Date post: | 18-Aug-2015 |
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A Thesis Design Experiment– Students need to navigate the difficult
process of creating a thesis statement so
as to write a draft (prototype) of their
essay.
– Students need to design good thesis
statements quickly so as to avoid the
academic and psychological pressures of
a slow writing process.
What is a thesis statement?
A concise summary of an argument that has– Focus– Risk– Detail– Compelling significance
Pitfalls/potholes:– Too broad or vague– Too observational, summative– Too preachy
User testing of last prototype
• Students tried this out first as a
brainstorming worksheet for a new
essay. Students filled out multiple
copies—one for each thesis idea.
• They also used it as a testing
worksheet on an old essay they
needed to revise for their portfolios.
Results
Student feedback
– Roughly 85% said it was useful
– Roughly 10 % = unsure
– Roughly 5 % percent said it was not useful
Teacher feedback
– 100% effective. All theses improved after using this tool.
Going forward
– New design that has them try multiple versions of a thesis
statement (larger center box)
– Digitize the tool
– Form a DTH student and teacher interest group at Nueva and
beyond to share ideas and prototypes. Email me at