Dissertation Writing

 

Research Project Writing: Dissertation Writing

Course Objectives:

The learning objectives for writing a dissertation can be organized using Bloom's Taxonomy, which categorizes educational goals into six levels:

1.       Remembering: recall relevant information from memory, such as key concepts and theories related to the dissertation topic.

2.       Understanding: comprehend the meaning of the information and how it relates to the dissertation topic.

3.       Applying: use the information to solve problems or make decisions relevant to the dissertation topic.

4.       Analyzing: break down the information into component parts and understand how they relate to each other and to the dissertation topic as a whole.

5.       Evaluating: make judgments about the value or quality of the information and its relevance to the dissertation topic.

6.       Creating: use the information to generate new ideas, designs or theories related to the dissertation topic.

For example, a dissertation on the impact of social media on political participation, the learning objectives could be:

1.       Remembering key theories of political participation

2.       Understanding how social media affects political participation

3.       Applying data analysis techniques to study the relationship between social media and political participation

4.       Analyzing the impact of social media on different groups' political participation

5.       Evaluating the strengths and limitations of existing studies on the topic

6.       Creating new hypotheses or theories about the relationship between social media and political participation.

For more examples, visit study material website > https://sites.google.com/view/maengmkbu2020/

 Description

 

Marks: 70 | Hours: 60 | Credit - 4

 

• The dissertation of 75 to 100 pages or 20,000 to 25,000 words shall be submitted to the University.

• The format of writing dissertation shall be as given below:

• Font Size: 16 - Main Title of the Chapter > 14 Sub-titles within the chapter > 12 for main content.

• Line Space: 1.5 line space.

• Print: On both sides of the pages

• Bind: Spiral 

• The dissertation shall be approved by the Department teacher/s and duly forwarded through the Head of the Department.

The evaluation of the dissertations shall be done by internal and external examiners similar to that of answer books of MA – English programme.

Internal evaluation in form of presentation shall be carried out at the Department in presence of the Head of the Department and/or concerned teacher / supervisor. 

 

Continuous Internal Evaluation

Presentation - 25 Marks

Seminar / attendance - 05 Marks

Written Test - 00 Marks

Note:

Integration of ICT for blog, presentation, video resources will be integral part of CIA. All works produced by the students for internal evaluation shall be presented as digital portfolio.

Course Specific Learning Outcome:

1.   Remember: Students will be able to recall key concepts, theories, and research methods related to dissertation writing.

2.   Understand: Students will be able to explain the purpose and significance of their research topic, as well as the research methods they plan to use.

3.   Apply: Students will be able to use appropriate research methods to collect and analyze data for their dissertation.

4.   Analyze: Students will be able to critically evaluate and interpret their data, and integrate it with existing literature to make original conclusions and recommendations.

5.   Evaluate: Students will be able to assess the limitations and implications of their research, and consider potential future directions for further study.

6.   Create: Students will be able to compose a well-written, coherent dissertation that effectively communicates their research findings and conclusions.

These course-specific learning outcomes focus on the cognitive process of dissertation writing and how students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter, and the skills they've acquired by the end of the course.

Suggesting Reading List:

1. Film Adaptation of a Literary Text

2. Feminist Reading of a Literary Text

3. Eco-critical Reading of a Literary Text

4. Comparative Literature Studies

5. 
   

Memorabilia 2022 

Click here to download or view Memorabilia 2022

The Memorabilia 2022 released by Dr. Kaushik Bhatt and Prof. Dilip Barad

Video recording of the Annual Function - 9 April 2022

Video recording of the Farewell Function - 9 April 2022

From the Desk of the Head of the Department . . .

This passing out batch, i.e., 2020-22 will go in the annals as ‘the Corona Batch’. Among several disruptions #Covid19 pandemic brought in, the disruption to education system is of a curious kind. On one hand it gave ample opportunities to explore new dimensions in online pedagogy, while on the other hand it made us realize several vital pedagogical issues, which were, hitherto, taken as granted.

