Overview of the CCT
Synthesis Project
(addressed to
students)
April 2000, with
revisions November 2000, December 2001, and September 2010
This "Capstone
experience" is an opportunity for you to synthesize your practical and
theoretical learning in Critical and Creative Thinking through a project in an
area of your special interest. There
are many specific options for the Synthesis project, from the development of a
traditional theoretical paper to a curriculum or professional development
series, to the creation of a web site.
One component of each option is a 20-40 page paper or "Synthesis." Through the meetings, activities, and
tasks of the Synthesis seminar the instructor coaches you along towards
completing the "Synthesis" and you get input and support from other
students—both during class and outside in buddy pairs. An arrangement with an editor is also
essential for the experience to be a positive one.
You should spend the summer or winter before
the synthesis semester doing reading and research on your project in
consultation with your advisor and other readers. Once the
semester starts, each CCT694 class meeting will begin with a check-in on your
progress (including work with your buddy and editor), and end with a check-out
on your concrete goals for the coming week. (You should be aiming for 6 pages or 1200-1500 words of new
or revised material each week.) In
between check-in and check-out, you will spend time on the week's theme or
tools , in student-instructor conferences and working with other students in
"buddy" pairs or small groups.
Over the course of the semester you should move though and/or revisit
the "phases of research and engagement" introduced in the CCT692 course. This work may lead you to revise what
you thought was "finished," but openness to revision is one of the
goals of reflective practitioners.
In any case, the review of the different tools and practices of research
and engagement will help prepare you to coach/teach/support students and/or
colleagues.
Outside class you will submit drafts to your
advisor and other reader(s) and meet with them according to
schedules/sub-deadlines that you arrange.
Your advisor should be the primary person with whom you work on
conceptualizing the topic, identifying appropriate scope and approach, and
revising drafts. If the seminar instructor is not your
advisor or reader, they will serve as a second reader. Allow two weeks for comments on what
you submit to the seminar instructor.
Given the teaching and
advising load of faculty, you should not rely on your advisor or reader(s) to
do detailed copy-editing of your writing.
Moreover, a copy-editing relationship between student and teacher
usually gets in the way of dialogue around the content and overall organization
of your synthesis. Assistance
from some outside party, skilled in manuscript-editing, should be
arranged—it is worth the cost.
Requirements
1. The final Synthesis should be 20-40
pages (4500-9000 words), depending on the option selected, and ready for
submission to the CCT Program following Graduate School Guidelines,
adjusted according to CCT Synthesis Guidelines, M. Liblanc's Structural
Standards (revised version, November 2000), and supplements distributed
from time to time.
Options for the Synthesis
Project include:
Long
essay/paper;
Case
Study/Practitioner's Narratives;
Curriculum
Unit/ Professional Development Workshop Series;
Original
Products (with documentation); and
Arts
Option (Performance) (also with documentation).
See the Graduate Bulletin
and CCT Handbook for further description of these options. Theses from previous years can be
viewed in the Healey Library and theses and syntheses are stored in Peter
Taylor's Office. Abstracts can be
viewed on CCT website (omega.cc.umb.edu/~cct/abstracts-TOC.html).
As part of your Synthesis
Project, the following are required:
1A. An
Abstract of your synthesis, submitted in electronic form for inclusion on the
CCT website and publication by the University. (You may also submit your complete synthesis in electronic
form to be linked to the abstract on the website); and
1B. A
30-60 minute Public Presentation based on your synthesis project; and
In addition, the Program
requires:
2. A Self-Assessment, which centers on
your Synthesis experience, but allows some room for you to review your CCT
experience as a whole. A copy will
be kept in your CCT file to help document the Program's effect on students.
This self-assessment asks
you to reflect on twenty goals.
After completing the self-assessment you will be able, with modest input
from readers and course instructor, to determine your own grade.
------------------
Guidelines for
Advisors and Readers
April 2000, with
revisions November 2000, December 2001, and September 2010
Except when a special
arrangement is approved, the primary advisor will be a regular CCT faculty
member. The reader(s) may be
anyone experienced in the student's area of specialisation and, in general,
possessing a Master's degree or higher.
The synthesis seminar instructor is often either the student's advisor
or one reader.
The responsibility of the
advisor is to be the primary
person with whom the student works on conceptualizing the topic, identifying
appropriate scope and approach, and revising drafts. If the advisor does not have expertise in the student's
subject area, it is the student's responsibility to get the necessary
specialist input from a reader and others.
The advisor should be
aware of the technical requirements of submitting a Synthesis to the CCT
Program, but the student should also consult with the Synthesis seminar
instructor and use the seminar to fulfill the requirements. During the last three weeks of the
semester finishing synthesis students will make presentations on their work,
which the advisor should attend.
There is no formal defence of the syntheses.
The responsibility of a reader
is to convey to the student
before the second week of the semester (preferably earlier) the areas and
material that should be addressed, to comment on a complete draft, and to
review and comment on changes made between that draft and the final draft. If the reader specializes in the area
of the student's project, their comments may stem primarily from their special
knowledge or experience.
Otherwise, readers should simply think of themselves as intelligent
people who want the student's distinctive ideas and accomplishments to emerge
as powerfully as possible from the written Synthesis. The reader does not have to focus on the technical
requirements of submitting a Synthesis to the CCT Program; for this, the
student, advisor, and the instructor for the Synthesis seminar are
responsible. During early May or
December each synthesis student will make a presentation on their work, which
the reader should attend. There is
no formal defence of the syntheses.
The Synthesis seminar instructor is responsible for working with the students to
fulfill requirements 1B & 2 (see the Overview).
Subject to approval by
the Department, the CCT Program is able to offer a honorarium of $200 for
advisors and $100 for readers who are not regular UMass faculty. We recognize the extremely modest size
of these honoraria, but we trust the experience will be rewarding in other
ways.
A copy of the syllabus
and the self-assessment will be sent to all readers. Advisors will also receive a copy of the CCT Synthesis
Guidelines and supplements distributed from time to time.
Please contact the CCT
Faculty Advisor if you have questions.
Peter Taylor
Program in Critical &
Creative Thinking
University of
Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125, USA
phone: 617-287-7636
(office); 7664 (fax)
email: peter.taylor@umb.edu