Seniors finished their thesis papers recently, and soon they will present them in Mr. Burdette's class.
One of the requirements for University Academy’s seniors to graduate is the completion of a senior thesis. During their senior year, students are instructed and guided through the process of creating a 2,800-word essay about whatever school appropriate topic they choose. Dr. Leah Edens, one of UA Upper School’s literature teachers, typically guides the writing process.
The academic essay consists of a lot of research in its beginning stages. That research involves mainly journal articles that are used and cited in the essay to justify the given information. There must be a 200-word introduction, then three sections in the body which are 900 words each, and lastly a 200-word conclusion. The essay takes about a month to complete, and this year, it counted as students’ midterm grade for their English course. Anyone who didn’t score an 80% or higher on it will make revisions and turn in a second draft later this month.
University Academy began the tradition of the senior thesis about 15 years ago. Over the years she’s overseen the senior thesis projects, Dr. Edens has recognized a couple topics as her favorite.
She said, “Some very interesting topics have been that billionaires should be banned, capitalism is the root of greed, phytomedicine is more effective than modern medicine, and the importance of being alone.”
Dr. Edens explained that the senior thesis “has become a tradition at UA for a number of reasons. It prepares students well for college, but it is also the culminating piece of writing for students at UA.”
The project is a showcase of the writing skills students have gained over their years at the school, but most of all, it requires and showcases determination, Dr. Edens said.
One thing students tend to struggle with actually comes after the writing process when they are making required revisions. Editing is an important part of any writing project, especially on a big piece of work like a thesis.
“Writing needs to go through a number of stages to be a finished piece, and thorough proofreading and formatting are a significant part of that,” Dr. Edens said.
Another difficult part of writing the senior thesis, according to current senior Keaton Davis, was “trying to format it.”
To future seniors who are going to write this essay in the new few years, be sure to take adequate time to edit a piece once it’s drafted. For formatting, Dr. Edens provides a formatting guide during the writing process that should help in figuring what is and isn’t allowed. It can be referenced throughout the writing and editing stages.
Something that’s often dreaded when it comes to the senior thesis is the presentation aspect. In May, students will be required to present their findings to UA’s college counselor Mr. Joshua Burdette, a University Academy Foundation representative and any UA faculty and administrators who choose to attend the presentations. Students are essentially expected to deliver a summary of the essay in a 12-minute time frame.
Dr. Edens defined these presentations as important because they “give students the opportunity to share their hard work and in-depth knowledge in front of an audience and to work on the skills of communicating effectively verbally and visually.”
Hopefully future seniors of University Academy will take advantage of the thesis endeavor and use it as an opportunity to enhance their writing and presenting skills, especially at a time in life where those two things will be extremely helpful to master since they’re both prominent parts of college coursework.