thesis defense e.g. nyt

Thesis defense, e.g. nyt crossword clue

We solved the clue 'Thesis defense, e.g. nyt crossword clue ' which last appeared on April 23, 2023 in a N.Y.T crossword puzzle and had eight letters. The one solution we have is shown below. Similar clues are also included in case you ended up here searching only a part of the clue text.

THESIS DEFENSE EG

Common Answers

Face-to-face challenge
Occasion for grilling
Thesis defense, e.g.
In which you might talk through your problems?

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Thesis defense, e.g NYT Crossword Clue

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Thesis defense, e.g. NYT Crossword Clue

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Thesis defense, e.g. Crossword Clue Answer is…

Answer: oralexam.

This clue last appeared in the NYT Crossword on April 22, 2023 . You can also find answers to past NYT Crosswords .

Clue & Answer Definitions

the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions
(sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring
a treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research; usually a requirement for an advanced academic degree
an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument

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Thesis defense, e.g Crossword Clue

Here is the answer for the crossword clue Thesis defense, e.g last seen in New York Times puzzle. We have found 40 possible answers for this clue in our database. Among them, one solution stands out with a 98% match which has a length of 8 letters. We think the likely answer to this clue is ORALEXAM .

Crossword Answer For Thesis defense, e.g:

You can click on the tiles to reveal letter by letter before uncovering the full solution.

40 Potential Answers:

Rank	Answer	Length	Source	Date
98%	Thesis defense, e.g	(8)	New York Times	Apr 22, 2023
98%	Thesis defense, e.g	(4)
95%	Like a thesis defense	(4)	Universal	Jun 19, 2024
81%	Banned pollutants, e. g.	(4)
78%	G G G	(4)
78%	Word after G or e	(4)	New York Times	Jul 23, 2024
78%	Skating or soccer, e,g,	(5)
74%	C-E-G chord, for example	(4)
74%	Thesis defenses	(5)
74%	Thesis defenses	(9)

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Thesis defense, e.g. - NYT Crossword Clue

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Thesis defense, e.g.

The answer to this question:

Like a dissertation defense NYT Crossword Clue

Like a dissertation defense Crossword Clue Answers are listed below. Did you came up with a solution that did not solve the clue? No worries we keep a close eye on all the clues and update them regularly with the correct answers.

LIKE A DISSERTATION DEFENSE NYT

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NYT Crossword April 22 2023 Answers

Thesis defense, e.g. NYT Crossword Answers:

Thesis defense, e.g. Crossword Clue answer

by Michael Gere
2023-04-22 2023-04-23

Thesis defense, e.g. Crossword Clue Answer :

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How to prepare an excellent thesis defense

What is a thesis defense?

How long is a thesis defense, what happens at a thesis defense, your presentation, questions from the committee, 6 tips to help you prepare for your thesis defense, 1. anticipate questions and prepare for them, 2. dress for success, 3. ask for help, as needed, 4. have a backup plan, 5. prepare for the possibility that you might not know an answer, 6. de-stress before, during, and after, frequently asked questions about preparing an excellent thesis defense, related articles.

If you're about to complete, or have ever completed a graduate degree, you have most likely come across the term "thesis defense." In many countries, to finish a graduate degree, you have to write a thesis .

A thesis is a large paper, or multi-chapter work, based on a topic relating to your field of study.

Once you hand in your thesis, you will be assigned a date to defend your work. Your thesis defense meeting usually consists of you and a committee of two or more professors working in your program. It may also include other people, like professionals from other colleges or those who are working in your field.

During your thesis defense, you will be asked questions about your work. The main purpose of your thesis defense is for the committee to make sure that you actually understand your field and focus area.

The questions are usually open-ended and require the student to think critically about their work. By the time of your thesis defense, your paper has already been evaluated. The questions asked are not designed so that you actually have to aggressively "defend" your work; often, your thesis defense is more of a formality required so that you can get your degree.

Check with your department about requirements and timing.
Re-read your thesis.
Anticipate questions and prepare for them.
Create a back-up plan to deal with technology hiccups.
Plan de-stressing activities both before, and after, your defense.

How long your oral thesis defense is depends largely on the institution and requirements of your degree. It is best to consult your department or institution about this. In general, a thesis defense may take only 20 minutes, but it may also take two hours or more. The length also depends on how much time is allocated to the presentation and questioning part.

Tip: Check with your department or institution as soon as possible to determine the approved length for a thesis defense.

First of all, be aware that a thesis defense varies from country to country. This is just a general overview, but a thesis defense can take many different formats. Some are closed, others are public defenses. Some take place with two committee members, some with more examiners.

The same goes for the length of your thesis defense, as mentioned above. The most important first step for you is to clarify with your department what the structure of your thesis defense will look like. In general, your thesis defense will include:

your presentation of around 20-30 minutes
questions from the committee
questions from the audience (if the defense is public and the department allows it)

You might have to give a presentation, often with Powerpoint, Google slides, or Keynote slides. Make sure to prepare an appropriate amount of slides. A general rule is to use about 10 slides for a 20-minute presentation.

But that also depends on your specific topic and the way you present. The good news is that there will be plenty of time ahead of your thesis defense to prepare your slides and practice your presentation alone and in front of friends or family.

Tip: Practice delivering your thesis presentation in front of family, friends, or colleagues.

You can prepare your slides by using information from your thesis' first chapter (the overview of your thesis) as a framework or outline. Substantive information in your thesis should correspond with your slides.

Make sure your slides are of good quality— both in terms of the integrity of the information and the appearance. If you need more help with how to prepare your presentation slides, both the ASQ Higher Education Brief and James Hayton have good guidelines on the topic.

The committee will ask questions about your work after you finish your presentation. The questions will most likely be about the core content of your thesis, such as what you learned from the study you conducted. They may also ask you to summarize certain findings and to discuss how your work will contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Tip: Read your entire thesis in preparation of the questions, so you have a refreshed perspective on your work.

While you are preparing, you can create a list of possible questions and try to answer them. You can foresee many of the questions you will get by simply spending some time rereading your thesis.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your thesis defense:

You can absolutely prepare for most of the questions you will be asked. Read through your thesis and while you're reading it, create a list of possible questions. In addition, since you will know who will be on the committee, look at the academic expertise of the committee members. In what areas would they most likely be focused?

If possible, sit at other thesis defenses with these committee members to get a feel for how they ask and what they ask. As a graduate student, you should generally be adept at anticipating test questions, so use this advantage to gather as much information as possible before your thesis defense meeting.

Your thesis defense is a formal event, often the entire department or university is invited to participate. It signals a critical rite of passage for graduate students and faculty who have supported them throughout a long and challenging process.

While most universities don't have specific rules on how to dress for that event, do regard it with dignity and respect. This one might be a no-brainer, but know that you should dress as if you were on a job interview or delivering a paper at a conference.

It might help you deal with your stress before your thesis defense to entrust someone with the smaller but important responsibilities of your defense well ahead of schedule. This trusted person could be responsible for:

preparing the room of the day of defense
setting up equipment for the presentation
preparing and distributing handouts

Technology is unpredictable. Life is too. There are no guarantees that your Powerpoint presentation will work at all or look the way it is supposed to on the big screen. We've all been there. Make sure to have a plan B for these situations. Handouts can help when technology fails, and an additional clean shirt can save the day if you have a spill.

One of the scariest aspects of the defense is the possibility of being asked a question you can't answer. While you can prepare for some questions, you can never know exactly what the committee will ask.

There will always be gaps in your knowledge. But your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. You are not expected to know everything.

James Hayton writes on his blog that examiners will sometimes even ask questions they don't know the answer to, out of curiosity, or because they want to see how you think. While it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, but you would need to do [...] in order to find out.” This shows that you have the ability to think as an academic.

You will be nervous. But your examiners will expect you to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions, for example. Dora Farkas at finishyourthesis.com notes that it’s a myth that thesis committees are out to get you.

Two common symptoms of being nervous are talking really fast and nervous laughs. Try to slow yourself down and take a deep breath. Remember what feels like hours to you are just a few seconds in real life.

Try meditational breathing right before your defense.
Get plenty of exercise and sleep in the weeks prior to your defense.
Have your clothes or other items you need ready to go the night before.
During your defense, allow yourself to process each question before answering.
Go to dinner with friends and family, or to a fun activity like mini-golf, after your defense.

Allow yourself to process each question, respond to it, and stop talking once you have responded. While a smile can often help dissolve a difficult situation, remember that nervous laughs can be irritating for your audience.

We all make mistakes and your thesis defense will not be perfect. However, careful preparation, mindfulness, and confidence can help you feel less stressful both before, and during, your defense.

Finally, consider planning something fun that you can look forward to after your defense.

It is completely normal to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions for example if needed. Slow yourself down, and take a deep breath.

Your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. James Hayton writes on his blog that it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", but he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, you would need to do [...] in order to find out".

Your Powerpoint presentation can get stuck or not look the way it is supposed to do on the big screen. It can happen and your supervisors know it. In general, handouts can always save the day when technology fails.

Dress for success.
Ask for help setting up.
Have a backup plan (in case technology fails you).
Deal with your nerves.

Are you seeking one-on-one college counseling and/or essay support? Limited spots are now available. Click here to learn more.

25 Thesis/Dissertation Defense Questions

December 17, 2023

When you’re considering going to graduate school , or you’re about to defend your master’s thesis or PhD dissertation, chances are you’ve come across something called the thesis defense. The thesis defense is arguably one of the most fundamental steps to take in order to attain your graduate degree. Each university will have its own tailored expectations of the thesis defense. Yet, as a whole, the thesis defense is an opportunity for you to demonstrate in front of the committee the extensive research you’ve completed and the critical skills you’ve developed. Due to the critical nature of the various thesis defense questions/dissertation defense questions you’ll be asked, it’s best to be prepared and practice with other students. Try to even attend a thesis defense if you can. Overall, consider the thesis defense as a chance to showcase how you’ll best contribute to that academic field of research.