The benefits of teaching this batch were innumerable. Right from the beginning, it was challenging to build a rapport with students as students have never visited department or teachers, personally. To bridge this gap, we tried our best to make teaching as interesting and engaging as possible. And hence, we have to ‘revisit & relearn’ pedagogy of teaching in online remote mode. We also have to try our hands at new technologies like OBS, Live Streaming, Video Recording, Learning Glass, Video Conferencing etc. It was not only to use these technologies but also to make it effective and engaging for learners. Going down the memory lane of screenshots taken during first week of teaching this batch was a good memory to see how it all began. The Google Class & the Group were introduced in live video conferencing session – and OBS was used to make it engaging. The learning glass was also used to see that the teaching does not become dull and boring. The first two pictures in the below given collage-pyramid are telling this story. However, the story of disruption does not end here. The other side of the story, the students’ side, had also been of great learning importance.

The students story told from the perspective of teacher has a few significant aspects. The teacher expects curiosity in the eyes of the students. This curiosity is what is driving force for the teacher. Well, in this remote emergency, if there is one very challenging thing, it was to feel the curiosity in the eyes of the students. As most of the students keep their camera’s off, it was not possible to see even normal gestures, forget the curiosity in the eyes. Somehow, it was very difficult to make it understand students that keeping camera on while attending the sessions is necessary. A few students were able to understand this. These students were like oasis in the desert. These students who kept their cameras own while attending the online sessions were such a great relief in the troubling and chaotic situation. Among the few students who understood this, three students deserve special mention. Daya, Nidhi and Riddhi – they were the most consistent in regularly attending the sessions with camera on. We, the teachers, expect to have similar students, in troubling times, wherein one can experience if the attempts made for engaging the learners are materializing or not. The bottom picture of the screenshot-pyramid (given above) is the evidence of this. Such a participation by students in remote teaching is very crucial.

The number of students in this Corona Batch was also considerably low than normal class strength. That was like a double whammy. One, virtual existence of all of us and on it, low number. Some may say it is good. Easy to manage! Well, yes, that’s true but we wanted to do lots of activities. Without good number of participations from equally good number of students, it is difficult to carry on the show. We believe, education is not only completing syllabus and the routine academic rigor. It is all about participating in co-curricular, extra-curricular activities like reading papers in seminars, publishing research papers, participating in cultural and sports events. It is not to say that there was complete stand-still to all these activities. However, it reduced drastically in this passing out batch 2020-22. Even with all these limitations of second wave of corona pandemic and lockdowns of academic institutes and activities not happening as such, our students have participated in around 40 events. Have a look at the chart in Memorabilia 2022 – page number 138/139. In spite of reasonably good participation in the troubling time, we were not able to get laurels and accolades. Except for FIRST positions by Riddhi Bhatt in Essay Writing and Khushbu Lakhupota in Research Paper Writing competitions, the participation did not yield desired result. Apart from this sorry state of affairs, even use of library substantially reduced during this year. Normally, all students have their library card and keep on visiting library occasionally to exchange books. This time, several students did not open an account with University Central Library. To add to this sorry state of affairs, several students’ committees remained ineffective or inactive. This is a great lesson to remembered. This is an example of why education is not only completing syllabus. When the students are not able to have physical gatherings in an academic institute, there are innumerable life-skills which are not acquired. Yes, some are genius and they do not require such training or orientation. Nevertheless, we need to build an environment wherein all these life-skills are acquired without much effort. We are unhappy to see that many talented students are passing out without brushing up their talent, many committee leaders are passing out without learning leadership skills, many are passing out without getting the finishing fine touch of our Department of English.

