How to make a good thesis guidance?

As a lecturer in one of the best private universities in Jakarta, Indonesia, I was assigned to do various things to help my student, not only in classes but also in other research activities. One of the most important tasks for a student is to do their thesis project. Thus, a selected lecturer needs to help to guide them to learn how to write a good research paper and also to defend it at the end of their journey as a student in a thesis defense.

Based on my experience as a former student and also my current observation, to make it easier and more effective for both students and their supervisors, several methods and steps need to be done.

Initial Steps:

1. Choosing a topic (think about what interests the person who writes the thesis);
2. Nail down the thesis idea/narrow down the topic/define the exact boundaries of the work. The broader your subject is, the more inexact and general the result will be;
3. Conduct a research (Complete a literature review);
4. Create a timetable;
5. Create a checklist;
6. Make a thesis framework.?

Afterward, during their research activities, they could do additional preparation consecutively while preparing themselves prior meeting their supervisor by doing the following:

1. Create weekly/monthly report;
2. Send your report and draft by email to be reviewed;
3. Schedule a thesis review and guidance session;
4. Revise your thesis;
5. Include additional sources and references;
6. Check your grammar.

To ensure that their study will be beneficial, impactful and fundamentally correct, a thesis checklist could be provided, as follows:

A. The research problem to be studied

1. What is the nature and scope of the problem?
2. Why is it problematic?
3. What is its signi?cance?
4. To whom is it signi?cant, and why?
5. Why is it appropriate to study this topic at this time?
6. What academic research has been undertaken?in this area so far?
7. Which authors and what models have been most in?uential in this area, and why?
8. What's the novelty in your research"/what makes your research different from the previous ones

B. De?nition of research aims

1. What are the general and speci?c aims of the intended research?
2. How will these aims contribute to understanding?
3. What access does the student have to substantial academic literature?
4. What access does the student have to data relevant to his or her study?

However, students are usually have problems on several matters, such as:

1. Time management. Could be solved by giving them the task to make a timetable
2. Weekly report. Could be solved by giving them a routine deadline and reminder in order to help the supervisor track progress and changes to minimize risk of irrelevant sources
3. Clear view of a good thesis. Could be solved by giving them the task to search for similar thesis and journals

Guidance could be done online to create a more flexible scheduling due to distance problems, traffic jams, etc., both by WhatsApp and Zoom. However, in some cases, students also ask for an offline session as well, since it helps them to understand well during the review and discussion face to face.

Herewith useful links that are usually utilized by my students, that might be helpful for your students or for your studies:

• For research title: https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185911
• For Grammar check: https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check
• For synonyms: https://www.powerthesaurus.org/
• For Planning a study schedule:

1. https://www.stetson.edu/administration/academic-success/media/STUDY%20SCHEDULE.pdf
2. https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic-skills/study-skills/time-management/establishing-a-routine

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