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Tag: annotate your thesis

Nathan

If You Must Know

Daily Post

There are lots of tools and processes you can use to help your memory at the viva:

  • You can add bookmarks or sticky notes to your thesis;
  • You can annotate the margins;
  • You can create summaries to help you think ahead of time;
  • You can read your thesis beforehand to refresh your memory;
  • You can read your thesis in the viva to check details;
  • You can rehearse for your viva to give you more confidence.

There are many practical things you can do to help your memory – but don’t forget that you don’t need to remember everything. The viva is not a test of photographic recall of thousands of hours of work, hundreds of papers and the many, many pages of your thesis.

You need to know your stuff but you don’t need to know everything. You can take care of small worries with simple viva prep.

Nathan

Make Some Notes

Daily Post

Make some notes when you submit your thesis: think about what you need to do to prepare for your viva. Sketch out a plan of what you might do.

Make some notes as you prepare: short lists can be tiny summaries and marginalia can make your thesis more helpful for your viva.

Make some notes while you’re in your viva: capture thoughts if it helps, note down your examiners’ questions and do whatever will help. (making note-taking part of any viva rehearsal can make this easier)

Make some notes when your viva is done: this will help you to remember what it was like in the years that follow, both for your own recollection and to help others.

Nathan

The Shape Of Your Thesis

Daily Post

You don’t need to memorise your thesis to be well-prepared for your viva. You’ll have it with you in the viva, annotated in whatever way suits your needs, and you can consult it whenever you need to.

To get ready for your viva you need to read your thesis and re-appreciate what you’ve done.

  • Do you have a single project or lots of smaller projects?
  • Does your thesis share a big book-length project or a collection of papers?
  • Is your thesis “different” in some way: do you have a creative work, a portfolio or something else entirely that isn’t typical for many candidates?

Whatever you have, take time after submission to read it carefully. Again, you don’t need to memorise what you’ve done but it will help to refresh your memory and appreciate the shape of your thesis.

Make sure you know the flow of information and ideas in your work as you’ve presented it.

Nathan

The Technical Stuff

Daily Post

If there are any technical or specialist terms in your research that you struggle with – or which you need to feel more certain about – then take steps during your preparation to help remind you.

  • Make a list of ten terms and write short definitions or reminders.
  • Underline or highlight terms as they appear in your thesis.
  • Add notes in margins to help you unpick meaning or make connections.
  • Ask your supervisor or a friend to have a conversation with you about any difficult topic to help you practise.

What else could you do to be ready for the technical stuff at your viva?

Nathan

Ten-Minute Annotation

Daily Post

Annotating your thesis for the viva takes more than ten minutes! However, you can make a good start in a short amount of time:

  • Add sticky notes or tabs to mark the start of each chapter.
  • Add similar for any key sections that stand out to you in your thesis.
  • Add a summary sentence to the start of each chapter.
  • At the top of the title page write three things you are proud of from your research.
  • Further down on your title page write “You can do this!” – and then underline it.

Then take as much time as you need to finish annotating your thesis.

In ten minutes you can start well. What else do you need?