Timeline for Planning, Completing, and Presenting Honors Theses
- Begin focusing on a topic for your capstone. Think interdisciplinary.
- If you are an education major or a music education major, you will most likely use student teaching as your capstone. Work with the BHP director and an education supervisor to make plans for what additional work you must do to turn your student teaching experience into a project that qualifies as a BHP capstone.
- Non-education majors should plan to talk to appropriate faculty members who might serve as project advisor(s) for their capstones. You will need to get a commitment from them during the course registration period before the semester in which you do your project. For Non-science majors, this means March of your junior year for projects that will be done in fall of senior year; October of senior year for projects that will be done in the spring of senior year. For Science majors, you may begin capstone projects in your junior year but should not start them any later than fall of your seniors year. Sooner is always better in terms of planning this project! For most students, planning to do most of the work for the capstone in the fall of senior year is better because it allows for a cushion in case the project is not completed in the course of one semester.
- You will need to obtain formal faculty approval and sponsorship for your project so that you can register for either BHP 499 Baccalaureate Honors Thesis (usually for interdisciplinary projects that may not "fit" into any particular Department) OR the equivalent Independent Study course in your department (e.g., XXX 490, POL 450, HIS 460, ENV 480...see the appropriate department chair if you have questions about which course in your major or minor serves as an independent study). Please note: Theses written for Departmental capstones (e.g., XXX 490), if evaluated as satisfactory by the faculty advisor, can also be counted as BHP theses. Please also note: In most cases, senior seminar classes in departments do NOT count as BHP theses (with some exceptions, such as POL and HIS...again, talk to your department's chair if you're not sure.)
- You will need specific forms to register for Independent studies (e.g., XXX 490) or BHP 499. The necessary permission forms are available on the Registrar's Forms page (Click on "Independent Research and Creative Expression Form"). Once your proposal is COMPLETED (see "Planning Part II" below) and APPROVED by your mentor, the department chair (if applicable), and the honors director, you will submit the proposal along with the above-mentioned form (with all its requisite signatures) to the Dean's office. Note: You will not see your capstone "course" registered on your schedule or transcript until the proposal process is completed.
- Even if you do not plan to register for BHP 499 or Departmental equivalent until spring of senior year, you should still begin planning your thesis and securing an advisor by the end of your junior year. Students must either have the advisor e-mail the Honors Director to confirm their willingness to mentor the capstone, or should forward an e-mail sent by the advisor to the student confirming this. THIS E-MAIL MUST BE SENT TO THE HONORS DIRECTOR BY THE END OF THE LAST WEEK OF CLASSES THE SEMESTER BEFORE THE CAPSTONE WILL BE COMPLETED.
Summer Before Senior Year (for fall projects) or Winter Break of Senior Year (for spring projects)
- Begin work on your project.
- Draft a formal proposal. Proposals are due AT THE LATEST by the end of the week before classes begin for the semester in which the capstone is to be completed. You cannot be officially registered for your capstone until your proposal is submitted and approved by your advisor, the Department chair (if applicable), the BHP director, and the Dean
- Education and music education majors: If you plan to use student teaching (EDU 465/ ME 492) as your honors capstone, please scroll down for a specialized list of requirements for your capstone proposals. You may also refer to the Tips for BHP students webpage for more information.
- For majors other than education or music-education: Proposals for all BHP capstones other than EDU 465 or ME 492 MUST include ALL of the following (ideally using the headings below):
- Working Title (it’s okay if this changes before the final paper is submitted)
- Planning outline for the different sections of the project (For some projects, this will include a full literature review, followed by a short description of the current project. For others, an outline will suffice; but make sure that the outline is detailed enough to present a clear picture of the motivation for the project as well as what the project will entail.)
NOTE: This section should include a clear statement of purpose with a hypothesis if applicable. - Timeline for completion of stages (including frequent meetings with advisor for review and feedback). Indicate what you will complete during each month (or each couple of weeks) for the duration of the semester.
- Preliminary bibliography/ references list in a formal citation format appropriate to your discipline. It is expected that BHP capstone projects will ultimately include a minimum of 8-12 academic sources. While you do not need a full and finalized list of all your sources for the proposal, you should indicate on your proposal how many more sources you intend to find if your proposal’s bibliography is not yet complete. (Note: A range is fine, e.g., “For the final paper, I intend to include 5-7 additional academic sources besides what is listed here.”)
