Thesis/Dissertation Writing Seminar 2019
Thesis/Dissertation Writing Seminar 2019
To complement the 2018 Faculty Research Mentoring Workshop, ERDT conducted a Thesis/Dissertation Writing Seminar which was principally designed for MS and PhD students who have just started or about to begin writing their research papers.
Attended by scholars from the eight ERDT Consortium member universities, the Seminar was held on 03 June 2019 at Century Park Hotel in Manila. Dr. Rizalinda De Leon, in her opening speech, delve on one of the pressing problems in the country's R&D. The reality is that different technologies are produced but are not utilized because there is no market for them. Taking this into account, Dr. De Leon encouraged the participants to consider looking for possible niches or to internalize who they are developing the technology for before embarking in the actual process of coming up with one.
Covering the topic, 'Planning and Structuring the Thesis/Dissertation", Dr. Cecilia Conaco presented an overview of the research cycle and gave tips on how to accomplish the different parts of a thesis or dissertation paper. Following the talk of Dr. Conaco was the discussion on the topic "Writing the Literature Review and Effective Referencing" led by Dr. Delia Senoro. In the course of her presentation, Dr. Senoro presented an ideal model to address the R&D dilemma previously mentioned by Dr. De Leon. Aside from their research interests, Dr. Senoro asked the participants to try to identify what societal problems they want to address and use it to direct their researches. The last speaker for the morning session was Dr. Fernando Paragas who started his talk by presenting the misconceptions index. It showed that despite being the third least accurate country, the Philippines also ranked third in being the most confident in its answer. Relating this to the topic "Organizing Chapters and Ensuring Though Cohesion", he asked the participants to conceptualize what they ought to transcend in each chapter in order to keep the presentation of ideas concise and organized.
Morning plenary speakers answering questions during the Open Forum
For the afternoon session, Dr. Feorillo Demeterio presented a comparative analysis between models of research universities in the Philippines and abroad. He identified the challenges in the mentoring framework in the country and provided points on how the audience can work around this model in order to receive proper guidance and feedback from their research advisers. To cap the technical discussions, Dr. Isabel Austria and Mr. Evan Livelo, ERDT early graduate scholars, shared their experiences and some key points on how they were able to accomplish their research works in their session entitled "Strategies for Effective Thesis/Dissertation Writing".
Afternoon plenary speakers posedfor a group photo after their talks.
A short session on mindfulness was also facilitated in order to help ERDT scholars cope with the stress that comes along the process of thesis/dissertation writing.
Finally, Engr. Albert Mariño reminded the participants that researches should be purposeful and translatable. He emphasized how the participants, as the country's future RSEs, should be able to empathize and identify with the regular Filipino in order to find the greater purpose embedded in their tracks.
PRESENTATIONS
Planning and Structuring your Thesis or Dissertation
Writing the Literature Review and Effective Referencing
Organizing Chapters and Ensuring Thought Cohesion
A Rational Framework for Mentoring and Guiding Graduate Students
A 3 Trimester Journey in 20 Minutes
Strategies for Effective Thesis/Dissertation Writing
Mindfulness for Stress Management
