Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session
Prerequisites
22.09 Principles of Nuclear Radiation Measurement and Protection
Introduction to the Course
Welcome to 22.THT! This year, we are trying a rather different, more interactive type of seminar course. Instead of just leaving you to figure out what to do about your thesis prospectus and the thesis itself, we will guide you through various aspects of choosing, proposing, and executing your original thesis work. Therefore, this course will have more intermediate assignments compared to past years, in the hopes of lessening your workload near the end of the semester.
Major topics to be covered include:
- Choosing a thesis topic
- Planning out a reasonable amount of work for the spring semester
- Setting concrete goals and milestones
- More efficient tools for writing your thesis than Microsoft Word
- Maintaining good communication with your thesis advisor
- Finding and citing primary resources from literature
The learning goals for this course include:
- How to choose a project topic, considering available time and resources
- How to efficiently find and properly cite scientific resources
- How to efficiently author a scientific document without doing any busy work
- How to present your research in 30 seconds or less, in an impactful elevator pitch
- Outlining a thesis in a detailed manner, to help guide both your research and writing
- Improving the scientific content, richness, structure, and rhetoric of your writing
- Developing your own personal, scientific writing style
Grading
| ASSIGNMENTS | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Thesis Topic and Elevator Pitch | 5 |
| Central Hypothesis (3–5 Sentences) | 5 |
| Hypothesis Revision and Signoff | 5 |
| Rough Drafts of Thesis Prospectus and Outline | 10 |
| Communications Lab Review | 10 |
| Detailed Thesis Outline | 10 |
| Thesis Introduction and Background Sections | 10 |
| Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication (WRAP) Review | 5 |
| Final Prospectus | 40 |
All assignments are due at 11:59PM on the day listed in the calendar. Please plan to submit your assignments at least 15 minutes early, in case of computer troubles.
10% of the value of a given assignment will be deducted for each calendar day late. Assignments will not be accepted after the last day of classes.
Calendar
| LEC # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction, Example Prospectus, Resources Available to You | |
| 2 | Document Writing Tools: LaTeX / LyX, References, Collaborative Writing | |
| 3 | Elevator Pitch Workshop: Describe Your Work in 30 Seconds or Less | |
| 4 | Developing a Central Hypothesis for Your Thesis | Due: Thesis Topic and Elevator Pitch |
| 5 | Outlining Your Prospectus and Thesis, Finding Background Materials | Due: Central Hypothesis |
| 6 | Communication with Your Advisor, Reference Tracking Systems | Due: Hypothesis Revision and Signoff |
| 7 | The NSE Communication Lab and the WRAP | Due: Rough Drafts of Thesis Prospectus and Outline |
| 8 | Outlining Your Senior Thesis | |
| 9 | Framing Your Thesis Introduction | Due: Communication Lab Reviews |
| 10 | Framing Your Thesis Background Section | Due: Detailed Thesis Outline |
| 11 | Writing an Impactful Abstract | Due: Thesis Introduction and Background Sections |
| 12 | In-class One-on-One Meetings | Due: WRAP Review |
| 13 | Sign Prospectus in Class, Relax! | Due: Final Thesis Prospectus |
