What's the difference between a Thesis and a Project?

The thesis and project differ in many ways. Some of the major differences are discussed below.

What You Do

Thesis: To complete a thesis, a graduate student must conduct a substantial research study that contributes new insight into an important issue or problem in the field of mathematics education.

Project: For a project, a graduate student must complete a meaningful application of the ideas, methods, and practices he or she has gained through coursework. In the past, students have done one of the following three things as projects: a research study that is smaller in scale than a thesis study; a study of one's own instruction (often conceptualized as action research), or the development and testing of a curricular unit. The description of a project is purposely vague, allowing the possibility of other types of activities to count as a project. However, the project also contains a writing element in which the graduate student reports what he or she did for the project.

What You Write

Thesis: The graduate student writes up the research study in the form of a thesis document. (For a description of the contents of the thesis document, see the section about the typical content of a thesis on the home page of this wiki.)

Project: The project also involves creating some type of document that describes the project and its results. If the graduate student conducts a small scale study or engages in action research, then the document he or she will create to describe the study will be similar in structure to the thesis, with the expectation that some parts of the document will not be as thorough or complete as a thesis. If the student engages in any other type of activity, the graduate student negotiates the nature of the reporting document with his or her committee.

How Much Time You Spend

Thesis: You will spend a large portion of the spring and summer terms of your first year in the program preparing and defending your proposal. You will also spend a significant part of your work week during fall, winter, and spring semesters of your second year conducting your study, analyzing data, and writing and defending your thesis. Theses require much more time to complete than projects.

Project: You will also spend a large portion of the spring and summer terms of your first year in the program preparing and defending your project proposal. However, once this is complete, actually conducting the project, writing your report, and defending it require significantly less time than the thesis.

What Courses You Take

Thesis: Six hours of MthEd 699R.

Project: Three hours of MthEd 698R, plus one more 3 credit hour elective course from the list of approved courses.

Advantages

Thesis: An in depth internship in conducting and reporting research, particularly useful if you plan on pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics education.

Project: The opportunity to tailor the capstone experience to meet your own individual needs and goals. Also, projects typically take less time to complete, and thus usually lead to timely graduation.

Some Things to Keep in Mind

Downsizing: Some students in the past initially chose to do a thesis, but later scaled back on their research study and did a project instead. This is often a good course of action when you start to get far behind on the deadlines you must keep to graduate on time. On the other hand, no graduate student has yet up-sized a project into a thesis. While this is theoretically possible, past experience suggests that it may be difficult to do.

Prestige: Theses are often considered to be more prestigious than projects. However, it is unlikely that your future work or study will be significantly affected by your choice of thesis or project. While rumors abound in graduate student circles that you must complete a thesis in order to be considered a strong candidate for doctoral program, this is actually untrue. Satisfactory completion of a project, even if it does not result in a thesis, is often considered sufficient for doctoral studies.

What your choice DOESN'T say about you: Choosing a project does not mean that you are a lazy or inept student. Some of the strongest students who have graduated from the program chose to complete a project because the project format better fit their goals and life situation. Faculty members do not judge students based upon their choice of thesis or project, and neither should anyone else.

You Make the Call

Your decision to do a thesis or a project should be based on your own needs, goals, and interests. Both are good options and equally valued in the department. Talk to others, particularly your advisor and close friends and/or family members, because they can often point out advantages and disadvantages that you have overlooked. In the end, make the decision that allows you to get what you want from the program.