The thesis defense can range from anywhere between one to two hours, depending on your program. As a whole, you’ll present how you decided to choose this topic of research, what you discovered, and what those findings led you to realize. The committee – those overseeing and critiquing your thesis defense – will then ask you a series of thesis defense questions, as well as your written thesis because they’ll have already read it by then. In most cases, by the end of the questioning, the committee will either decide to approve your thesis or give you possible suggestions on how to reapproach your research.

How to best prepare for thesis defense questions

Much like preparing for the GRE or deciding what graduate program you wanted to apply to at the beginning of your graduate academic journey, familiarizing yourself with what to expect on the day of your thesis defense will only lighten the burden. Whether you’re a new master’s student or considering how to pursue a PhD , it’s important to know ahead of time how to best prepare for the thesis defense questions. If you’re getting ready to defend the master’s thesis or prepare for dissertation defense questions, see how you can answer the following thesis defense questions that might come your way on the day of the presentation.

1) What does your research focus on?

Be ready to state right away the synopsis of your research. Although it may seem like a simple, straightforward question, the committee will be looking to see the terminology you use when describing the focus of your research.

2) What influenced you to research this topic?

The committee will be interested in knowing what influenced you to choose this specific topic of research. What motivated you? Shape your answer in a way that reflects the field of study your topic of interest is in and the issues that stood out to you.

3) What does your study encompass and cover?

Consider the parameters and scope of your research for your thesis defense. By defining and delineating the grounds that you covered with your research, you will inform the committee with a better understanding of how you decided to focus on your topic of interest.

Thesis Defense Questions (Continued)

4) what was the goal of your research.

This question will surface often whether you are defending your master’s thesis or preparing for the dissertation defense questions. It’s important to state what your thesis meant to achieve. Think of what the core focus of your thesis is, and state how that was the driving factor in your research.

5) What were your expectations going into this research?

Describe how your hypothesis was formed. Were there any things you had expected or any preconceived notions you had on this topic before you pursued this research? Where did these expectations come from? Did any previous research affect the way you approached your thesis defense as a whole?

Defending a Thesis (Continued)

6) what did you study that made you want to conduct this research project.

This is a great opportunity for you to show what literature you reviewed that led you to pursue the research. Be ready to discuss the literary review of what has already been contributed to this field of study. Reflect on the realizations made when confronting certain data and if it was feasible for you to conduct your research given the existing contributions. Examining this type of literary review will serve you well during the following thesis defense questions.

7) Who is the targeted audience for this research?

It will be important to state who the targeted audience is, or what types of people will be affected by your research. Will these particular parties benefit from your research? How will they be affected? Consider not just the targeted audience, but also those in parallel groups who may be impacted by your findings.

8) Why did you choose this title for your research? – thesis defense questions

The way you have named and titled your research will convey what you consider most important to the committee. What does your research try to explain in the given title? Is there a reason you chose the specific words in your title to convey a main point? The committee will want to see the intentionality of every word here and how it relates back to your research.

9) How did you conduct your research questions and did your approach change?

While you were preparing and conducting your research, you might have found that your research questions were changing, depending on the sample you were studying. Oftentimes, if you are utilizing qualitative research methodology, the types of qualitative questions may change based on the answer. How did that change affect your research process? Did you have to shift your approach to the subject matter or reconsider focus groups?

10) What impact does your research have on the existing literature?

Reflect on how your research made a contribution to the overall understanding of the field at hand. Think of why this was necessary and state that concisely. This will trickle into other thesis defense questions.

11) Did you address any gaps in the field of your research?

Answering this thesis defense question will show how significant the findings of your research are. The goal of anyone’s research is to fill in the gaps of a field. Why did the pre-existing literature not suffice to address the focus of your research?

12) What did you come across during your research?

It helps to have options of how you’ll convey this. Try to be prepared to summarize in detail, within a minute, what your findings were. Then see what you can paraphrase in 5 minutes. How about in 10 minutes? Doing so will assist you in identifying the most relevant piece of information based on how the committee asks you this thesis defense question.

13) Did you find anything unexpected or surprising during your research process? – thesis defense questions

This would be a good opportunity for you to state how any surprises you came across helped you make certain decisions about your research. While you defend the master’s thesis and think of how you’ll prepare for the PhD dissertation defense questions, this is a “curveball” moment that demonstrates how you took charge of the challenge presented and continued your research despite what you had confronted.

14) Under what parameters is your research valid?

Parameters were mentioned in question 3 above, but consider the specific conditions that would need to be in place for your findings to be valid. What are the elements that would have to be in place? Be ready to identify these during this thesis defense question.

15) What were the challenges when conducting your research?

Were there any roadblocks you faced when gathering your data? Did you have to reconsider your research methodology at all? Identifying this will help the committee understand the direction and trajectory of your research.

16) What were the challenges when working with your subject matter?

If you were interviewing people, did the focus groups not adhere to what you had asked them to do? Why? Walk the committee through your approach here.

17) Why did you choose the research methodology that you chose?

While you’re defending the master’s thesis or answering dissertation defense questions, you’ll be asked specific questions about your research methodology. Was it qualitative? Quantitative? Why? What made you believe that this would be the most effective way to conduct your research?

18) How did you form your hypothesis?

Tie back in your expectations for your research and consider what you thought the expected results would be for this thesis defense question. Were there any factors, both past or recent, that had helped shape your hypothesis?

19) How did you gather the data to conduct your research and what sources did you use?

Recount what steps you took to decide how to access the data. Did certain libraries offer more resources? Was there any censorship that you came across that posed as a roadblock to collecting data?

20) What are the practical implications of your research?

For both master’s and PhD students, this is always an important thesis defense question to keep in mind. In life outside of the academic institution, how will your research be of practical use to society? It’s a question that most graduate students ask about themselves before graduating, so it’s best to know how to answer this one about your research!

21) How did you decide what samples to study in the research you found? What was your approach in using sample groups?

For example, if you used sample or focus groups, how did you go about selecting these groups? How did you get access to the data here? Don’t be hesitant to state the challenges you might have faced while doing so. As long as you frame it in a way that helps provide a more intricate portrait of the trajectory of your research, you’re on the right path.

22) What are the independent and dependent variables in your research?

Use this thesis defense question to show how balanced your research methodology was by naming the different factors. How did the independent variables affect how the dependent variables changed?

Dissertation Defense Questions (Continued)

23) considering your contribution to this field of research, where else would require further research what more needs to be done in this field.

As a master’s student defending your master’s thesis or as a PhD candidate preparing for your dissertation defense questions, you are already a researcher. And as a researcher, you must present what else must be done in your field of research on top of what you’ve accomplished. What does your research further suggest?

24) What did you ultimately gather from your research? What did you learn during and after the process? – thesis defense questions

Aside from stating your findings as a whole, this would be a good moment to express if you found anything significant outside of your thesis that you hadn’t expected. Was there something you learned while gathering your data or writing up your text that you never thought you’d come across?

25) After you complete your degree, what do you want to pursue professionally?

It’s not uncommon for master’s or PhD students to not know exactly what they want to do once they graduate. But for this last thesis defense question, it’s good to have a solid answer that will tie back into the research you’ve done. Do you have further research plans in this field? Do you want to pursue a profession that would enable this and strengthen the practical reality of it?

Thesis Defense Questions – Additional Resources

We hope you found this list of common thesis defense questions useful as you prepare for defending your thesis. Other articles that you may find relevant include:

Top Feeders to PhD Programs
Do You Need a Master’s to get a PhD?
How to Write a Grad School Statement of Purpose
Graduate School Admissions

Joanna Hong

With a BA from Pitzer College and an MA from University College London, Joanna has worked in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles covering many cultural and political issues with organizations such as Byline Media, NK News, and Free Turkey Media. A freelancer for The New York Times, her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Dazed and Confused Magazine, and The Guardian, among others. In addition, Joanna was the recipient of the 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship in Fiction and is currently completing her first novel.

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How to Defend a Dissertation Virtually

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She came and sat down with me. We both sat on the driveway, and we read books.

We sat, and just talked and caught up. And asked her what she was feeling, what was going on. At first she told me that she was feeling happy, but then I told her how I was feeling. And then she disclosed that she was feeling a little sad and that it’s hard when you don’t get to see your friends every day and you’re stuck in the house. These kids have really been through a lot because last school year, this same group of kids had Hurricane Michael. There was a category 5 hurricane that hit our town, and we were out of school for a month then. However, we had no power. There was no way to see anybody. We didn’t have internet, so we couldn’t do these kinds of things. So it’s been kind of like a reminder of that all over again, that, you know, we still can’t go see our friends. And it’s really hard on them.

In partnership with The New York Times, this is “Together Apart.” I’m Priya Parker. When it comes to gatherings, teachers are the OG gatherers. These are people who, every day, are in charge of bringing together an entire group of students. They have to figure out, day in and day out, how they’re going to start the class, how they keep a certain amount of discipline so that the students can learn but enough openness to let them grow. They have to figure out not only their relationships to each student and to the class as a whole, but also the interactions among the kids. And this is just the daily gathering of the classroom, but there are also dozens of interstitial gatherings that also do a lot of work to bind a community. Many teachers are also coaches of a class club or volunteer at football games or the prom or graduation. What do you do at a time like this when you’re forced to limit the number of things we can actually do collectively? Which gatherings are essential this year, and what might it look like not just to salvage them, but to transform them based on what is true right now? This week, in turning to school gatherings, I spoke with teachers around the country and heard questions like

How do I create this space of connection with students as a teacher before the end of the year? How do you reach those select few students that have just kind of turned off during this time? There is not really a protocol on how you will now switch to do things digitally, right? And how do you support a 10-year-old whose dad died?

