Theses aren’t beneficial for students who aren’t interested in research

C/O Ousa Chea on Unsplash

With the winter term wrapping up, many students in their final year are also wrapping up their thesis projects. Thesis projects are multi-unit courses that can range from six units to as large as 15 units. It’s a large research project that many students spend several hours on throughout their final year.

While not all programs are required to do a thesis project, some programs do require one, including health sciences, integrated science and arts and science. However, a year-long thesis is a big undertaking for most students. Although thesis projects have faculty supervisors, most of the research you done independently.

While not all programs are required to do a thesis project, some programs do require one, including health sciences, integrated science and arts and science. However, a year-long thesis is a big undertaking for most students.

For example, I’m doing a thesis this year. As part of my project, I’m doing a literature review, which involves looking at academic articles on my topics and analyzing current methods, findings and theories in the existing literature. Most of my work involves sitting at a computer, looking at articles by myself. I do have a meeting with my supervisor every week, but even that is mostly self-conducted: I ask my supervisor questions regarding my thesis and outline what I’ve done so far.

I enjoy my thesis topic and I think what I’m doing is important. Yet, even I run into issues and struggle with completing my thesis. I’m sure it’s even more difficult for those that don’t enjoy doing a thesis project. Thus, doing a thesis should be something that is optional for students to partake in.

For one, not everyone wants to pursue research in the future. A thesis can be very valuable when it comes to developing your research skills, but not everyone is interested in doing research after their final year. Some students who finish their undergraduate degree go directly into the workforce, some students complete further studies but opt for a course-based graduate or professional program and some students just simply don’t like research.

If you don’t like research, it can be hard to write a research-based thesis. Even if you do like research, thesis projects typically require you to come up with a new spin on an idea or a theory and not everyone has the capacity to do that. You may like researching topics, but only things that already exist in the literature, such as researching for a project or presentation in a molecular mechanism.

If you don’t like research, it can be hard to write a research-based thesis. Even if you do like research, thesis projects typically require you to come up with a new spin on an idea or a theory and not everyone has the capacity to do that.

Furthermore, some students gain more from doing course-based work. Maybe taking a presentation-based course, an inquiry course or a lecture-based course is something that is really up their alley. Since we’re paying for our education, shouldn’t we have a say on how we want to learn? Having requirements for certain courses makes sense because, at the end of the day, we’re getting a degree in a specific field.

However, we should have the option to choose the way we learn our required content. If we need to learn about molecular biology, we should have the option to do a thesis, but also have the option to do a project, paper or presentation on it instead.

The need for optional thesis projects is further exacerbated by this year being online. Many students are facing burnout. As we hit the one-year anniversary of the pandemic, it’s important to acknowledge the higher levels of stress that students may be experiencing as well as the decreased motivation that has afflicted us by storm.

Being motivated enough to do self-directed research on top of the pandemic can be incredibly difficult; thus, it is important to consider making thesis courses optional — and especially so this year.

By making thesis projects optional, students will have the opportunity to choose whether a thesis is the best choice for their learning. Some degrees, such as programs under the department of health, aging and society as well as the English and cultural studies program already have optional theses. If optional thesis projects are doable in these programs, they should be doable for every other program, too.

By: Esther Liu, Contributor

Photo C/O Tiffany Tse

The Silhouette: When did you get into piano? 

Tiffany Tse: I started when I was five years old. It wasn't an amazing story, it was just my mom. One day she asked me if I'm interested in playing the piano. I said “yeah” and I didn't really know what I was doing, I just wanted to say yes to things. It's actually a pretty interesting story because I stuck with the same teacher the whole time. Even now, once in a while I go to visit the teacher that I've known since I was five years old.

I was just incredibly lucky to be able to be with this teacher. They're a couple — husband and wife. They've just been very, very good teachers . . . Then, I think they threw me in to compete when I was six. That's when I started performing. As a kid, I didn't really know what I was doing, but I did like it and that's how I grew up loving the stage and loving the idea of sharing this music that I'm making with other people.

What inspired you to create your Instagram account

I think my first post was in 2014. I just decided one day, why not upload something? But then, when I got to university (I started my first year in 2016), because I was in engineering I actually didn't have time to play anymore. I was accepted to [the University of Toronto]'s piano performance program and they gave me a full ride but I was like "Oh, what am I gonna do with a music degree?" so I ended up choosing engineering.

