Tentative Outline

Writing Effective Course Assignments

Non-degree and undergraduate students are both inexperienced essay writers who need close guidance to become effective writers. One of the puzzles which they encounter at the college and university after reporting for studies is the course assignments offered to them by their lecturers, which demand them to be critical thinkers and argumentative essay writers. In most colleges and universities, lecturers provide to students broad questions to answer in the form of essays, either in group or individual assignments. How should they turn the broad assignment questions provided to them by their lecturers into specific researchable topics for essays? How should they handle literature in order to obtain valuable information to answer the provided question? How should they construct an informed and convincing argument using the collected information as evidence? This book concerns these and other related questions. With its clear illustrations, the book is designed to be a self-study guide and to offer solutions to many struggling students in colleges and universities. At the same time, the book can be helpful for lecturers to instruct their students how to write effective course assignments in their respective courses.

Writing guide

The Qualitative Dissertation

This guide is for students working on dissertations that are based on qualitative research. The guide attempts to frame the dissertation process as a set of iterative cycles of deliberation which include facing the dissertation, moving into the dissertation, crafting the research proposal, proposing the study, living with the study, entering into public discourse, and adjusting to life after the dissertation. The first section consists of 10 chapters focusing on these cycles. The second section is comprised of five "think pieces," more informal and conversational conceptions (and misconceptions) of deliberation in relation to theoretical perspectives on "discourse." These pieces are titled: "What Do We Mean by Deliberation?""Dissertation Study Groups: Cultivating a Community for Discursive Deliberation"; "Knowledge Claims and the Issue of Legitimacy in Educational Research"; "Tuning In to Discourses on Qualitative Inquiry"; and "Text/Interpretation". Throughout the book, insets provide many case examples. (Contains approximately 250 references.) (DB)