Now that we have the situation in which technology is needed, computers are needed, how to engage students who have not yet had the opportunity to share with us?

The last voice you heard is a teacher named Tanisha. She teaches sixth-grade writing in New Haven, Conn.

I come from a pretty big family. I have six brothers and five sisters. I’ve always had some sort of a passion for working with kids. I just believe that when you educate yourself from within, that there is deep power there for you to live out your dreams and to change the world. And then I also have to believe that our better days are ahead of us. And so, like, when I think about teaching the youth of this country, there’s something special about seeing them realize their true vision for what our world can be.

Whenever I do a coaching call, I first spend a few minutes getting to know the person and trying to figure out what makes them tick. And I do this in part to figure out what then might motivate her as a host. What is her purpose? Every gathering and if we think of the classroom as a gathering starts with one simple question. What is the purpose of this gathering? Now, you may be thinking, a classroom is a gathering? I define a gathering as any time three or more people come together for a purpose with a beginning, middle and end. It’s an event. And so in that way, every classroom experience every day is a gathering that you can shape. And in this case, I’m asking a teacher, Tanisha, what her purpose as a teacher is why does she do this in the first place? so that we can use that insight to identify the gatherings that she should uniquely be hosting in her way.

And pre-COVID-19, you’re in your classroom. You have these students in your charge for the academic year. What is it that you most want them to learn or to be able to do because they interacted with you?

Getting kids to be invested in the concept that we are all writers. We can use our writing to change the world. We can use our writing to express our feelings. We can use our writings to convey ideas. And so that’s the biggest boiled down point of what my class was all about.

Tell me a little bit about now, what it’s like to how are you teaching? Paint a picture for me now, if I was in your digital classroom, what it’s like.

It was very comfortable in the brick-and-mortar school system. And so if you come in now, you’ll see elements of some of the same things that I was trying to do where I’m trying to preserve time. And we have an hourlong meeting class for students to write. But it is not we don’t have the same engagement in terms of my ability to quickly pop in and check in on students’ work throughout a given class. It is more of me I’ll give an assignment. So last week, we wrote “This I Believe” essays just as a way to re-engage students. And so it looked like me having a small group of students come to me at a pre-assigned time, and talking through, and looking at their writing via Google Classroom.

Let me pause for a second. I have a couple of ideas for you. But do you have a specific question that I can help you with within all of this?

I’m still trying to figure out a lot of our units are built around so we’re in enslavement in the Americas, and at the end of this unit, we would have some type of a Juneteenth celebration where kids would share their writing, and it was, like, a huge thing. We had a band play last year. It was like a community event. And so how can we still build community? That’s one question I have. I have a couple of questions.

At the mention of Juneteenth, my little gathering heart began to pitter patter. Despite the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, enslaved people in many parts of the States did not see their freedom for years after. Juneteenth is a gathering that commemorates the day Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, letting the last enslaved people know that they were free on June 19, 1865. While this date is not recognized as a national holiday today, 46 out of the 50 states still celebrate it. And I asked Tanisha to describe what Juneteenth is in her words, and she explains that this is something she’s carried with her since college.

In college, it’s presented as, like, this is the true, what should be the 4th of July. This is the true freedom of everyone, the moment in which the last enslaved person was essentially “freed.” And an understanding of the deep legacy that black Americans have played in this cultural fabric of America. The second question that I have is around I feel like this situation has exacerbated the inequity in our society. And prior to Covid-19, we did have some attendance issues at school. We were always trying different strategies to make sure that our students were coming to school and that our school-wide, our goal was, like, 96 percent. And so and we hit that we were under our goal for the year before this hit. And so now that we have this situation in which technology is needed, computers are needed, potentially a quiet space at home is needed you might be taking care of siblings, or you might have some household responsibilities how to engage students who have not yet had the opportunity to share with us? I have a number of my students who I haven’t been able to connect with. And I can share what I’ve done, but how to engage students in the midst of what we’re all experiencing?

Absolutely. I mean, they’re such sharp questions that are very wise and relevant to, I think, probably many teachers around the country. So first, with the Juneteenth celebration, you know, one of the things I actually think particularly if it was a if it has always been something people look forward to, something that, for you as a writing teacher, was almost like a carrot to get students to be excited, to sharpen their writing to a point where they know that they’re going to read their writing in front of the community, I actually think that I would still host it. And I would think about how do you digitally host it, and we can talk about that. But I actually think that in a sense, that if people feel excited and feel like there’s still an opportunity to present their writing in a meaningful way for the Juneteenth, that might also help with attendance. Right? So all I mean, when you’re in well, I shouldn’t say real life. This is all real life. When you’re in person together, all of these community gatherings become meaningful, and things we look forward to, and almost goals, whether they’re academic or whether they’re social, you know? You’re training for a marathon, or you’re getting ready to read in front of your peers, right? These are all motivators that help you go against the part of us that is resisting that.

I realized that these two questions Juneteenth and attendance might actually have a relationship to each other. In other moments on this podcast, particularly when we were looking at baby showers, I talked about gatherings having legs, meaning because of what happened at the gathering, people leave differently. They walk out differently than when they arrived because of something that happened during the gathering. But gatherings are powerful in another way too, which is that a future event can change behavior before it. There’s a wedding coming up. The groom starts cycling again to get into that suit. The first home game is this Friday. Players bring a different enthusiasm to practice. You see, gatherings aren’t just powerful for what they change after, but also what they can change before. The anticipation of a gathering can be transformative. In a moment, Tanisha and I find a way to transform the Juneteenth celebration into something new. This is “Together Apart.” I’m Priya Parker.

Tell me let’s spend just a few minutes on this Juneteenth celebration. So tell me what usually happens.

So there’s two different prompts that they can or projects that they can present or write about. The first one is imagining that they are running for office. And I usually say president. And they would have to argue whether or not black Americans should receive reparations and use evidence and facts to support however they feel. And then the second one that they used to work in groups around was just, like, that a lot of people don’t understand that enslaved Africans actually there was a large body of work that reports that they resisted against the institution of slavery. And so then they would create a writing piece or a writing project to better help teachers and students understand how enslaved Africans resisted slavery in everyday ways. And then we invite our parents and guardians and families to come in. I save at the beginning of the year, each teacher gets, like, $150 to be able to purchase school supplies. And I don’t use mine. I use that money to purchase food for this event. So it’s a big community celebration where kids are giving speeches. They’re presenting projects. Families are there celebrating. And last year, we had the band perform.

What she’s describing here they get their posters ready, they double check their facts, activities that they need to do to become stronger writers are motivated by the idea that there are some stakes to actually doing this, which is presenting to their communities. Gatherings matter when there are some stakes involved. And in this case, it’s the stakes of pride, of the vulnerability of reading your own work to people you care about and doing well in front of your community. Tanisha sent us a couple of moments from last year’s Juneteenth celebration.

This school has taught me a lot in my seven years of being here. And the one I will cherish the most most is no matter what you face in life, you have two options A, to continue to persevere and show that you are more than your mistake, or B, to quit.

So then I try and get her to name what the power of the event is.

And at the end of the celebration when it works really well from year to year, what do you think people leave feeling or thinking?

Oh, my goodness. I feel like after last year, people left feeling and thinking we need to take this school-wide. And so that was going to be my charge this year was, like, how to give this into the school. There’s a deep sense of pride because a lot of the experiences that students are sharing in this Enslavement and Resistance in America unit, our students reflect this history. And so there’s a deep sense of pride not only in the history of who we are as people, but also in the accomplishments and the work. And so if you’re thinking about the course of a year, students come into the classroom writing at any given level, and then you learn a couple of things. And so this is kind of like I wouldn’t say it’s a peak, but it’s a really, it’s a big moment in which students are sharing not only what they’ve learned in the unit, but how much they’ve grown as writers. But it’s a deep sense of pride that students have and a deep sense of, like, wow, that feels good. Look at what I did. And I’m even smiling right now because I’m seeing the pictures that I’ve posted online previously about this event, and it’s, it’s I don’t know how to feel. It’s like the energy is palpable.

This Juneteenth gathering isn’t just a beautiful experience. It’s doing a lot of work for the community, for the students and for this teacher. She says students are sharing not only what they’ve learned in the unit, but how much they’ve grown as writers. For this teacher, this is the gathering that’s essential. More than prom, more than volunteering at the end-of-the-year picnic, for Tanisha, Juneteenth is the gathering that is the embodiment and the proof of her purpose as a teacher. Like, did this work? Did what I set out to do to build the confidence in my students to express themselves through the written word work? And because it serves that purpose, this is absolutely the gathering she should be focusing on this year. And it got me thinking about this larger question. If you’re an educator, how do you decide which gatherings are essential? To know what is essential, we have to understand what the role of the gathering actually plays in the community, what it does for a community. And I’m working at two levels here with Tanisha. And similarly, if you’re thinking about gatherings in your community, the first level is just to ask what is essential, to really think about what is the role of this gathering in our community. What has it done for us in the past? And this year, when it’s really complicated to gather, what can go by the wayside, and what is truly essential? And it may not be the gatherings that you assume. And then, and only then, to begin thinking about how to make it transformative in a way that’s unique to this moment.