I had a huge regret, almost, because I didn't get to do what I love to do and when you don't practice, your skills fully go away. So that's what I found during my university years: I was so focused on school and engineering that I kind of forgot about this thing that was really important to me. It got to a point where I would have so much regret that if I saw a piano in public I would almost want to run away from it because I was so scared of hearing myself play or if someone told me to play something and I sound terrible because I haven't been practicing. Eventually, I forgot about how much I loved it so I deactivated my account . . . around 2017 because I didn't want to look at it anymore, I just wanna move on with life.

C/O Tiffany Tse

And then quarantine happened and one of my friends has an account similar to this where she posts her practice and her music and she posted consistently. I saw how much she was improving and it was really inspiring. I was like: "Wow, she's gotten really good over the past few years since I last heard her play." And so it's quarantine, I'm really bored, maybe this is something I should pick up. So I reactivated my account and that's how I started.

I started again around late June of 2020 and I just became obsessed again. I basically worked through all the skills I lost and I just sat and listened to myself sound really bad in the beginning and then picked up new pieces to learn and then just went at it. I started practicing five hours a day because I just loved it so much. It was almost like rediscovering a lost part of myself. Now, I've kind of fixed the whole regret thing. I don't hold those regrets in my heart anymore because I got to do this while doing school. Right now I'm in my final year and I am balancing these two things and I plan on continuing to balance this side of me along with my career moving forward.

I basically worked through all the skills I lost and I just sat and listened to myself sound really bad in the beginning and then picked up new pieces to learn and then just went at it. I started practicing five hours a day because I just loved it so much. It was almost like rediscovering a lost part of myself. Now, I've kind of fixed the whole regret thing.

What encourages you to keep running your account?

Definitely the community of people there. I've met a lot of friends, they're pianists as well, and because I play classical music, I find that it's really hard to find people who love it nowadays. It's rare, but it's something I'm really passionate about. So being able to have this platform and meet other classical pianists and being able to talk about this was so good for me. I haven't been able to just fan-girl about classical music in a long time.

Also, when I was competing in person as a kid, there was always a lot of competition between people. That's also one reason why I didn't go into music — I just didn't like the way people were fighting. Because not everyone "makes it" in music, right? It's very hard to truly "make it" as a performer, so there's a lot of competition between people, there's a lot of rumours and gossip. With this Instagram community, I can freely talk about myself and the pieces I want to play and the music without having to worry about someone spreading rumours or something. So it's a community where you can be yourself and be open.

With a growing following, I just didn't know so many people were still into classical music. I want to go back into performing in person but, because I haven't done it in about five years, I would need to build up that confidence again, so having this platform is really good. I'm not only posting videos, but I've done Instagram lives before where I just played through my piece and it's really good practice for me to be able to eventually make it back into the stage. 

C/O Tiffany Tse

Are you still taking lessons then? 

Not formally . . . I just learn the piece myself and polish it to the best of my ability and bring it to him. I find that because I've grown so much since I was a kid and last taking lessons seriously, I really like coming up with my own interpretation and knowing the music by myself first and then going to him and then he can pick out some details and what I should fix. That to me is better because I don't really need him to sit me down and read with me anymore so it's more time-effective that way. Honestly, he's the sweetest thing ever. He doesn't charge me, he won't tell me how much he charges. Last time, I wanted to pay for the lesson because he spends two hours with me every time. He just opened his arms and told me to come here, gave me a hug and told me that I paid. I guess that's one of the things about sticking with the same teacher for so long — they're like my second parents. They watched me grow up since I was five and now I'm 22.

Do you have any songs that you really enjoy playing?

I think anything by [Frédéric] Chopin is so near and dear to me. The interesting thing about classical is that there are no lyrics. So people will listen to a song and will really relate to the song because of the lyrics. For some reason, Chopin's pieces, even without lyrics, I resonate so much with it. There's just something about it. I think it's because Chopin really missed his homeland. So in his music, there's sometimes a nostalgic feeling and it kind of reminds me of some great old memories. Even when you're completely heartbroken, there's going to be something for it.

It's also cool because I haven't played in five years. I came back to it and, because so many things have happened in these five years that I've grown as a person throughout my university career, the music that I play would come out differently because of the experiences I've had. The technical stuff is trainable but then I feel that all the emotions and maturity come with time.

What is your favourite part of competitions and being on the stage? 

