Writing a seminar paper, bachelor's or master's thesis can be quite challenging. Students of the humanities and social sciences can find support in the "Writing support for term papers and theses" programme run by doctoral students.
Narrowing down topics, selecting methods, researching literature, structuring content - anyone writing a seminar paper or thesis has to answer many questions and make decisions. Keeping an overview is sometimes not so easy.
In order to give students the opportunity to talk to someone with writing experience about any hurdles, problems and questions relating to academic writing in a relaxed setting, the "Writing support for term papers and theses" has been available for a year now. The idea of the initiators Rea Kodalle, Anke Görres and Dr Maxi Berger: to bring students and doctoral candidates together as a writing tandem. The programme is a co-operation between the Graduate School 3GO and the learning workshop of the Central Study and Career Counselling Office (ZSKB). It is aimed at students in the humanities and social sciences and is funded by study quality funds.
Frequent misconceptions about the writing process
Alexander Max Bauer has been part of a writing tandem since autumn 2018. The former student of politics, economics and philosophy has been working on his doctorate since April 2017 "I know enough obstacles and stumbling blocks from my own writing projects that I fell into. As a tutor and lecturer, I was also able to gain an impression of where common deficits and problems lie," says Bauer, describing his motivation. In his experience, one of the most serious misunderstandings is a misconception of the writing process. He believes it is important to make students aware that writing itself is only one part of the work and that careful preparatory work and subsequent revision are just as important.
However, he puts his own ideas of an ideal writing process on the back burner when it comes to counselling: "A writing process is highly individual. That's why it doesn't help anyone if you pass on your experiences from above." Rather, the students should find the right track themselves by asking specific questions of the respective tandem partner and recognise options as to how they can make progress with their work. "The problem-solving expertise actually lies with the students themselves, not with us," says Bauer. Helping them to help themselves is the credo.
Bauer's tandem partner Janina Schmid* is currently writing her Master's thesis in the subject of social sciences. Her supervisor gave her the tip to apply for the writing support programme. "I was quite overwhelmed by the scope of the thesis at the beginning. It would have worked somehow - it did with seminar papers and the Bachelor's thesis. But I'm glad that I now have the opportunity to talk about my concerns and problems with the work in a relaxed setting," she says. The supervisor's feedback is positive: "After the first few weeks, you can see the progress, for example in the outline.
Doctoral students develop counselling skills
Twelve hours are available to each tandem for joint meetings - based on a specific project and a period of six months. In order to gain an impression of the students' wishes and expectations in advance, they must apply for the programme with a letter of motivation of no more than one page. The doctoral students receive a fee for their work.
The project is also a great opportunity for them to reflect on their own writing process and acquire counselling skills - not just for the university context. The programme provides participants with regular workshops and coaching sessions in which Lernwerkstatt staff and a professional coach teach them writing and counselling techniques. "It's also a process in which we learn a lot," says Bauer.
Students who would like to take part in the writing support programme in the summer semester can find more information on the 3GO website. The places for doctoral students are currently all taken.
*Name changed by the editors