So I have a couple of ideas for you, and particularly for this Juneteenth celebration, and then we can go to your other questions. You know, I think one of the things that is that’s unique about this time is that there are absolutely many, many ways in which our gatherings, our in-person gatherings are suffering because we can’t actually be together. And then there are certain ways in which gathering digitally or virtually open up certain options that were never thought of before. And I’ll give an example. I actually want to read something to you. There’s a poet named Clint Smith.

Oh, yeah. I’ve heard of Clint Smith before.

And he recently got his PhD, his doctorate. And he posted on Instagram a couple days ago. So the picture is basically his grandfather watching Clint Smith conduct his dissertation defense. And he wrote this. “A photo for my dissertation defense that I keep revisiting is this one of my grandfather watching back home in New Orleans. Born in Monticello, Mississippi in 1930, almost 90 years old, grew up in town where people were lynched, where the Klan rode by his family’s house at night and told the black folks in the neighborhood to stay away from certain parts of town. Through it all, he managed to get his PhD from Howard University in 1965. Only recently, as I’ve interviewed him for another project, have I gotten a sense of all that he overcame in order to make a new life possible for our family. The same is true for my grandmother. I felt so lucky to have them there with me to be able to celebrate this moment that they made possible. My maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather have passed, but I felt them there with me too. None of this would have been possible without them.” And then there’s this image of this elderly African-American man with a blue plastic cup set on a napkin on a tablecloth watching his grandson defend his dissertation that pre-Covid, you know, wouldn’t have occurred to them to put a video into the dissertation, right?

And I wonder if because and part of what technology allows, I wonder if you could experiment this year where you still host Juneteenth, you figure out how and who’s going to read what, and you help your students get to the point where they feel ready to read. And maybe you invite not the entire school, but maybe you invite the entire community or sixth grade classes in six other schools to join and bear witness.

Hm. I love it.

And you know, it’s one thing to try to salvage, to kind of water down this really beautiful, clearly powerful gathering and just say, OK, well, it’s still going to be us, but we’re all going to be alone watching each other in our rooms, but to pivot a little bit and say, what would it look like if we invited 10,000 people, from our grandparents and our aunts and our cousins and our siblings in other towns and cities, and all of the teachers and all of the classes to watch, and to invite them to invite their teachers and other schools to watch? And what if this year, Juneteenth happened online with your students? And you’d have to figure out, like, some of the coordination and who’s going to read what, and I would say still music. But perhaps it’s a completely different audience, and you expand in a way that you wouldn’t otherwise have thought to expand.

Yes. There is something there that I really that excites me. Because, I mean, Juneteenth is the message and the pride that can definitely be spread virtually.

I mentioned salvaging to Tanisha. I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot. What is the goal of a virtual gathering? Are we trying to make the best out of a bad situation, or are we trying to create new situations?

You know, maybe you announce it publicly. But I think part of with the students, to keep it focused also on their writing and the confidence of writers, is to maybe to have each student invite 10 guests that aren’t in the school.

Or that wouldn’t normally be there, right? So that all of the community is actually an extension of your students, and then you become sort of the MC of sorts and connect this very unusual Juneteenth to the moment that we are actually in rather than pretending we’re not all suffering a global pandemic, to say here we are, and here we are still celebrating freedom.

Oh, I love that. I’m kind of at a loss for words because I’m so excited right now. But I guess my first thought is, like, OK, which schools would I invite? Who would I invite? And you know, how would I message this to kids? And this is a unique opportunity to be able to invite in even siblings who even if you go to our school, you haven’t been able to participate if you weren’t in sixth grade. And so just thinking about all of the different layers of people, or for parents who might have been working parents who weren’t able to come, how they can come in and then invite their friends, and so how to truly turn this into a community event and so generate that pride that students have around the work that they complete. When you said “so celebrating freedom,” that seems like it would be a theme that truly resonates with where we are because it’s kind of the irony there that we’re all in different places, and it can feel a little congested and tight, but understanding what freedom is and the cost and the price, at times, of freedom is that line, I might be taking it as this year’s theme.

Take it. And I think one of the ways to create gatherings right now in this time is to not try to do middle-of-the-road gatherings where you kind of invite everybody to everything, but you go small, and you go big. So what I mean by that is, like, I think this is actually an opportunity, perhaps, to have each student share their writing with their community before they join this massive celebration.

So I’m thinking here again in the vein of creating new situations. This is true for all types of gatherings right now. And my thinking here is to not stay in the middle. Go big and go small. This is what megachurches do, for example. There’s a large, perhaps 10,000-person service. But the larger the church grows and the more awe-inspiring that collective experience becomes, the more necessary it is to have something many churches call small groups, a group of six or so people you meet with every week to ground the experience and make people feel like they’re not only part of a crowd. The collective shouldn’t be at the cost of the small, and the small shouldn’t be at the cost of the collective. And so I mapped out for her how she might do this. And as I do that, here are the questions I’m thinking about in my head. What is going to be the right experience to warm people up? How do you meaningfully connect each student to their own community before they connect to the larger? How do we make this both small and big?

So maybe you even invite the first 20 minutes before people log in at 3:00 PM or whatever time it is, you invite each student to invite 10 people from their community and do a small gathering offline, like over the phone or on FaceTime or on whatever technology they have access to, or through a phone tree everyone adds a caller— where they just read what they wrote to their people for 20 minutes. And then they enter into this collective mass gathering that you coordinate. But I think you could really embed the community, and coming back to this core goal for you, which is to give your students the confidence to express themselves as writers. And to be able to express oneself as a writer to the people who know you is a deeply vulnerable act, right? It’s actually one thing to express it to strangers. It’s another to express it to, like, your cousins and worry that they’re not going to laugh at you, right?

This is where the stakes come in because we’re all part of the individual’s rise.

I actually think that Juneteenth celebration could actually perhaps increase attendance, right? Because it ties the students to something that they care about and feel a little pressure around.

For you, I would first just get really clear on what is your primary purpose. If you can’t do everything, what is the need you most want to take care of right now?

It is always my bottom line is to build the confidence of writers. That is it. And so when I talk about attendance, it’s because it’s in service of this desire for kids to be able to use writing to emote and to share their thinking and explore who they are. And so my bottom line is around this community and this culture of writing that we’ve been developing throughout the year. My first next step is to really think about invitations and who we can invite. And I’m sure that our school leaders will be on board with this 100%.

After the conversation, I found myself thinking more about Clint Smith’s Instagram post, and I decided to call him up and ask him about that dissertation experience.

Hey. Thank you for hopping on with us. And thank your wife, please.

OK. I shall. I shall, sure.

Well, first, congratulations. I discovered you were a doctor through Instagram, that town hall bulletin board.

Yeah. Thank you so much. It was a really, really remarkable day, and I’m kind of still floating from it. It’s a thing where I for so long, I had imagined that my dissertation defense would look a certain way. And I think I was feeling a lot of disappointment and despair from this moment that had kept me going for so long no longer being possible because of physical distancing. But it ended up being better than I could have ever imagined because I got to share the moment with so many people from every part of my life.

So first of all, what is your what’s the title of your dissertation?

So the title of my dissertation is “What If They Open That Door One Day: What Education Means to People Sentenced to Juvenile Life Without Parole.” So it’s the exploration of people in and around greater Philadelphia who were sentenced to life without parole as children, and trying to get a sense of how they what education means when you are told you are going to spend the rest of your life in a cage, specifically when you’re told you’re going to spend the rest of your life in a cage when you are a teenager.

One element of that’s so powerful even to have so many people watch you defend your thesis, defend your dissertation they watched the, they watched the ideas portion, right? We usually get to watch the celebration, but not the ideas part. How many people were on your Zoom call?

So to actually have 175 people listen to these ideas and defend the core of your thesis as not just a way of being proud of you, but of having 175 people listen to the rigor, pay attention to these ideas through the vessel of their love for you it’s already cracking outside the bounds of academia.

You know, to have 45 minutes where I could sort of lay out both the impetus and the vision and the analysis of the thing that I’ve been spending so much time on, I think it gave a level of clarity to my friends and family. They’re like, OK, now I know what he’s been doing all these years. I also

Why he was canceling Sunday brunch. [LAUGHS]

Right. [LAUGHS]

^ Walk me through the experience of entering that Zoom room. What actually happened in the gathering?

Yeah. So during the gathering so I was presenting my work, and I could only see the three committee members. And then at the end, my committee said, everyone can turn on their cameras. And so everybody began turning on their cameras, and it was, like, small light bulbs popping up across the screen. And I saw people who knew me since I was in diapers. I saw people who shaped what my graduate school experience was like. I saw people who just from every corner and pocket of my life speckled across the screen. And it was this really powerful, remarkable moment. And then my kids came in the room. My wife came in the room. They made a sign that said, “Congrats, Dr. Dad,” which now hangs above my, above the windows in my office. And it was just, it was a special moment.

After they came in and said, you are now officially Dr. Smith, everyone clapped, and my parents cried. My grandfather was there, my grandmother was there, my cousins and my friends. And it was a really special thing. And then everybody kind of stayed for another hour and a half. And then just one by one, everybody went around and just said how proud they were of me. And I feel so lucky. And I have it recorded. Harvard recorded the entire thing. And so I’m so fortunate to have this sort of time capsule that I can always go back to.

I’m so proud of you. Congratulations, Clint. Wonderful.

In years past, have other dissertation defenses been live streamed?

