Sounds to me like he's taken the high road already and not meeting much success. So, I'd refer the student to a professional writing consultant.
Paul C. Bernhardt Department of Psychology Frostburg State University Frostburg, Maryland -----Original Message----- From: Wuensch, Karl L [mailto:wuens...@ecu.edu] Sent: Mon 7/6/2009 12:24 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Thesis Woes Can you TIPSters offer any advice with the problem presented below? A friend who is an assistant professor at an institution that offers a masters degree asked me: I am trying to go over a thesis proposal so the student can get it out to his committee members, but I am having a good bit of difficulty with it. The information is there - in fact it is a rather exceptional review of the literature - but most of the manuscript is simply incoherent. We have had several iterations and his writing is just not getting any better. Do you have any suggestions? I am confident that this will be a problem when it comes to writing the thesis itself too. My response: I wish I could say that this is a problem I have never faced. My most recent experience with such a student damn near drove me over the edge. I have tried two basic tactics in the past, with limited success: * Keep sending the draft back with advice on what the problems are and how to address them. This is the high road, as it should result in the student learning how to write properly. Problem is, when YOU skid off the edge of the high road you have a helluva long drop. * Write the damn thesis yourself. This is the low road, as the student will not really learn much other than that passive aggressive behavior works. If, however, the student is simply incapable of professional writing, it may be the better choice in terms of the amount of YOUR time that is taken getting the thesis written properly. There are, of course, other options. One, which I have not taken, is to resign as chair of the thesis committee. Another is to insist that the student get professional help, either from your university's writing center (if it has one) or from a paid professional. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
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