It is not to be concluded that all was dark and dull. We have seen amazing participation from Kishan, Latta, and Sneha in various events. Apart from Daya, Nidhi & Riddhi, Latta & Khushboo have displayed an amazing development in their performances from first to the last semester. Chandani, Sneha, Jignesh, Bhavyang, Pina & Aditi were also very good and performed as expected. Hiral and Nandita are talented but somehow, they were not able explore their potential during the studies. Bhumika, Anjali & Stuti are also good in several things but were not able to perform as per their capacities. You all have incredible spart within yourself. Had there been no corona pandemic, we would surely have been able to fire it and see the sparkles that you all are capable of.

With a sense of pastness, we are all supposed to look forward towards future. Bygone is bygone. No one can amend the past. But future is still in our hand, in our control. From the pandemic year we learn to be ready for whatsoever befall on us. Without giving an iota of doubt or an inch of hesitation, we shall be ready to live life it all its fullest capacity.

On behalf of Department of English, MKBU, I wish you all a great future.

Let yourself metamorphose into something so beautiful that we feel proud to say that ‘s/he is our student’.                                                   ~ Dilip Barad 

Demographic Survey of Students of English Department MKBU

 Demographic Survey of Students of Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

The following links are about the demographic survey of the students studying in Masters of Arts programme in Department of English, MKBU.

1. March 2021: Demographic Information of students

2. Oct 2019: Demographic Information of Students

3. March 2021: Information: BA College, Income and Caste Category

4. Oct 2019: Information: BA College

For comparative analysis, refer to this report of Ashoka University:

What We Know About Diversity at Ashoka: A Look at the YIF Programme

Memorabilia 2020

Memorabilia 2020

From the desk of the Head of the Department

A Meme is an interesting ‘sign’ of communication. The word meme is a neologism coined by Richard Dawkins. It originated from Dawkins's 1976 book The Selfish Gene. 

Richard Dawkins likened the process by which memes survive and change through the evolution of culture to the natural selection of genes in biological evolution. Dawkins defined the meme as a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation and replication, but later definitions would vary. 

Merriam-Webster dictionary defined - A meme is an idea, behaviour, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture—often with the aim of conveying a particular phenomenon, theme, or meaning represented by the meme. 

Gordon Graham states in ‘Genes: A Philosophical Inquiry’ that “A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures. 

Well, the purpose of this explanation of ‘meme’ is to understand how funny-looking photograph of Mr. Bean with a dialogue between interviewer and ‘me’ (whoever reads this) is so significant meme in the times of leadership crisis. 

When observed from the distant hill-top position with a hind sight, every passing-out batch makes me think something vividly and yet in very general terms i.e. not specific about individual students, but about entire ‘class’ / ‘group’. The batch passing out in 2020 makes me re-think about the qualities and characteristics of leadership. This meme acts as a unit for carrying leadership ideas, symbols and practices, that can be transmitted form one mind to another through behavioural patterns imitated by others, supported and self-replicated and responded in similar fashion. The contemporary phenomenon represented by this meme is exactly what was experienced in last year. The meme speaks about leadership crisis in real-life situations. Social media platforms like WhatsApp is just a means for communication. Communication is a very significant strategic tool for good leadership. However, it shall be carried out in real-life situation, lest it should remain only at communication level which does not materialize in real life situation. 

When it comes to developing leadership qualities among students, we follow the model of ‘Emergent Leadership’. The success story of Google is all about ‘emergent leadership. We have also achieved significant positive results in past with the similar model of leadership wherein there is little interference by teachers and students are free to display leadership qualities. 

I would like to borrow views of Stuart R. Levine published as The Skills Required for Emergent Leadership on cutimes.com. He defined Emergent Leadership as ‘It is a type of leadership in which a group member is not appointed or elected to the leadership role; rather, leadership develops over time as a result of the group’s interaction. He concluded that it is not grades that matters but ‘predictive of success were adeptness with the “soft skills” of leadership, humility, collaboration and loving to learn, unlearn and re-learn… surprisingly, even the expertise was not a useful predictor. For every job at Google, general cognitive ability as the primary attribute of success and expertise as one of the least important. Google discovered that emergent leadership skills – including a desire to learn and the ability to process and integrate disparate bits of information for solutions and insights – were more important than content knowledge. 

