You Are Here

Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Key Papers

Daily Post

Here’s a little viva prep activity that will probably take less than an hour.

With your thesis to hand write a list of ten key papers that have helped your research. Don’t overthink: just list whichever papers come to mind or which stand out when you glance through your thesis.

Once you have your list, take a few minutes to reflect on each paper and write a sentence or two to respond to each of these questions:

  1. Why is this a key paper in developing my thesis research?
  2. How did it help my work directly?
  3. What was the result or impact of using this paper?

In less than an hour you’ll have written clear, concise notes about what matters most in the best of your bibliography.

Nathan

Remember The Right Things

Daily Post

You don’t need to recall all the details of every day of your PhD to pass your viva. You don’t need to have memorised every page of every paper you have read when you talk to your examiners – or remember every page that you have written for that matter.

Of course, you need to read your thesis to prepare for your viva. It help to review what you’ve done and consider likely areas you’ll discuss. It helps to have a way to remember what’s really important.

But, more importantly, you need to remember that you did the work.

You need to remember what the viva is really for.

You need to remember what your viva and what success means to you.

And you need to remember that there are lots of things you could do to help you remember the things that matter the most.

Nathan

Expectations & Responsibilities

Daily Post

Viva expectations invite responsibilities.

  • If vivas are generally expected to take hours then you and your examiners have a responsibility to be ready for that situation.
  • If vivas typically begin with certain types of starter question then you have a responsibility to prepare for that line of discussion.
  • If vivas are discussion-based then you have a responsibility to be ready to respond to questions – and willing to share your research, your thesis and yourself.
  • If you’re expected to succeed then you have a responsibility to prepare as well as you can – while examiners work towards making the viva the right environment for that outcome.

And most generally, if vivas have expectations then you have a responsibility first to learn about them. Knowing what to expect, even if that covers a range of possible experiences, gives you an opportunity to be as well-prepared as you can.

Nathan

Trusted Perspectives

Daily Post

When you’re getting ready for your viva ask people who know about vivas. Get specific help rather than general impressions.

When you’re getting ready ask people who know you for help. Ask friends about their experiences and for a little of their time. Ask your supervisors to give you their considered thoughts about your work and about the viva itself.

When getting ready ask your institution for support. Ask them for the regulations, check what things mean and learn who to talk to in case anything goes wrong.

Above all, ask the right questions of the right people. Look around widely for support, but ask people you can trust first: you can trust them either because they know you or they know what you need to know.

Nathan

A Manifesto On Good Viva Prep

Daily Post

This isn’t finished, but here are some thoughts that I’ve been knitting together for a long time…

Good viva prep is personal. It responds to the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is effective. It takes only the time needed and meets the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is planned in advance. A candidate’s time is valuable and stress and rush can only hinder readiness.

Good viva prep creates greater certainty. It improves understanding of the general experience of the viva and gives greater confidence in being ready for the viva.

Good viva prep is supported by others. This happens in big and small ways, because while getting ready is the candidate’s responsibility it will be better with help.

And good viva prep is only as good as a candidate makes it – so make yours good!

Nathan

The Cornerstone

Daily Post

The foundation of viva expectations is hearing the stories of others. Statistics and generalisations only exist because people share their experiences.

So ask around before your viva and tell others afterwards.

 

The questions and structure of your viva are built on what you have done and what your examiners need to dig into during the examination process.

So if you reflect and review what you did and learn more about what examiners do then you can be ready.

 

Viva preparation is founded simply on you continuing to do the work. A particular focus and perhaps a particular urgency, but more good work that you are capable of.

So do the work!

 

Your success has you at the cornerstone. Your past achievements and progress are the basis for doing well and passing your viva.

So remember that.

Nathan

Make A Choice

Daily Post

You can’t press a button and feel ready for your viva, but you can decide that that’s your destination.

You can’t just arrive there, like a science-fiction teleporter, but you can know where you want to be and act to move in that direction.

If you want to be ready for your viva, what could you do?

Without diving into a blog with over 2000 entries or asking your friends or listening to a podcast or picking up an ebook or two, what could you do? What small (or big) steps could you take to being ready?

What will you do?

Make the choice to be ready for your viva. Then start getting ready. There’s work to do, but it doesn’t have to be more complicated than saying, “I’m going to do this.”

Nathan

Simple & Consistent

Daily Post

When you start to annotate your thesis, take ten minutes to think and make some decisions.

First, think carefully about what you need in your thesis. Every thesis is different and so is every person. There may be some very good suggestions for annotations that would be helpful to a lot of people, but they may not be right for meeting your needs or preferences. So make a list: what do you need in your thesis?

Second, consider how you are going to meet your needs simply and consistently. This is very important: anything you add takes time to add and anything you add will be seen again by you. It’s better if whatever approach you take is easy to do and easy to remember.

So what will you underline? With what colour? For what reason?

Where will you add margin notes? What governs your decisions for using highlighters? And when will you stick notes in to your thesis?

Decide before you begin. Think about your thesis. Think about your needs.

Be as simple as you can and work consistently to help the process of annotating your thesis – and to create a good space for when you’ll need to read it again.

Nathan

Actions & Improvements

Daily Post

There are many actions, big and small, that you can take to improve your readiness for the viva.

  • Placing a sticky note at the start of each chapter can help you navigate your thesis more easily.
  • Taking half an hour to reflect and list key references can help you make connections about your research.
  • Preparing for and having a mock viva can help your confidence grow for meeting your examiners.
  • Simply writing one short sentence – you can do this – at the start of your thesis can give you a little boost.
  • Describing your research to a friend over coffee can help you practise sharing ideas.
  • A two-hour meeting with your supervisor can help you review ideas, key questions and difficult problems.

There are many actions, big and small, that you can take to improve your readiness for the viva. Some may only help a little, but lots of small actions can add up to a huge difference.

Don’t neglect the little things – and don’t put off the big tasks!

Nathan

The Minimum

Daily Post

What’s the minimum amount of viva prep I can get away with?

There are no bad questions in webinars, no stupid questions, but there are questions that surprise me!

 

What’s the minimum? A core set of tasks perhaps – reading, checking, practising – or a time period to do the work in.

What’s the minimum? Well, all you “need” is to submit a thesis and attend on the day of the viva. That would be the absolute minimum, right?

What’s the minimum? Maybe we need a better question. Charitably, I can imagine that the person asking the question is stressed, tired, overwhelmed and wondering what they can do to fit in what could feel like a lot of work.

Maybe instead of what’s the minimum? we can focus on how do I get ready if I’m busy?

You plan, you break the tasks down, you give yourself a generous period of time to do the work, you ask for help and so on.

 

And at a minimum, you’ve invested three years of work when you meet your examiners. There’s still more work needed to get ready for the viva, but don’t forget the foundations you’re building on to be ready for that conversation.

1 … 32 33 34 35 36 … 134