I think this is the first time that it’s ever been live streamed in a systematized, university-sanctioned way. I mean, I think people in the past have had their grandparents on speakerphone. But to this extent and this sort of systematized way that was facilitated by the university, I believe this is the first time. My sense is that there’s no going back from this because they found how special it is for people from all parts of these folks’ lives to have the opportunity to tune in. I think this moment that we’re experiencing has pushed us to think about why certain things, both on a micro and macro level, weren’t offered beforehand. And it’s hard to imagine going back to a scenario in which people say, OK, well, now your grandparents aren’t going to be able to tune in because it can only be the people in the room. I mean, that would seem absurd.

And actually ask this larger question of, well, who should be there?

Absolutely. And I think, you know, part of it is fracturing and breaking down the antiquated notions of what university life and the sort of ceremony of university is supposed to be like and who should and should not have access to it, which speaks to a broader point that you were making about who and who should not have access to the sort of larger set of knowledge that exists in academia. It pushes us to reconsider what access is and what access looks like, I think.

Who gets to participate in a gathering? Who deserves to attend? Who gets to bear witness, and who is worthy of the information or wisdom or knowledge in a gathering? We are in a moment where, out of necessity, live streaming dissertations are not the only place where we’re stepping into unprecedented territory of who can participate in a gathering. The Supreme Court is now meeting virtually, and for the first time, live streaming their hearings to the public. And it raises fundamental questions, like who is this for? Who should be hearing this? What does it mean to open up a closed-door gathering to anyone? Does it change the nature of the gathering? With all of these gatherings being canceled like prom and graduation around the country, I think this could actually be a very interesting moment to see what it might look like to have a national, countrywide graduation ceremony for our seniors this year. Could we, in our own way, go big and go small, create a new situation this year for students and their families, and frankly, for the rest of us? A few weeks ago, a student, @lincolnjackd, went viral with a tweet in which he requested Barack Obama to consider giving a national commencement speech to the class of 2020. Might there be a national commencement speaker this year, whether Barack Obama or someone else, that is the speaker for every school across the country in these strange times? Might we all gather with our loved ones virtually at home, invite our family members and friends and neighbors to a smaller virtual graduation ceremony, and then all collectively Zoom in to an unprecedented collective moment to honor our seniors, together apart? This might be a totally wild experiment, but if we as a country could pull something like this off, who would you nominate to be this year’s commencement speaker? You can share your thoughts on Twitter with the hashtag #TogetherApartPodcast and the hashtag #NationalCommencementSpeaker to build on a conversation that has already been started there. You think about that. But in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a poem Clint wrote. It’s called “Counting Dissent,” and he’s offered it this year for Tanisha’s Juneteenth.

And this is a poem entitled “Counting Dissent.” My grandfather is a quarter century older than his right to vote and two decades younger than the president who signed the paper that made it so. He married my grandmother when they were four years younger than I am now and were twice as sure about each other as I’ve ever been about most things. They had six children separated by nine years, three cities, and one Mason-Dixon line. There were twice as many boys as girls, but half as many bedrooms as children, which most days didn’t matter because poor ain’t poor unless you name it so. And kids prefer playing to counting, so there was never much time to wallow in anything but laughter. My mother was the third oldest or the fourth youngest, depending on who you ask. She was born on a federal holiday, which my grandmother was thankful for, said the good lord only got one day off when he built the world, so one day is all she needed too. Mom says Pops was persistent, wouldn’t give up when he asked if he could take her down the street to get some coffee, which back then cost $2 less than it does now. Now Mom has stopped drinking coffee, but she still loves Pops. They’ve been married for 31 years and have three kids who are six years and 1,517 miles apart. My birth took 12 hours and 43 minutes, which is probably because my head was five times too big. Mom said my head was big because I needed enough room to read all the books in the library, which seemed like infinity even though I didn’t really know what infinity meant. But I heard my teacher say it once when she talked about the universe, and books felt like the universe to me. I was pretty good at math too until about fifth grade when they started putting numbers and letters together which didn’t make much sense. My brother is 17 months younger than me but is taller and knows more about numbers, so it doesn’t always feel like this is true. My sister is 24 years of loyal and eight years of best friend. I am the oldest of three, but maybe the most naive. I still believe that we can build this world into something new, someplace where I can live past 25 and it’s not a cause for celebration. Because these days, I celebrate every breath. I tried to start counting them so I wouldn’t take each one for granted. I wish I could give my breath to the boys who’ve had theirs taken, but I stop counting because it feels like there are too many boys and not enough breath to go around.

You can gather digitally with Priya every week, where she will share practical and creative advice for these unprecedented times. To RSVP, go to timesevents.nytimes.com And if you have a professional meeting or work-related gathering that you would like some help rethinking, tell us about it at priyaparker.com/podcast. “Together Apart” is produced by Jessie Baker and Eric Nuzum at Magnificent Noise in partnership with The New York Times. Our production staff includes Hiwote Getaneh, Destry Sibley and Noor Wazwaz. The executive producers of “Together Apart” are Priya Parker and Jesse Baker. And this show would not be possible without Choire Sicha, Joanna Nikas, Anya Strzemien, Julia Simon, Lisa Tobin and Sam Dolnick.

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Clint Smith, a writer, teacher and poet, dreamed for more than six years of the moment he would defend his dissertation. But instead of standing in front of his three committee members at Harvard University, Dr. Smith obtained his doctorate from his kitchen table in Maryland over Zoom. And he did it with 175 friends and family listening in virtually, joining from all over the world.

One of those people was Dr. Smith’s 89-year-old grandfather, who was watching from his home in New Orleans. His grandfather was born in Monticello, Miss. in 1930, during a time when there were lynchings of black people and “the Klan rode by his family’s house at night and told the black folks in the neighborhood to stay away from certain parts of town,” said Dr. Smith. His grandfather got his own Ph.D. from Howard University in 1965.

“It’s hard to find silver linings amid everything going on right now, but one thing that’s true is that my grandfather wouldn’t have been able to watch my defense if it had been held in person. But because it was held over Zoom, he got to be a part of this moment,” wrote Dr. Smith on Twitter. “I’m grateful for that.”

I keep revisiting this photo of grandfather watching my dissertation defense. Born in 1930 Mississippi, in a town where ppl were lynched, where the Klan terrorized the community, where there was no protection for Black folks. My life is only possible because of all he overcame. pic.twitter.com/HGFcvFqxGz — Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 26, 2020

For 45 minutes, three committee members listened to Dr. Smith defend his thesis, which focused on people who were sentenced to life without parole as teenagers and what education meant to them when their options are severely limited. As he completed his final sentence his community was invited to turn their cameras on: “It was like small light bulbs popping up across the screen.”

In this pandemic, Dr. Smith, like countless other students around the world, is experiencing a new form of gathering. And while certain elements were conspicuously absent during the defending of the dissertation — no celebratory hugs and clinking of champagne glasses, for instance — a new ritual was invented: watching the defense be given in real-time.

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17 Thesis Defense Questions and How to Answer Them

A thesis defense gives you the chance to show off your thesis work and demonstrate your expertise in your field of study. During this one- to two-hour discussion with the members of your thesis committee, you'll have some control over how you present your research, but your committee will ask you some prodding questions to test your knowledge and preparedness. They will all have read your thesis beforehand, so their questions will relate to your study, topic, methods, data sample, and other aspects.

A good defense requires mastery of the thesis itself, so before you consider the questions you might face,

1. What is your topic, and why did you choose it?

Give a quick summary in just a few sentences on what you've researched. You could certainly go on for hours about your work, but make sure you prepare a way to give a very brief overview of your thesis. Then, give a quick background on your process for choosing this topic.

2. How does your topic contribute to the existing literature? How is it important?

Many researchers identify a need in the field and choose a topic to bridge the gaps that previous literature has failed to cover. For example, previous studies might not have included a certain population, region, or circumstance. Talk about how your thesis enhances the general understanding of the topic to extend the reach beyond what others have found, and then give examples of why the world needs that increased understanding. For instance, a thesis on romaine lettuce crops in desert climates might bring much-needed knowledge to a region that might not have been represented in previous work.

3. What are the key findings of your study?

When reporting your main results, make sure you have a handle on how detailed your committee wants you to be. Give yourself several options by preparing 1) a very general, quick summary of your findings that takes a minute or less, 2) a more detailed rundown of what your study revealed that is 3-5 minutes long, and 3) a 10- to 15-minute synopsis that delves into your results in detail. With each of these responses prepared, you can gauge which one is most appropriate in the moment, based on what your committee asks you and what has already been requested.

4. What type of background research did you do for your study?

Here you'll describe what you did while you were deciding what to study. This usually includes a literary review to determine what previous researchers have already introduced to the field. You also likely had to look into whether your study was going to be possible and what you would need in order to collect the needed data. Did you need info from databases that require permissions or fees?

5. What was your hypothesis, and how did you form it?

Describe the expected results you had for your study and whether your hypothesis came from previous research experience, long-held expectations, or cultural myths.

6. What limitations did you face when writing your text?

It's inevitable — researchers will face roadblocks or limiting factors during their work. This could be a limited population you had access to, like if you had a great method of surveying university students, but you didn't have a way to reach out to other people who weren't attending that school.

7. Why did you choose your particular method for your study?

Different research methods are more fitting to specific studies than others (e.g., qualitative vs. quantitative ), and knowing this, you applied a method that would present your findings most effectively. What factors led you to choose your method?

8. Who formed the sample group of your study, and why did you choose this population?

Many factors go into the selection of a participant group. Perhaps you were motivated to survey women over 50 who experience burnout in the workplace. Did you take extra measures to target this population? Or perhaps you found a sample group that responded more readily to your request for participation, and after hitting dead ends for months, convenience is what shaped your study population. Make sure to present your reasoning in an honest but favorable way.

9. What obstacles or limitations did you encounter while working with your sample?

Outline the process of pursuing respondents for your study and the difficulties you faced in collecting enough quality data for your thesis. Perhaps the decisions you made took shape based on the participants you ended up interviewing.

