preparing for viva

A few thoughts on the year 3 weekend from the beginning of February - this is just my 'take' on all the excellent presentations from students and staff.

In no particular order:-

• Is your thesis title right? Does it really do what it says on the tin?
• Have you checked the assessment criteria? Remember that an EdD should demonstrate contribution to practice as well as to theory - and your abstract should highlight this.
• Read Trafford and Leshem's book 'Stepping Stones'
• Remember to have the end in mind - this will help you to ensure that your thesis covers everything (well pretty much)
• Make five or six bullet points for each chapter - what are the key things this chapter is getting across? This will enable you to check the flow and is also a good preparation for viva as it will give you two sides of A4 which summarises your thesis - this is really more of a comfort blanket than anything because by the time you get to viva you should be so immersed in your work that you don't need to refer to your notes very much if at all an also it prevents you from stating. "I've written about that" without being able to expand on what you have written
• Draft and re-draft, throw away, cut and again! (look at Austin's Butterfly)
• Think about who your external examiner might be
• Ask your supervisors for a mock viva after the first draft (PR10), well before final submission
• Have a time line of when you made significant decisions, got data, changed things, changed your mind, read something that resonated, had a conversation with someone that affected your thinking, when things went wrong and what you did about it   ...... have it with you at viva or to prepare for viva, maybe even put it in an appendix
• After submission, keep up to date with reading, re-read your own thesis lots of times, have a list of any typos that you spot in this period but don't mention them if you don't need to
• Proof reading takes a long time - get a willing friend to read the whole thesis, could be another EdD type person but doesn't have to be
• References must be right and consistent
• You might want to look up Ros Ivanic on reading and writing
• Try to do a few hours three or four times a week - you could check references or proof read sections if you are not up to content work

Keeping track of it all from the start

·    If you haven't read Trafford and Leshem's book yet, do that first - even if you don't agree with everything in it you will certainly feel that the main precept - prepare for viva from the outset of your studies - is vital. If you have considered the questions that will come up and answered them already in your thesis and in your personal preparation, it should all go really well. 

     ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stepping-Stones-Achieving-your-Doctorate/dp/0335225438 )

      Now, here are my thoughts on how to keep track and be able to answer all those questions - borrowing heavily from advice from my own supervisor (years ago, it seems).

      Keep a research diary and also, if you have room somewhere such as a large notice board or wall area, draw a time line and mark on it when you find significant readings, carry out interviews or other data collection, decisions you make and why; annotate it with your own thoughts at the time, quotes, add links to any online discussions, seminars you attend, your own writing .... and so on.

      If you can condense the finished version and add it to your thesis (perhaps as an appendix), I think that's great and then you could also have it on a card for your viva prep?