Preparing for the Comprehensive Exam
Many master’s and doctoral programs require a comprehensive exam at the end of coursework. Taking, or writing, your “comps” can be a daunting enterprise because as its name implies the range of questions/topics is both [...]
Bloom’s Taxonomy & Writing
Led by Benjamin Bloom (1956), educational psychologists at the University of Chicago created this taxonomy for categorizing learning commonly occurring in educational settings. Their work was greatly influential in distinguishing three domains of intelligence (cognitive, [...]
Dissertation Survival Tips
Suffering from writer’s block? Take a break! Try taking a shower or a short walk, then come back to your writing with fresh eyes. Avoid burnout! While working on your dissertation, remember to give [...]
On Writing Dissertations
From the Director’s Desk: Writing a dissertation is a daunting enterprise: it’s the most in-depth researching and writing enterprise of your academic program. Its chapters & their purposes can be unfamiliar and the pressure to [...]
Richard Feynman and Writer’s Block
Richard Feynman was a Nobel Prize winning physicist who famously challenged colleagues to explain difficult concepts in simple language rather than “hide behind” the esoterica and arcane language of their fields. A popular [...]
Writing Thesis and Dissertation Proposals
Keep in mind that the goal of writing proposals is to argue two things: Your project is worth doing. Is it substantial? Is it interesting? Is it original? You are well-prepared to do it. Do [...]
Writing an Annotated Bibliography
The Annotated Bibliography is a standard academic writing exercise that stimulates critical thinking through researching, analyzing, and evaluating those resources to compose effective annotations. The Annotated Bibliography reflects the researcher's understanding and evaluation of sources, [...]