10. Was there something specific you were expecting to find during your analysis?

Expectations are natural when you set out to explore a topic, especially one you've been dancing around throughout your academic career. This question can refer to your hypotheses , but it can also touch on your personal feelings and expectations about this topic. What did you believe you would find when you dove deeper into the subject? Was that what you actually found, or were you surprised by your results?

11. What did you learn from your study?

Your response to this question can include not only the basic findings of your work (if you haven't covered this already) but also some personal surprises you might have found that veered away from your expectations. Sometimes these details are not included in the thesis, so these details can add some spice to your defense.

12. What are the recommendations from your study?

With connection to the reasons you chose the topic, your results can address the problems your work is solving. Give specifics on how policymakers, professionals in the field, etc., can improve their service with the knowledge your thesis provides.

13. If given the chance, what would you do differently?

Your response to this one can include the limitations you encountered or dead ends you hit that wasted time and funding. Try not to dwell too long on the annoyances of your study, and consider an area of curiosity; for example, discuss an area that piqued your interest during your exploration that would have been exciting to pursue but didn't directly benefit your outlined study.

14. How did you relate your study to the existing theories in the literature?

Your paper likely ties your ideas into those of other researchers, so this could be an easy one to answer. Point out how similar your work is to some and how it contrasts other works of research; both contribute greatly to the overall body of research.

15. What is the future scope of this study?

This one is pretty easy, since most theses include recommendations for future research within the text. That means you already have this one covered, and since you read over your thesis before your defense, it's already fresh in your mind.

16. What do you plan to do professionally after you complete your study?

This is a question directed more to you and your future professional plans. This might align with the research you performed, and if so, you can direct your question back to your research, maybe mentioning the personal motivations you have for pursuing study of that subject.

17. Do you have any questions?

Although your thesis defense feels like an interrogation, and you're the one in the spotlight, it provides an ideal opportunity to gather input from your committee, if you want it. Possible questions you could ask are: What were your impressions when reading my thesis? Do you believe I missed any important steps or details when conducting my work? Where do you see this work going in the future?

Bonus tip: What if you get asked a question to which you don't know the answer? You can spend weeks preparing to defend your thesis, but you might still be caught off guard when you don't know exactly what's coming. You can be ready for this situation by preparing a general strategy. It's okay to admit that your thesis doesn't offer the answers to everything – your committee won't reasonably expect it to do so. What you can do to sound (and feel!) confident and knowledgeable is to refer to a work of literature you have encountered in your research and draw on that work to give an answer. For example, you could respond, "My thesis doesn't directly address your question, but my study of Dr. Leifsen's work provided some interesting insights on that subject…." By preparing a way to address curveball questions, you can maintain your cool and create the impression that you truly are an expert in your field.

After you're done answering the questions your committee presents to you, they will either approve your thesis or suggest changes you should make to your paper. Regardless of the outcome, your confidence in addressing the questions presented to you will communicate to your thesis committee members that you know your stuff. Preparation can ease a lot of anxiety surrounding this event, so use these possible questions to make sure you can present your thesis feeling relaxed, prepared, and confident.

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Thesis Defense Steps: Full Guide How to Prepare and Present

How To Prepare For Your Thesis Defense

If you are conducting post-graduate research within your discipline, you will come across the phrase “thesis defense”. A thesis defense is part of the things you will need to accomplish before acquiring a postgraduate degree.

The thesis defense comes at the end of the graduate program. It is used to determine or define your education milestone while in the university. For this, you need a thesis defense comprehensive guide to be outstanding.

You should do a thesis defense after you have completed the course work and attended practicum or internship programs.

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How Long does a Thesis Defense Take?

On average, a thesis defense takes somewhere between 30 minutes and one hour. However, the time it takes to do a thesis defense depends on the academic level you are in.

While there is no standard or general length for a thesis defense, post-graduate sessions will take longer compared to undergraduate sessions.

Yes, some institutions, professors, or some disciplines may require you to do a thesis defense at your undergraduate level. But the length of the presentation depends on your academic level.

What is Thesis Defense?

A thesis defense is an act of presenting your academic work to a panel or committee of professors and other involved scholars. From this, they can gauge or grade your abilities in presenting your work.

The arguments presented during the thesis defense are to ascertain that you have understood the course and your selected topic.

You will have to first hand in your work or paper to the professor for grading. Thereafter, you will be summoned for thesis defense.

When summoned for a thesis defense, you will be required to answer all the questions presented to you by the panel of professors. After this, you will be required to leave the room. The panel is to decide whether your paper or thesis is ready for publication. In addition, the panel checks whether your work needs corrections.

In other words, a thesis defense is a forum that allows postgraduate students to defend the topic of their thesis before a panel of professors. Therefore, the thesis defense is part of the requirements that postgraduate students must accomplish to receive advanced degrees in whichever academic disciplines they pursue.

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Factors that Determine the Length of a Thesis Defense

Just like a dissertation that you have to write a thesis , it is important that you will have to present it. The time is taken to do this varies. The following four factors determine the length of a thesis defense

Determining the length of thesis defense

As noted earlier, the level of education will determine the length of your thesis defense.
The second factor is the institutional requirements. Some institutions will have a specified amount of time allocated for a thesis defense. In some institutions, that time is longer than and vice versa.

Very recognized institutions of higher learning will have the autonomy to decide on the length of a thesis defense.

The third factor that will determine the length of a thesis defense is the consensus of the panel of professors. Some will give students very limited time to do a thesis defense while others will give more time to their students.

Some institutions, scholars, applaud limiting the amount of time for thesis defense and educators because it gauges the student’s ability to accurately defend their work within a short time. If they succeed, then they are good learners.

Another factor determining the time of a thesis defense is the academic discipline that is explored by the topic.

While every academic discipline deserves respect, they are not the same in terms of the complexity of the concepts and what the student covers.

Some disciplines will require students to come up with much longer papers. This means that the time it could take to do a thesis defense will be longer.

From the aforementioned factors, it is evident that it would be difficult to predetermine the standard length of a thesis without holding some parameters or factors constant such as the academic level of the thesis.

Also, the length of your dissertation or thesis determines the time you will take to present it at your defense session. Longer documents will take you longer to defend.

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How to Defend a Thesis – 5 Comprehensive Steps

Some steps can help you defend your thesis effectively. You should follow the steps below if you are summoned by a panel of professors to defend your thesis.

1. Adequate Preparation

When you are required to defend your thesis, you will be given a specific date you will appear before the panel of professors for the actual exercise.

As long as you have submitted your paper to the professor for grading, you should always be aware that you will have to defend your thesis.

Therefore, between the period of submitting your paper and the date provided for thesis defense, you should do adequate preparation.

Students will have several months to prepare for a thesis defense. This is because the institutions themselves want their students to be well prepared before they meet the panel of professors.

After all, they would wish their students to excel in their studies. As noted, there will be a specified date for the thesis defense. Therefore, it will not surprise their committee members or students when the time comes for defending the thesis.

Adequate preparation entails knowing or rather anticipating what is required of you. You should be prepared for the kinds of questions your thesis topic will provoke from the panel and practice on them.

When you have the right attitude and have adequately prepared for the thesis defense, it would be nearly impossible to fail. Also, be prepared to wear decently during the defense.

2. Carry an In-Depth Knowledge of the Thesis

This is a very important step when defending your thesis. Since you are the one who has written the paper, you should be fully aware of the topic and the contents of your paper. What this means is that you should adequately research the topic of your thesis so that you can be ready for any question you are asked by the panel of professors.

For a postgraduate student who wishes to master their discipline, it would be a shame if you do not know about your topic.

For example, if you are within the field of environmental sciences and have written your paper based on the discipline, you should narrow down the scope of your knowledge to that of your topic, the topic of your paper should act as the guide to the amount of knowledge you are supposed to give for the sake of the thesis defense.

Avoid too much knowledge because it may overwhelm you. At the same time, do not narrow down the scope of your topic too much because you will have limited knowledge during the thesis defense.

Your instructor or professor can help you in terms of giving you direction on the type and scope of knowledge you are required to have during a thesis defense.

3. Prepare an Introduction

writing resources for thesis defense introduction

Have you ever heard of the first impression and its significance?

The first impression of a person will determine how the other person will perceive them.

If it is terrible, the other person may consider them a terrible person and even dislike them.

An introduction plays the same role as the “first impression” of your thesis defense to the panel of professors.

You should prepare a good introduction that should summarize the contents of your paper, the reasons why you selected the topic and its relevance to the discipline, and any other detail that you will anticipate to be asked during the thesis defense.

Make sure that the thesis is crystal clear and concise to avoid making any contradictions of your topic and confusing the panel.

Since you will be given several months to prepare for your thesis defense, take time to refine your introduction.

Make adjustments or corrections whenever necessary so that you will have a perfect introduction for your thesis defense. You may recite the introduction or carry it with you if the panel will allow it.

4. Making the Actual Presentation

The action presentation of the thesis defense is quite scary to many students. This is because you will have to face a panel of professors to defend your paper. Based on your paper’s content, you will answer several questions.

Therefore, if you fail during the actual presentation, your paper may not be published and you will have to do further revisions.

During the actual presentation, you should be well dressed because grooming tells a lot about the character of a student. Carry the necessary equipment you will require during the presentation. Such equipment can include a laptop that contains a PowerPoint presentation, a pen, and a notebook.

The PowerPoint presentation should be legible, objective, and strategically written to maximize the time used to defend your thesis. Ensure that you arrive early to the place where you will face the panel of professors to give you time to reflect and lessen your anxiety.

