance yourself from the sometimes-limiting dissertation writing process:

I found journaling really helped in this regard. Sometimes I would write a journal entry––stream of consciousness, and written in very colloquial language––trying to capture in my own words, however casually, what I was thinking about/noticing in my primary text(s), or what patterns I was seeing across text(s). From this rambling, I find a few key ideas tend to emerge.

Whether blogging, journaling or tweeting philosophical quotes, the trick is to free yourself from what can be a very regimented and stifling academic language. It is important to be reminded that you are a good writer with interesting ideas that other people beyond your committee want to hear about. Putting your ideas out there in other forms allows you to define yourself beyond the dissertation, while also remaining productive in ways that ultimately benefit your research in the long run. If you’re still skeptical about the benefits of blogging about your research, check out this aptly titled blog post: “38 reasons why you should blog about your research.”

These are just a few ideas of how you might break away from a dissertation-centered lifestyle. Remember, your dissertation will end – it must – and you will continue on as a diverse and well-rounded individual, academically, professionally and personally. The goal is to foster this approach throughout the entire process.

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The Three Best Dissertation Writing Blogs https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2014/three-best-dissertation-writing-blogs/ https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2014/three-best-dissertation-writing-blogs/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2014 15:58:21 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=20440

By Shaun Stevenson, PhD English Student

For those of you looking for non-traditional resources to help you through the dissertation process, blogs can provide insightful perspectives, reserves of relevant articles and links to helpful information from across the web. Better yet, they are often a wonderful and humorous place to commiserate about the sometimes woeful process of dissertation writing. This article will look at three excellent blogs that you may just want to turn to when struck by that familiar feeling of procrastination.

The Thesis Whisperer: Humour, insight and helpful hints

Appearing in no particular order, let’s begin with the aptly titled The Thesis Whisperer. Hailing from the Australian National University and dubbed a “blog newspaper,” this blog compiles engaging and succinct entries from around the world. Its scope extends far beyond the actual writing process and includes posts on just about anything you could think of surrounding a dissertation, from time management skills, how to create an authoritative voice in your writing and managing the complicated terrain of ethics approval. It also contains a lot of colourful posts from good-humoured academics, including the astutely named “Academic assholes and the circle of niceness” and “How I broke up with my supervisor”. The blog prides itself on being to the point, with most posts limited to 1,000 words or less. It is wonderfully organized, and likely has something for everyone, with a nod to other like-mined blogs and websites in the sidebar. It also welcomes submissions from other dissertation-raddled academics.

The Three Month Thesis: I don’t believe you, but go ahead and inspire me

With a name like The Three Month Thesis, the next blog I’d like discuss initially had me feeling a little suspect. Referred to as “your uncommon guide to thesis writing and PhD life” by the blog’s author, James Hayton, I thought there had to be some gimmick here. Hayton explains how, after nearly giving up on his PhD altogether, he rallied his motivation and actually wrote his entire dissertation in just three months. All skepticism aside, his post “How I wrote a PhD thesis in 3 months, is both believable and inspirational. In 10 straightforward steps, a listing-style deployed through many of his posts, the author carefully and concisely explains how his three-month thesis was possible. And while those of you in year 5, 6 or 9 may cry nonsense at the practicality of this, his tactics and tips will resonate no matter what stage you’re at. All of the posts found on this blog are presented in a refreshingly sparse, yet on-point style. I especially loved this simple but wonderfully insightful post on overcoming procrastination: “Procrastination hack: Get to zero.” Yes Hayton is a full-time “thesis coach,” and yes this blog promotes his services, but hey, quit being so jaded and take his free advice for what it is!   [Please note that the author of this blog has since contacted us to let us know that his blog has been renamed]

GradHacker: Writing a dissertation in a digital age

Third is GradHacker [now hosted by Inside Higher Ed]. Written across universities, disciplines and career stages, GradHacker was initially began with the intent of teaching other grads about technology related to graduate life and networking. It has since expanded to ‘hacking’ all aspects of grad life.  While this blog contains topics similar to those of the aforementioned blogs, I highlight it for its original emphasis on technology. GradHacker’s careful attention to the increasingly technological aspects of dissertation writing set it apart from some of the more general blogs. Posts highlight software programs that help you build your own research database, how to get the best use of electronic referencing tools like Zotero, or simply what it means to be a more tech savvy graduate student. Putting theory into practice, GradHacker also hosts its own podcasts. This blog is really a one-size-fits-all resource for dissertation writing and all things graduate-related. Its focus on technology gives it a bit of an edge, and gives you all the more reason to spend time reading about writing your dissertation, rather than actually writing it!

