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Thesis Prep: City Design and Development

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning 11.ThU—Undergraduate Thesis Fall, 1999 Alternate Mondays, 7:00–9:00 James C. Morrison, M. P. A., Lecturer Instructorís office: 14N-233C Phone number: 253-4921 E-mail address: jimm@mit.edu Home number: (781) 383-2121 (both voice and fax) Office hours: by appointment This two-semester seminar is aimed at providing the opportunity for undergraduate students completing the thesis/project to meet regularly to receive guidance in doing their research, developing their research ideas, and achieving successively sophisticated drafts of their work. The aim of the course is to facilitate the interaction between students and their thesis advisors while providing a collaborative forum in which they can receive feedback on their ideas and their expression. In the seminar we cover the role of research in academic and professional settings, the development of research interests into substantive questions, the definition of research problems, the transformation of research questions into substantive and supportable claims, the choice of methodologies to address research questions, and the transformation of results into effective oral and written communication. In the first semester, we work towards the development of a research proposal for students to use in the planning of their thesis or project, presented in both oral and written formats. In the second semester, students produce successive drafts of the thesis/project, supplemented by progress reports, practice in advanced stylistics, and a formal oral presentation of their results. All students will be expected to do the reading and writing assignments and come prepared to discuss them. For specific readings, certain students will be typically asked to take particular responsibility for each one and come to class prepared to lead a discussion. With respect to the assignments, we will select two or three students and focus on their written assignments in class. The selected students will be asked to circulate their assignments the day before the class meeting; other students can hand them in the day of the class. We will rotate these opportunities through the semester so everyone will have an opportunity to have the floor to discuss his or her work. The instructor will comment in writing on everyoneís assignment. Texts Becker, Howard S. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Williams, Joseph M. Style: Towards Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990. Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Schedule of the Course   September   8 Organization of the course     20 Reading:     Booth, Preface; Part I Prologue: Starting a Research Project; Chapter 1—Thinking in Print: The Uses of Research, Public and Private; Chapter 2—Connecting with Your Reader: (Re)Creating Your Self and Your Audience       Becker, Preface; Chapter 1—Freshman English for Graduate Students; Chapter 2—Persona and Authority   October   4 Reading:     Booth, Part II Prologue: Planning Your Project; Chapter 3—From Topics to Questions; Chapter 4—From Questions to Problems       Becker, Chapter 5—Learning to Write as a Professional       Writing assignment:     Assignment 1: With your research interests in mind, fill in the simple three-part schema on page 44 of Booth. Write it down on one sheet of paper and hand it in at class. Bring copies for all participants (faculty and students) to class. The key here is to be able to identify the problem you want to understand and to formulate a research question that will deal with some aspect of that problem.     18 Reading:     Booth, Part III Prologue: Arguments, Drafting, and Conversations; Chapter 7—Making Good Arguments: An Overview; Chapter 8—Claims and Evidence       Writing assignment:     Assignment 2: What kind of evidence will you need to answer your research problem? Is it already available in some form or will you have to gather it yourself? What kind of evidence will be most appropriate to your inquiry? What kind of evidence are you able to access? What method will you use for the collection and analysis of that evidence? Write a 2–3 page paper. Bring copies for all participants (faculty and students) to class.       November   1 Reading:     Booth, Chapter 9—Warrants       Writing Assignment: Assignment 3: In any research project you always have a framework within which you interpret the evidence that you have gathered. Write 2–3 pages specifying what principles, concepts, or ideas seem, at this point, to be most relevant as a guide to the framing of the question you are considering and to the interpretation of the evidence you will gather. Which disciplines do these come from? What will you need to do to develop your familiarity with and command of them? Bring copies for all participants (faculty and students) to class.    15 Reading:     Booth, Chapter 10—Qualifications       "Writing a Research Proposal" "Presenting Your Research Orally"       Writing assignment:     Assignment 4: Revise your research problem, as necessary, in light of the discussion and feedback you have been participating in so far. Write 2–3 pages clarifying what research claim you hope to make or aim you hope to achieve, the major ideas or components that support it, the theories or principles that support it, and any qualifications you think you may need to make to anticipate counter-claims.         29 Oral presentations     Preparation for oral presentations: Write a draft of your thesis proposal. Begin with a summary of the literature that you now believe to be most relevant to your question. Then specify how you propose to frame your research problem and what concepts, principles, and ideas you expect will prove most useful. What data or evidence will you use or collect to answer your question? How will you analyze that evidence? What are the practical or policy implications of the problem that you propose to address?   December    6 Oral presentations     10 Final draft of thesis proposal due   Course communications By far the easiest way for us to communicate with one another is via e-mail. An e-mail distribution list will be set up under the name 11.thu. In particular, students whose turn it is to have their assignments discussed in any class meeting can use this list as a handy means of distribution ahead of time. Grading policy The grade for your first semester in 11.ThU is based on the writing assignments, class participation, and the final proposal for the thesis/project. At the end of the first semester, students will receive one of two grades: a "J" or a "U." A grade of "J" indicates that a student is making satisfactory progress toward the timely completion of the thesis/project. You will receive a grade of "J" only if (1) you successfully complete all of the assignments during the semester, (2) you submit a final thesis/project proposal to your thesis advisor by Friday, December 10, (3) your thesis advisor approves the proposal by Monday, December 13, and (4) the proposal is deemed satisfactory by the instructor in charge of 11.ThU. Otherwise, you will receive a grade of "U," indicating unsatisfactory progress in the thesis/project. Note that even though your paper advisor approves the proposal, the instructor may conclude that it is not sufficiently well developed to be considered satisfactory progress. In other words, the final determination of a grade for the fall semester is the responsibility of the faculty for 11.ThU. Your final thesis/project is due at the end of the second semester of 11.ThU (the end of your final semester in the program). This year your paper must be submitted to your thesis advisor no later than Friday, May 5, 2000. This will give your thesis advisor sufficient time to grade your thesis/project by the time that grades must be submitted to MIT on Tuesday, May 16, 2000. Your grade for the second semester of 11.ThU will be the grade given to your thesis/project by your thesis advisor. No grades of incomplete ("I") will be given in either semester of 11.800. In each semester your grade will be based on the work completed by the respective due date.

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