- Project Evaluation: Talk with your capstone advisor and come up with a break-down of how you will be graded on your project. You must type this up and include it as part of your proposal. A sample is as follows:
- Project Evaluation: The grade for this capstone experience will be based on this research proposal (approximately 15%), my attendance to meetings with my advisor (10%), my efforts in the preparation, design, and execution of a scientifically sound research study (30%), my work on data entry and analysis (20%), and my final paper (25%).
- Context and significance: In 1-2 paragraphs, explain the meaning and importance of your research question in ways that would make sense to non-specialists. Why should we care about what you’re doing? In what ways is this project important? How will it help parents/ teachers/ students/ policy makers/ government officials/ medical workers, etc.?
- Justification: Answer all 3 of the following in this section:
- In what way is your proposed topic or project significant to you personally?
- How does your research/creative plan represent an extension of your work in Honors and in general at Rider? In this section, be sure to address which skills you have gained in both your BHP classes and in the classes for your major/ minor that will help you to complete this project. Also, be sure to discuss how/ why your project is interdisciplinary, which is the core of the BHP.
- How do you expect this project to contribute to your own development, and to prepare you for your future endeavors?
- Most Departmental Independent Study proposals will include all the pieces you need for BHP as noted above, but the “Justification” and/ or "Context and Significance" piece(s) may be unique to your BHP proposal. Therefore, please make sure you add both of these sections before submitting them for BHP approval.
- If your project is a research paper, plan on a length that would be appropriate for publication as an article in a good journal in your field. Requirements differ by discipline, and can range from 12-30 double-spaced pages. Consult your advisor for models you might use as guides.
- If your project is primarily artistic (e.g., a series of poems or short stories, a novel, or a play script; a choreographed or musical performance), the length will be partly determined by genre and artistic convention. Work with your advisor on determining what is appropriate in your case. Artistic projects must also include a short “context and significance” paper (5-8 pages) that locates your creative work within the relevant history and theory of your genre and helps your audience understand the nature of your contribution. This short paper must include references to at least 4-5 academic sources (these may include primary sources or secondary sources; consult with your project advisor about which type of sources make the most sense in your field).
- Finding appropriate references for a project this size can sometimes be a challenge. For expert help, request an individual session with a subject-specialist librarian. To find the librarian best suited to help you in your discipline, visit the library website.
- For education and music education majors: Proposals for EDU 465 or ME 492 to count as a BHP capstone must be approved by the honors director and by an education advisor. For more information on the criteria for these proposals, please contact the honors director directly.
- Do your project! Do not procrastinate!
- Adhere as closely as possible to your timeline for working through the project, being sure to factor in the time your advisor will need to review work in progress and offer feedback that may require substantial further work on some aspects.
- A revised copy should be in your advisor’s hands no later than one week following return from spring break (generally the last week in March).
- The final version should be submitted to your advisor AND to the BHP Director no later than April 15. If you do not adhere to the timeline you and your advisor have agreed to, you risk an inability to complete your project satisfactorily in time for the presentation in May (a requirement for graduation with the BHP diploma).
- Plan a concise oral presentation for the capstone banquet to be held in early May.
- You want to convey to audience members what you did, and why it is interesting and significant. Therefore, the last two weeks in April should be used to plan a 3-4 minute (maximum!) presentation of your project.
- To help you plan your presentation, address each of the following questions in just a few sentences:
- What was your research question or project goal? Please be sure to phrase this in a way that audience members with no background in your field can understand.
- What are the major things that you found/ learned/ discovered?
- Why is this interesting/ important not only to you, but to others?
- If you did a creative project, and IF (and ONLY IF) you can fit it into your 3-4 minute time limit, you may choose to read (or perform, if applicable) a VERY BRIEF excerpt from your creative work.
- If you did a research project, and IF (and ONLY IF) you can fit it into your 3-4 minute time limit, you may choose to present (just a couple!) slides or graphs that depict your outcomes.
- (If you wish) What are your plans for after graduation?
- REHEARSE your presentation to make sure it is 1) coherent in content, 2) engaging in manner (anticipate what your audience would want/ need to know), and 3) properly timed. No more than 3-4 minutes! You will be timed!
- At the time of presentation, submit the final copy of your presentation for the BHP archives housed in Moore Library.