As aforementioned, adequate preparation, understanding your topic or thesis, and a good attitude will guarantee success. Therefore, if you adhere to the aforementioned guidelines during the presentation, there is a high probability that your paper will be published.

5. Do a Good Conclusion

Doing a good introduction and effectively presenting your defense is not enough without an equally good conclusion. Just like you took a good time to write your thesis , you will also need a good time to write a presentation and a good conclusion.

A good conclusion of your presentation leaves the panel of professors with a good impression of you and your overall ability to defend your work within the academic community.

A good conclusion will sum up your work. What this means is that you should include a summary of the topic’s background, the literature review, the methodologies, the findings, and the discussions. Make sure that the conclusion compresses the details of your paper logically. It should be brief and straight to the point.

Finally, the conclusion of your thesis defense should clearly describe the limitations or setbacks encountered while you were conducting the study.

Even though you are trying to show that you are a good post-graduate student, it is important to be clear about the limitations. This will demonstrate your academic integrity and ability to conduct actual research in the field.

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Tips on How to do a Good Thesis Defense

1. Anticipate the Questions

As aforementioned, you should anticipate the questions you may be asked by the panel and prepare for them.

The questions’ base is on your thesis. As such, you should go through your paper and list the possible questions.

At the same time, the academic expertise of the committee members determines the types of questions you may be asked.

Try to have an informed idea, based on your paper, on the areas to receive much focus.

2. Dress for Success

Do you remember that we have talked about first impressions? Well, your dress code and overall grooming will have a degree of impact on the outcomes of your presentation. Dress well.

Mostly, you are required to dress in an official attire because you are going to do a presentation to a panel of academic experts. You should try as much as possible not to wear casual or provocative clothes.

3. Delegate

To avoid being overwhelmed during the day of your presentation, you can delegate some of the less complicated activities to a trusted person or friend.

The activities that you can delegate include setting up the equipment you will use for your presentation or distributing handouts to the panel.

4. Create a Backup Plan

This especially involves the mode of presenting your defense. Since you will be using your laptop and a projector, they may fail during the presentation. It is therefore important to have a plan B. such can include having printed handouts.

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FAQs on Thesis Defense

Can you fail a thesis defense.

The answer to this question is yes. Though it is rare, it is possible to fail a thesis defense if you are not adequately prepared and you don’t know much about the topic. This would indicate that you haven’t understood the course or you did not write the paper. You hired someone to do it for you.

How long is a Ph.D. thesis defense?

A Ph.D. thesis defense is about 2 hours long. However, it may differ from one country to the other.

How long is the master’s thesis presentation?

A master’s thesis is usually one-and-a-half hours long. It takes a lesser time compared to a Ph.D. thesis.

When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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How to Effectively Prepare for Your Thesis Defense

You’ve completed your research study, written your thesis, and think you’re done! If only it were this easy. Before you finish with your thesis, there is one last hurdle to overcome: the thesis defense.

What is a thesis defense?

A thesis defense is an opportunity for you to present your research study before other academic professionals who will evaluate the quality of your academic work. While a thesis defense can sometimes feel like a cross-examination in a court of law, in reality, there is no need to fear your thesis defense as long as you are well-prepared. In this article, we’ll talk about how to prepare for a thesis defense, what to expect at the defense itself, and what comes after your defense.

Why do I have to defend my thesis?

At your thesis defense, you will discuss everything you’ve learned with a group of interested examiners who are eager to hear your thoughts.

The fundamental purpose of a thesis defense is to prove that you have mastered your subject and can be considered as a knowledgeable expert in your field, thereby allowing you to graduate successfully. For many students, a thesis is one of the first attempts at conducting original research and demonstrating that you are equipped to function as an independent expert in your field. If qualified academic professionals can assess your work, question your methods and results, and confirm that your study is sound and novel, then you meet the requirements.

The exact format and expectations for your thesis defense will differ depending on the region you study in and your institution’s rules for the thesis program. The thesis defense meeting may have just two or three examiners or may have a whole panel of examiners along with an audience.

If the thought of facing your professors, peers, and parents to present your research study makes you feel dizzy, you aren’t alone . Moreover, a thesis defense is a great opportunity for you to hone your public speaking skills as well as talk about your research study. At your thesis defense, you will discuss everything you’ve learned with a group of interested examiners who are eager to hear your thoughts.

While the format for a thesis defense will vary, as mentioned above, most thesis defenses consist of:

Presenting your research study (using PowerPoint or other similar tools)
Answering questions from your thesis committee
Receiving feedback from your thesis committee

So how can you prepare for it? Let’s talk about some important tips.

Preparing: Before the defense

It is useful to attend multiple defenses and ask others who have gone through the process what it was like.

The best way to prepare for a thesis defense is to attend other defenses at your institution so that you know what to expect. It is useful to attend multiple defenses and ask others who have gone through the process what it was like. Senior students are often happy to provide advice and can give you specific insights about particular examiners as well as details of the administrative process at your institution.

You should also talk to your thesis advisor well in advance of your defense about what to expect. Ask whether you need to shortlist your own committee, how long your presentation should be, and how long the thesis defense will be. The duration of a thesis defense varies by the degree level as well as the institution. On average, expect your defense to be at least an hour long, possibly longer for a Ph.D.

What should my presentation cover and how can I prepare it?

While preparing your presentation, also prepare a list of questions and answers that you think are likely to be asked by your committee.

You will need to prepare a presentation that will cover the details of your research study. It is wise to rehearse this presentation multiple times in advance of your thesis defense so that you will be comfortable when you actually present in front of your audience. While preparing your presentation, also prepare a list of questions and answers that you think are likely to be asked by your committee. If you can, enlist the help of a classmate or friend to be the examiner. They can ask you questions about your research study so you will be able to practice addressing these questions.

One mistake many students make is assuming that all members of their defense committee will thoroughly read their thesis prior to the defense. This is simply not always the case. For this reason, you should make sure your presentation makes sense to someone who has not actually read your thesis. A typical thesis defense presentation gives:

An introduction to the topic
Explains how the study is significant in the field
Covers the main highlights of the methodology and results of the study
Picks out the main points from the discussion and conclusion

What should I do the day before my defense?

Before your thesis defense, make sure you have backups of everything you need saved in multiple formats and multiple locations.

Before your thesis defense, make sure you have backups of everything you need to be saved in multiple formats and multiple locations. Put your presentation and your thesis on a USB drive, email it to yourself, upload it to the cloud, and print it out. Leave nothing to chance: you want to be absolutely prepared to defend your thesis short of an act of God obliterating the venue. In addition, make sure you prepare hard copies (printouts) of both your thesis and slideshow for the committee members. It need not be professionally bound at this stage, but they will appreciate having reference material on hand.

Finally, there are some practical steps to take in preparation for the thesis defense. Choose your outfit in advance (you should dress professionally) and practice presenting in it. You should also make sure you know the exact location of the thesis defense venue. Scope out the venue before your defense, if possible, so you can imagine yourself there while you rehearse. If you are presenting virtually, test all your equipment in advance and have a backup plan in case your internet goes out or your computer suddenly crashes. Most importantly, make sure that you eat well and get proper rest the night before. Don’t stay up late rehearsing last minute in the hopes of improving your chances of passing your defense. You will do much better if you are well-rested and alert.

Time to shine: At the defense

Try to stay calm and remember you are not on trial!

What can you expect on the day of the defense?

Typically, you will enter the room, set up, and begin your presentation once the committee indicates that they are ready. As mentioned above, it is always advisable to bring hard copies of both your thesis and slideshow for the committee. That way, they can easily refer to what you are talking about as you present. Make sure you also bring a pencil and notebook with you to take notes, and some water, because you will get thirsty as you talk.

After you are done with the presentation, the committee members will ask questions. Try to stay calm and remember you are not on trial! Your committee generally wants you to succeed, but they also want you to prove that you really know what you’re talking about. Do your best to answer their questions and never be afraid to admit when you don’t know something. It is much better, to be honest than to be caught lying or making something up during your thesis defense.

After the question and answer session, depending on your institution, you may be asked to leave the room while the committee deliberates. You may also be present while they discuss the merits of your defense and make suggestions for how to revise it. Alternatively, they might adjourn to another room if there is a large audience present. After they deliberate, they will usually thank you for your time, and your defense will be over. At some institutions, they will inform you if you passed right away, while at others, you will find out after a few days.

How does my committee decide if my work is good or not?

In general, you can expect your thesis defense and your thesis as a whole to be evaluated based on the below criteria:

Whether the thesis meets the departmental requirements
Whether the research study is logical and clear
Whether the stated objectives are met in the study
Use of primary and secondary literature
Use of relevant and up-to-date sources
Methodological rigor
Your ability to critically analyze data, facts, relevant literature, and synthesize information into a coherent narrative
Writing quality and flow
The validity of your conclusions based on your data and analysis
The relevance and importance of your research study in the field
Your ability to clearly and coherently present what your thesis is about
Your ability to answer questions about your work accurately and in-depth
Your ability to acknowledge and consider other theories or perspectives and explain why you dismissed one theory in favor of another

In summary, the examining committee want to know:

Did you meet the thesis criteria set by your institution?
Did you perform high-quality research work?
Do you know what you are talking about?

After the defense: What’s next?

After your thesis is approved, you will need to have it professionally bound and then submit copies to your university.

After your thesis defense, you should definitely celebrate and congratulate yourself for all your hard work! Unfortunately, you aren’t quite done yet. Although the committee may notify you about passing, it is also very likely that you will be asked to make some changes to your thesis before you are finally done. You should work with your advisor to finalize and incorporate any comments you received into your work as quickly as possible.

