M.ED. English students' perceived difficulties in writing thesis

Abstract

This research entitled M.Ed. English Students’ Perceived Difficulties in Writing Thesis was an attempt to identify the perceived difficulties of M.Ed. English students in writing thesis. It also aimed to find out the expectations and experiences of the thesis writing students. The researcher adopted mixed method design. The population of the study included all the thesis writing students of Department of English Education T. U., Kirtipur. Altogether forty students were selected using non-random quota sampling for the study. Out of forty, twenty students were selected from thesis writing group (TWG) and other twenty students were selected from thesis completed group (TCG) under the same Department as the sample for the study. In order to achieve these objectives, the researcher used questionnaire and interview as tools. The researcher administered the questionnaire to the selected students and also conducted the interviews with two students each from a group. From the analysis and interpretation of the collected data it has been found that the students expected thesis writing workshop before writing thesis seminar for writing proposal and specific guidance on technical aspects. Similarly, they experienced sleepless night while selecting thesis topic. They searched different topic on internet and consulted their friends. Some of the students had got topics from their supervisor. Likewise, majority of the students (75%) had difficulties in collecting resources. Regarding the difficulties, they faced the problems of resources and technical skills to search literature in internet. The present study consists of five chapters. The first chapter is introduction which deals with background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, delimitations of the study and operational definitions of the key terms. Chapter two is review of related literature and conceptual framework. This chapter consists of review of related literature, review of related empirical literature, implications of the review for the study and conceptual framework. Chapter three is about methods and procedures of the study. It consist design of the study, population, sample and sampling strategy, research tools, sources of data, data collection procedures, data analysis and interpretation procedures and ethical consideration. Similarly, in chapter four, analysis and interpretation of data have been presented. The analysis was done in terms of two different perspectives viz. interview with students and questionnaire provided to them. And chapter five includes findings, conclusion, and recommendations. References and appendices are also included at the end of this work to make it more valid.