Tell us what your favorite dissertation-related blogs are in the comments below!

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Some Notes on Technical Writing https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2014/notes-technical-writing-science-engineering/ https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/2014/notes-technical-writing-science-engineering/#comments Fri, 09 May 2014 14:00:05 +0000 http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/?p=20712 Rozita Rashtchi

Rozita Rashtchi

Written in 2014 by Rozita Rashtchi, PhD Student Systems & Computer Engineering

Science and engineering programs often require grad students to produce technical documents including conference papers, journal papers, reports, a proposal and a thesis. These documents are all formal scholarly documents that have certain writing ‘rules’ to follow. This article summarizes some of the key rules to writing including connectivity, tense, tone, use of pronouns and vocabulary.

Connectivity

Any technical document must have a smooth flow of ideas. Each paragraph should contain one idea. If your paragraph is too long, it most likely contains more than one idea, so break it into shorter paragraphs. Each paragraph has to connect to the idea presented in the previous paragraph to make a smooth transition from one to another. There is a rule of thumb that, in each paragraph, the first sentence introduces the idea. The middle sentences describe and develop the idea, and the last sentence summarizes it. Keep in mind that every sentence in a paragraph should be connected to the previous one with a “visible connection” like a common word.

Tense

It is pretty common to write your thesis in either simple past or simple present tenses. But whatever you choose, stick to that tense throughout your thesis. There may be a preference within your discipline, so be sure to consult your supervisor.

Tone

Writing in an active tone is preferred to writing in a passive tone because it makes your text more engaging. For example, use: “This guide provides some general tips” instead of “Some general tips are provided by this guide.” Just use passive tone sentences when it is necessary or appropriate.

Pronouns

Using an active tone doesn’t necessarily imply the use of personal pronouns. Indeed, it is recommended not to use personal pronouns as much as you can. However, there is an exception – in introduction and conclusion parts. In these two parts, the personal pronoun “we” is appropriate. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t use the second pronoun, “you,” in the thesis.

Vocabulary

English may not be your first language. It is a very rich language with a lot of alternatives for each word. It is common to use these alternatives when you are writing a document. It is always good to use a thesaurus to find synonyms but make sure to look up their meaning in a dictionary. Keep in mind that it is always better to write short and simple sentences.

Here are some tips on how to choose your words:

o   Do not begin a sentence with “This is.” Be more specific, this what?

o   Never use words like “obviously” or “clearly,” as it can be an insult if the reader doesn’t get that point.

o   Do not use superlatives in claims like “the best algorithm is” or “the perfect performance.” Instead, use comparatives like “algorithm x is better than algorithm y.”

o   The phrase “in order to” can always be replaced by “to.”

o   Do not make qualitative judgements like “good,” “bad” or “terrible.”

o   Be careful about time adverbs. Using words like “today” or “soon” is inappropriate.

o   Never use “kind of” or “something like” because they are informal and vague.

o   Be careful of using “few, most, all, any, every.” Each has a different meaning and you should be able to justify it.

o   Do not use contractions like “don’t” or “haven’t.” Instead, use them in their complete form like “do not” or “have not.”

o   Use formal adjectives. For example, “big or huge” can be replaced with “large” or “wonderful, fantastic or amazing” can be replaced with “significant.”

o   Be careful of using “very” before adjectives. For example, when you use “very large,” it should be understandable from your text about what is “large” and what is “very large.”

o   Be careful of singular and plural words. For example “matrix, appendix, thesis, axis, index and radius” are singular words whereas “matrices, appendices, theses, axes, indices and radii” are the corresponding plural words.

The rules provided herein are only a few of many. More comprehensive sets of rules can be found here.

Go back to Writing Resources: Science and Engineering.

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