Thesis Writer

Learning to write in academic contexts is a challenging task faced by many students, and no less challenging is the instruction and tutoring of student writers. The most demanding paper students have to write is their thesis, which is equally an important part of their learning program as it is for graduation requirements. This new online support system aids thesis writing through a variety of tools and tutorials, guiding students through the writing process from initial idea to completed thesis. Based on an extended version of the well-established IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) scheme, a flexible structure is provided which fits most academic and scholarly papers. Students are provided with numerous short tutorials which instruct them in choosing a topic and developing a manageable concept for their dissertation project. New tools have been created to facilitate the formulation process by integrating large discipline-specific corpora from which users can derive linguistic support through an integrated open source corpus analysis tool. The system also supports collaborative processes between writers, peers, tutors, and supervisors. The initial version will aid thesis writing in defined degree programs and facilitate communication within these disciplinary communities.