Somehow, I don’t know why, but I get such vibes that the passing out batch was lacking the characteristics of emergent leadership. I have never felt an urge to write in Memorabilia about ‘the lack’. I prefer to write about what positive attributes were ‘present’ among the class of students passing out. Somehow, again I don’t know why, I feel – let me take this last opportunity to teach something so significant as life skills – emergent leadership! 

Many students are very talented in their respective areas of interest. . . . . But because they lacked the attribute of emergent leadership, they failed to lead the group to achieve something significant as a class. 

Many of the students were having very unique skills, attributes, characteristics, creative power and passion for life. Mentioning some of their uniqueness, not as per the attributes but alphabetically, I would like to mention that Alisha - a passion for acting in theatre & TV; Ashish - informed about his passion for badminton; Bhavnesh - shown good capacity to critically think and articulate in equally good elocution; Dhaval - good drafting style in Gujarati language, passion for photo-videography, media and also an insight for aesthetic designs; Dipti - displayed hunger for deep learning; Divya - capacity to do hard work; Hetal - a passion for sports; Hina was good learner; Jeel displayed attitude for research based learning; Kailas - a knack for adventure sports; Krishna displayed a capacity to lead; Lalji was one of the most sincere in learning and showed ability to unlearn & relearn; Minkal - displayed capacity to learn and articulate learning for exam purpose; Mitalba was slow in traditional classroom learning but was better in digital learning, especially in lab sessions; Nasim - developed an insight to read real life through the lenses of literature; Nikita – displayed tremendous improvement in last semester; Prakruti - good command over language and was able to articulate understanding in classroom discussions; Prinjal - been very good in working hard; Ruchita - shown initial spark of passion for learning and leading; Urvashi - good ability for sports; Vidhya was good in celebration and cultural events; and Vishva had good language commands, ability to be creative and a leader. Avni, Jetal, Jyotiba, mansi, Monika, Nirali, Rajdip, Richa, and Sejal were doing their bit as good students and even helping others in various activities. 

All these students had talents to make it larger than life; make something historical; make an indelible mark. Somehow, that did not happen as I imagined or expected from them. And so, when I reflect back on their endeavours, attempts, talents, attributes and ability to perform, I feel they lacked something known as ‘Emergent Leadership’ - a desire to learn and the ability to process and integrate disparate bits of information for solutions and insights – were more important than content knowledge. 

The lack of emergent leadership leads to the corrosion of an ability to communicate effectively also. If the students of literature (humanities) lack the ability to communicate, to share, to speak, to opine, to contribute, or to disseminate their learning, reading, research and interpretations, what happens is very tragic for entire discipline of humanities. We should always remember what Richard Altick and John Fenstermaker said about the dire condition of Humanities in the era of STEM: “If the humanities, including the study of literature, are in perennial crisis – more so at the present moment, perhaps, than ever before – and the outlook for their survival grim, blame must lie as heavily on us, their appointed agents, for our lack of enterprise, as on the supposed unreceptiveness of the prospective consumers. (Thus), it is our responsibility to seize every opportunity to communicate with the lay audience, as in book reviews or in articles and essays in the popular press (read social media) on history, biography, and culture (and to make such opportunities where they do not exist). Our contribution as scholars in this regard is only a slight modification of our essentially two-fold task in the classroom: to educate students at all levels to read, write, and think, developing in them the intellectually curious habit of mind that casts a disinterested eye over all important issues, appreciating their complexities; and to lead students by extensive reading and critical analysis of recognized writers and thinkers, ancient and contemporary, inside and outside the mainstream, to seek, in Matthew Arnold’s words, “the best that is known and thought in the world” for the purpose of creating in their own lives a “current of new and fresh ideas” appropriate in this, our time.” 