After your thesis is approved, you will need to have it professionally bound and then submit copies to your university. You will also get the chance to order copies for yourself. This process also differs by institution, so make sure you talk to the administration department to figure out what you need to do and when to complete this process.

All in all, while a thesis defense is a scary and overwhelming event, it is also an incredible achievement. Earning your degree is no small feat, and you should definitely feel proud of yourself once you have done it! Check out our site for more tips on how to write a good thesis, where to find the best thesis editing services , and more about thesis editing and proofreading services .

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To prepare for your thesis defense, make sure that you:

Find out your institutional requirements

Talk to your advisor well in advance about what to expect and prepare

Attend defenses of other students to see what they are like

Prepare your presentation early so you can rehearse it

Rehearse your presentation with a timer

Make a list of questions and answers about your research study

Enlist a friend to be the examiner and ask you questions

Prepare multiple backups of your materials (USB drive, Google Drive/Cloud storage, email, hard copy)

Have a plan for computer/internet problems if you are presenting virtually

Eat well and get a good night’s rest before the defense

Arrive at the defense venue early enough to test any IT equipment or internet connection

What should I do to prepare for my thesis defense? +

Find out your institution’s requirements
Attend other thesis defenses
Speak to your advisor
Prepare and practice your presentation
Enlist a friend or classmate to act as the examiner and ask you questions while you practice

How long is a typical thesis defense? +

Every institution is different, but most thesis defenses are at least an hour long.

What should my thesis presentation actually contain? +

A typical thesis defense presentation introduces the thesis topic, explains how your study is significant in the field, and covers the main highlights of the methodology and results of the study. It finally picks out the main points from the discussion and conclusion section of your thesis.

What if I fail my thesis defense? +

The odds that you will fail are extremely low! Most advisors and committees do not let a candidate schedule a defense unless they feel the candidate is ready. So, don’t worry about it. However, if you do fail for some reason, your institution will have a process for you to apply to try again.

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Thesis defenses, e.g. Crossword Clue
If this clue is similar to what you need but the answer is not here, type the exact clue on the search box. When facing difficulties with puzzles or our website in general, feel free to drop us a message at the contact page. November 1, 2020 answer of Thesis Defenses E G clue in NYT Crossword Puzzle. There is One Answer total, Orals is the most ...
Thesis defense, e.g NYT Crossword Clue
Thesis defense, e.g NYT Crossword Clue. We've prepared a crossword clue titled "Thesis defense, e.g" from The New York Times Crossword for you, find answer below! NYT Crossword April 22 2023 Answers.
Thesis defense, e.g. NYT Crossword Clue
THESIS (noun) a treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research; usually a requirement for an advanced academic degree. an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument. The New York Times crossword was first published in The New York Times in 1942 and has been a daily feature ever since.
Thesis defense, e.g Crossword Clue
Here is the answer for the crossword clue Thesis defense, e.g last seen in New York Times puzzle. We have found 40 possible answers for this clue in our database. Among them, one solution stands out with a 98 % match which has a length of 8 letters. We think the likely answer to this clue is ORALEXAM. advertisement.
Thesis defense, e.g.
Find out all the latest answers for The New York Times Games - Updated daily 2023. Thesis defense, e.g. - NYT Crossword Clue ... This page contains answers to puzzle Thesis defense, e.g.. Thesis defense, e.g. The answer to this question: O R A L E X A M. More answers from this crossword: People for whom a state is named; Dolts;
Like a dissertation defense NYT Crossword Clue
LIKE A DISSERTATION DEFENSE NYT. ORAL; Last confirmed on July 5, 2024 . Please note that sometimes clues appear in similar variants or with different answers. If this clue is similar to what you need but the answer is not here, type the exact clue on the search box. ← BACK TO NYT 09/14/24
Thesis defense, e.g. NYT Crossword
This webpage with NYT Crossword Thesis defense, e.g. answers is the only source you need to quickly skip the challenging level. This game was created by a The New York Times Company team that created a lot of great games for Android and iOS. Thesis defense, e.g. NYT Crossword. NYT Crossword April 22 2023 Answers
Thesis defense, e.g. Crossword Clue answer
Thesis defense, e.g. Crossword Clue Answer : ORALEXAM. For additional clues from the today's puzzle please use our Master Topic for nyt crossword APRIL 22 2023. The answers are mentioned in. If you search similar clues or any other that appereared in a newspaper or crossword apps, you can easily find its possible answers by typing the clue in ...
Thesis defense, e.g. nyt crossword clue
This is the answer of the Nyt crossword clue Thesis defense, e.g. featured on Nyt puzzle grid of "04 22 2023", created by Byron Walden and edited by Will Shortz . The solution is quite difficult, we have been there like you, and we used our database to provide you the needed solution to pass to the next clue. Thesis defense, e.g. Answer ...
thesis defense e.g. Crossword Clue
Advertisement. thesis defense e.g. Crossword Clue. The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "thesis defense e.g.", 8 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues .
thesis defense Crossword Clue
thesis defense Crossword Clue. The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "thesis defense", 5 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . Was the Clue Answered? Thesis defenses, eg ...
How to prepare an excellent thesis defense
How to prepare for a thesis defense quick guide. Check with your department about requirements and timing. Re-read your thesis. Anticipate questions and prepare for them. Create a back-up plan to deal with technology hiccups. Plan de-stressing activities both before, and after, your defense.
25 Thesis/Dissertation Defense Questions
Thesis Defense Questions - the 25 most common questions that grad students will hear while defending their master's thesis or dissertation. ... NK News, and Free Turkey Media. A freelancer for The New York Times, her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Dazed and Confused Magazine, and The Guardian, among others. In addition, Joanna was the ...
How to Defend a Dissertation Virtually
In this pandemic, Dr. Smith, like countless other students around the world, is experiencing a new form of gathering. And while certain elements were conspicuously absent during the defending of ...
17 Thesis Defense Questions and How to Answer Them
A thesis defense gives you the chance to show off your thesis work and demonstrate your expertise in your field of study. During this one- to two-hour discussion with the members of your thesis committee, you'll have some control over how you present your research, but your committee will ask you some prodding questions to test your knowledge and preparedness. They will all have read your ...
Thesis Defense Steps: Full Guide How to Prepare and Present
5. Do a Good Conclusion. Doing a good introduction and effectively presenting your defense is not enough without an equally good conclusion. Just like you took a good time to write your thesis, you will also need a good time to write a presentation and a good conclusion.
What is a Thesis Defense?
Defending a thesis largely serves as a formality because the paper will already have been evaluated. During a defense, a student will be asked questions by members of the thesis committee. Questions are usually open-ended and require that the student think critically about his or her work. A defense might take only 20 minutes, or it might take ...
Defending Your Thesis
Make sure to get across the fundamentals while defending your thesis. First, state your thesis/research question. You need to describe the importance of your topic and detail how your research was conducted, including any methods of measurement you have used. The major findings of your thesis should be made clear, as well as how your thesis ...
How to Effectively Prepare for Your Thesis Defense
Have a plan for computer/internet problems if you are presenting virtually. Eat well and get a good night's rest before the defense. Arrive at the defense venue early enough to test any IT equipment or internet connection. For more tips on how to write a good thesis, where to find the best thesis editing services.
PDF A Guide for Graduate Students Preparing for a Master's Thesis Defense
thesis defense . You should also inform your Graduate Administrator that you have started the process to prepare for your defense . A master's thesis defense committee must include your advisor, a second faculty member from within your program, and a faculty member from outside of your department. Selecting a Defense Date . The

Thesis defense, e.g. nyt crossword clue

THESIS DEFENSE EG

Thesis defense, e.g NYT Crossword Clue

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Thesis defense, e.g. NYT Crossword Clue

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Thesis defense, e.g. - NYT Crossword Clue

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How to prepare an excellent thesis defense

What is a thesis defense?

25 Thesis/Dissertation Defense Questions

How to best prepare for thesis defense questions

1) What does your research focus on?

2) What influenced you to research this topic?

3) What does your study encompass and cover?

Thesis Defense Questions (Continued)

5) What were your expectations going into this research?

Defending a Thesis (Continued)

7) Who is the targeted audience for this research?

8) Why did you choose this title for your research? – thesis defense questions

9) How did you conduct your research questions and did your approach change?

10) What impact does your research have on the existing literature?

11) Did you address any gaps in the field of your research?

12) What did you come across during your research?

13) Did you find anything unexpected or surprising during your research process? – thesis defense questions

14) Under what parameters is your research valid?

15) What were the challenges when conducting your research?

16) What were the challenges when working with your subject matter?

17) Why did you choose the research methodology that you chose?

18) How did you form your hypothesis?

19) How did you gather the data to conduct your research and what sources did you use?

20) What are the practical implications of your research?

21) How did you decide what samples to study in the research you found? What was your approach in using sample groups?

22) What are the independent and dependent variables in your research?

Dissertation Defense Questions (Continued)

24) What did you ultimately gather from your research? What did you learn during and after the process? – thesis defense questions

25) After you complete your degree, what do you want to pursue professionally?

Thesis Defense Questions – Additional Resources

Joanna Hong

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How to Defend a Dissertation Virtually

17 Thesis Defense Questions and How to Answer Them

1. What is your topic, and why did you choose it?

2. How does your topic contribute to the existing literature? How is it important?

3. What are the key findings of your study?

4. What type of background research did you do for your study?

5. What was your hypothesis, and how did you form it?

6. What limitations did you face when writing your text?

7. Why did you choose your particular method for your study?

8. Who formed the sample group of your study, and why did you choose this population?

9. What obstacles or limitations did you encounter while working with your sample?