Year
Bachelor year 3.
Entry requirements
BA1 and BA2 finished for the largest part.
Description
A thesis is an academic argument of about 40 pages, executed by the student, about a small research project. This can be a critical literature review, but may comprise the analysis of archaeological material as well. A thesis project always contains an academic research question and a clear framework.
You are supervised by at least one member of our staff. This is your official supervisor.
This module is set up with several strict deadlines that will help you to meet the final thesis deadline. By meeting these deadlines you will receive proper feedback by the supervisor well in time, so you can include it in the final version of your thesis.
There are 4 thesis tutorial classes, led by a thesis tutorial lecturer. In these thesis tutorials you can discuss your results and issues with peers and the thesis tutorial lecturer.
This module consists of the following parts:
Block 1
An introductory lecture and a short introduction by the specialisation. These lectures will show you the general framework and guidelines which allow you to write a proper thesis research proposal.
At the end of block 1 each student has formulated a thesis subject, research question, and has a supervisor. Please note this means that you will have to select a subject that is related to a specialisation or discipline within our Faculty, so your research can be supervised by one of our members of staff.
Block 2
This block comprises library instruction, supervised by our university librarians, in which you search for relevant literature.
Next are thesis tutorials, during which you discuss relevant subjects, issues and solutions with the lecturer and your peers. In this block you present your initial set-up of the project.
In this presentation an outline of the project is sketched, with the framework, research question and methodology.
The feedback can be used to improve your proposal.
You will receive feedback on your presentation skills, and you receive a grade that will be averaged with the grade of the second presentation in block 3.
On December 1st you upload your research proposal, including an initial reference list in Turnitin, and send it to your supervisor as well. You will receive feedback from your supervisor.
In January you will start your research: you start by writing down the text in which the framework, leading to your research questions and methodology, is written in proper wording.
The deadline for this first draft is February 1st, to be handed in to your supervisor and through Turnitin. This first chapter will be peer-reviewed and discussed in the thesis classes.
Block 3
As of this block the supervision will be mainly individual and you will have several meetings with your supervisor, which are based on the text that is handed in before the meeting.
A second round of presentations is scheduled, in which you dicuss your first results. The feedback will allow you to make some minor corrections before you submit your draft version. Also, a short workshop in basic statistics will be offered to all students in Bioarchaeology and to students from other specialisations when required.
This presentation is graded: the final grade is the average of the two presentations (1 ec).
On May 1st the draft version of the thesis is to be handed in. It should be as complete as possible, for proper feedback within 3 weeks and to allow you enough time (3 weeks before the final deadline) to correct and add to your text. The final deadline is June 15th.
In summary, the trajectory of the thesis is as follows:
November: presentation 1 (feedback + grade)
December 1st: research proposal (feedback)
February 1st: first chapters (feedback + peer review)
April: presentation 2 (grade)
May 1st: draft version (feedback)
June 15th: final version. Please note that in 2019 June 15th is a Saturday; the deadline will be June 17th, 2019.
All assignments are to be uploaded in Brightspace. All texts are to be handed in to the supervisor as well, who will give feedback.
The final version is to be uploaded in Turnitin AND two hardcopies need to be handed in at the Administration Office by June 15th 2019 at the latest.
Course objectives
After finishing the thesis, a student:
has learned to set up and plan a small research project and is able to report on it;
is able to put a small project into a broader theoretical framework and understands its academic relevance;
is able to write (under supervision) a clear and well-structured academic argument in compliance with the faculty guidelines;
is able to find relevant academic literature, review this critically and integrate relevant parts into his or her research;
can discuss and present his or her research.
Timetable
Course schedule details for the thesis tutorials can be found BA3 time schedule.
Mode of instruction
Lectures;
Two practicals with library instructions;
Thesis tutorial for each specialisation.
Course load
The course load will be distributed as follows:
Lectures, seminars and presentation (1 ec);
Literature and/or material analysis: ca. 250 hours (6 weeks full-time) (9 ec).
Assessment method
Thesis (9 ec);
Presentation (1 ec): average grade of the 2 presentations.
Assessment deadlines:
November: presentation 1 (feedback + grade)
December 1st: research proposal (feedback)
February 1st: first chapters (feedback)
April: presentation 2 (grade)
May 1st: draft version (feedback)
June 15th: final version. Please note that in 2019 June 15th is a Saturday; the deadline will be June 17th, 2019.
Please note that a retake of the thesis is possible only once and has a strict deadline.
Should you receive a fail for your thesis, you have 6 weeks after receiving your result to make improvements. The new grade will have a maximum of 7.0. If you fail this new version, you need to write a new thesis on a new subject.
Reading list
Depends on the chosen thesis subject.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact dr. J.A. (Joanne) Mol.