We, at Department of English, strive hard to cultivate the habits of observing the process rather than the product; to nurture the habit of reflection, ponder upon everything we do; to habituate mind to question, to examine and to test before believing into anything – and above all, write about it, make it visible to the people in the world. We, the agents of literature / humanities, have to snatch every opportunity we get and display emergent leadership qualities; and be visible to the world by sharing our learning, reading, research & interpretations. 

If these points are pondered upon, I hope, the passing out students will be able to shine out wherever and in whatsoever position they are. 

This ‘Memorabilia 2020’ is an evidence of their incredible talent. Thanks to Committee Leaders for their reports. The Documentation Committee deserves an applaud for all the editing work. The design work is done by Dhaval. 

Best wishes to all the passing out students for the future of their dreams and desire! 

- Dilip Barad

'Memorabilia 2020' released by Vice Chancellor Dr. Mahipatsinh Chavda

Memorabilia 2020 from Dilip Barad

Report on Activities - June-Nov 2019

A Report on the Activities - June-November 2019

This is a photo-report on the activities in which students of the Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar (Gujarat - India) participated or organized or carried out as team work.

All these activities are carried out between June and November 2019.

A Report on the Activities - June-Nov 2019 from Dilip Barad

Memorabilia 2015

Dr. Vedant Pandya releasing Memorabilia 2015

The publication of Memorabilia is one of the many traditions of the Department of English, M.K. Bhavnagar University. For last five years, students are publishing this booklet. The booklet is collection of creative and critical writings of the students. Poems, short stories, paintings, pencil sketches, cartoons, posters, abstracts of research papers published by students, reviews of books / movies, critical observations of current affairs etc are some regular columns in this booklet. The Compilation and Editing, which is very difficult task, is also carried out by a group of students. They have to collect contents from students, compile it, edit it (where ever necessary), convert into common format and make it ready for publication on the Annual Function Day. The Memorabilia is released by the guest on this day.  The Memorabilia is one of the many ways to evaluate students' creativity and critical acumen. It gives platform to students to publish their critical thoughts and creativity. That's fine. But what is more important is the ability of the chief editor and the team working for the Memorabilia. It is ultimate test of this group of students. From working in team (getting works done by each other, persistently requesting classmates to give their contributions, managing time from regular lectures and other learning assignments) to solving problems of compilation, editing and working on front page design to people-problems which are the most toughest nut to crack, these students have wonderful learning of 21st century skills. Yes, we, at Dept. of English, believe that the students in today's classrooms are going to work and live in 21st Century. Hence, the learning of these skills should be incorporated in daily activities and routine teachings at the Department. For this purpose, we have identified the 21st Century Skills Map which is the result of hundreds of hours of research, development and feedback from educators and business leaders across the nation (USA). The Partnership between 21stcenturyskills.org and National Council of Teachers of English has come up with interesting map of these skills. They are: 

1. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving 
2. Communication
3. Collaboration
4. Information Literacy
5. Media Literacy
6. ICT Literacy
7. Flexibility and Adaptability
8. Initiative & Self-direction
9. Social & Cross-cultural Skills
10. Productivity & Accountability
11. Leadership & Responsibility. (Curios to know more about these skills, click here)

It is this group of students who work on this Memorabilia, who are not only tested on these skills, but it also provides them to hone these skills. This year, Poojaba Jadeja and group of students have done quite satisfactory work. You can have a look at Memorabilia 2015 here under. As it is embedded from slideshare.net, if it takes time in loading, you can click here to open Memorabilia 2015 in new window. 

Click here to download.

From the Desk of the Head of the Department (Form Memorabilia 2015)

The withering signifies an end of things. The end suggests new beginning. Nothing ends in itself without stirring up the trace of new beginning. Now, as the batch 2013-15 is passing out, we look forward to see them marching ahead in their lives with renewed power, vitality and energy. As we have seen in past for some years, the number of girls in the department are outnumbering boys. What was so curious to observe was that they did not outnumbered boys only in arithmetic numbers, but also in classroom discussion, interaction and in debating views and counter-views. It obviously proves that given an opportunity, the female of the species would outsmart their male counterpart!

Questions! Yes, it is the questions raised by students, which make teachers happier than happy. This year, in both classes, there were several such happy moments. Especially, the participation of Riddhi Jani, Poojaba Jadeja and Lajja Bhatt was noteworthy. Yes, we missed Amrutha Reddy, who surely would have raised the level of interaction in the subsequent semesters, had she not left during second semester.

Overall, the participation of students was encouraging. They were always on their toes, rushing to complete several offline and online tasks, apart from managing several other affairs of Department. With all the burden of routine work, they actively participated in co-curricular activities. The students in the year 2014-15 represented in 39 events! We are proud to see that Saryu Baraiya and Kaushal Desai represented department in 11 events, each.

We run Online Discussion Forum, to engage students with learning and to connect classroom with ‘real life’ situations. During the year 2014-15, twenty-four discussion threads well opened for email discussion. We are glad to see 402 emails being exchanged with total of 75,355 (seventy five thousands three hundred and fifty five) words used by students. Drashtri Mehta remained most active student on this forum with 5,882 words written in various email discussions!

Apart from the academic activities, if there is anything that recurs in my memory, at this moment, it is Gardening and Library Committee. Under able guidance and leadership of Sejal Vaghela and Saryu Bariaya, both committees did extraordinary work. Sejal Vaghela was, always, found forward thinking and planned all days of gardening quite meticulously.

I remember in no particular order the shining examples like that of Pratiksha Solanki ( in displaying situational leadership in managing Picnic), Namrata Gohil (in quest of difficult topics for presentation and assignment), Vinod Rabhadia (commitment to participate in Cross Country at Botad), Kaushal Desai, Shubhda Parmar and Lajja Bhatt (reading and publication of research papers), Hitesh Parmar (for his passion for General Knowledge), Arati Maheta (for her punctuality) and many other students whom I miss to mention here, which does not mean they have not contributed. There were many other talented students in the class but, may be, because of other priorities, they were not able to give their 100% to the Department. It is our loss and failure to see that we could not get 100 % engagement form 100% students.

I would like to give special congratulations for the perseverance of Shabana Khalani - the Malala of our class -  for her persistence efforts to continue with study in spite of her marriage, becoming a mother of a child and failing in exams. It requires out-of-the-world courage and bounce-back ability to do what she has done! 

It would be nothing less than ingratitude if i do not thank all those students (Kinjal Patel, Urvi Bhatt, Shital Italia, Drashti Mehta and Kaushal Desai) who spent their valuable time for Murals. A special thanks to Sejal Vaghela for an innovative idea to draw colourful mural near the entry of the Department.

This memorabilia is the hard work of Poojaba Jadeja. Without her painstakingly collecting content form all students, minute editing and creative organization, this Memorabilia would not have seen the light of the day. I am thank full to all other students who helped in this Memorabilia (they are acknowledged in her note so i am not repeating names), specially for the creativity in designing front page.

Shubhda Parmar, the G.S., should be commended for her able leadership qualities. She managed all the affairs and activities efficiently. She led from the front and kept the class together.

Being a believer in the Darwinian theory of evolution, I firmly rely on the fact that every new generation is smarter than the previous. Similarly, this batch was better than the previous batches. We hope to see new batch of students outsmart this batch . . . but till then we will relish the memory of live interaction and healthy discussion . . . and will miss the hungry haste and tireless striving to learn . . . which we have seen in your eyes!

On behalf of all the teachers of Department of English, I feel privileged and pleasure to wish you all exceptional academic career. We wish you best wishes to lead the word wherever you are, whenever you get an opportunity, in what so ever role future makes you accountable, with moral scruples, dignity and faith in self! 

Thank you.

~ Dilip Barad

The Image of the Front Page of Memorabilia 2015