When I can communicate with the audience without saying anything. When you're playing a note and you take a pause and everyone is silent. It's almost like everyone is anticipating the next part with you. I think that's really cool. And there's obviously nerves when you're performing. Being in front of people, there are always worries about “what if I mess up?” or “what if I forget?” I think that these are fears that every musician and every performer has. So my heart's always racing before but then once I sit down at the piano and start playing, I find that the racing heartbeat goes away. It just becomes me and the instrument.

Mac and Weeneebayko Area Health Authority work to increase access to eye care for children in Indigenous communities 

Indigenous health issues are rampant in Canada, finding their roots deeply embedded within systemic racism and the colonial history of our country. From inequitable access to primary and preventative care services to instances of racism in the hospital room, Indigenous communities have long faced detrimental inequities in Canada’s healthcare system.

Among these many issues is the reduced access to eye health and vision care within many Indigenous communities, especially ones that are removed from urban centres. This problem has not received adequate attention from Canadian authorities, resulting in a lack of action to address it.

To address this inequity in Northern Ontario, McMaster University has partnered with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority to create the Indigenous Children Eye Examination. The partnership aims to provide immediate access to vision screenings and eye examinations for children and youth aged between six months and 18 years. The ultimate goal of the project is to ensure sustainable access to eye examinations and eye health services. 

The project is being led by Dr. Kourosh Sabri, associate professor of surgery at McMaster and a pediatric ophthalmologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital. The project also involves many others at McMaster, including McMaster computer department graduates who helped design the initiative.

Currently, the partnership between McMaster and WAHA is making childhood eye health services accessible to seven communities along the James and Hudson Bays, including Attawapiskat First Nation, Kashechewan First Nation and Moose Cree First Nation in Moose Factory.

ICEE would not have been possible without the support from Indigenous communities and leaders from the seven communities involved along the James and Hudson Bay areas. Indigenous leadership and initiative have been a key aspect and pillar of this project.

The first eye clinic was held in Moose Factory in June 2020. The program has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing remote tests that are performed virtually via telemedicine. McMaster and WAHA are also using the opportunity to train local healthcare practitioners along the James and Hudson bays.

“We have committed to developing a program where we train local nurses, local healthcare workers in how to carry out a vision screening test,” explained Sabri.

Better access to eye examination and vision care services for children in Northern Ontario will benefit the health of those in these Indigenous communities in many, far-reaching ways. Many children in these communities have never before had an eye exam in their life, which makes this project a much-needed relief.

However, in addition to improving the vision of these children, the partnership will also allow screening of undiagnosed eye diseases, allowing healthcare practitioners to preemptively treat any conditions they may find.

“So the benefit is that you can start screening lots and lots of children for undiagnosed disease which if it goes undiagnosed for much longer, it can lead to chronic irreversible vision loss,” said Sabri.

The hope for the project is that it can be used in the future to mitigate the more widespread effects of systemic racism and/or lack of healthcare access across Indigenous communities in Canada. By using evidence gained from the ICEE project, those involved with the partnership hope to apply similar methods of care delivery in different areas of healthcare to other communities in need.

“My hope is that the model that we're developing with ICEE — after a year or two or more of this project — we will be able to show a large body of evidence of how you can develop a sustainable healthcare model for at least eye care for the children, which can be then transplanted . . . in other parts of the country,” explained Sabri. 

“My hope is that the model that we're developing with ICEE — after a year or two or more of this project — we will be able to show a large body of evidence of how you can develop a sustainable healthcare model for at least eye care for the children, which can be then transplanted . . . in other parts of the country,” explained Sabri. 

The benefits of this project experienced by the Indigenous communities and families in the James and Hudson Bay areas are important to note. The ICEE project has allowed their experience of eye care to change completely for the better.

Dr. Elaine Innes and her family are of the Moose Cree First Nation from Moose Factory. Innes is a family physician, and has witnessed, experienced and enjoyed the benefits of this project.

“This project has been a great benefit for our communities along the James Bay. Currently, we do not have access to vision care within our communities and must travel south. For our most remote community, it would mean at least three and a half hours by plane to Timmins to access any optometry services, for ophthalmology then the travel would go as far as Kingston, Ontario,” said Innes.

LABS is working to improve virtual safety measures and support fellow future Black lawyers

C/O The Silhouette Photo Archives

The Law Aspiring Black Students group at McMaster University is creating space for Black and other racialized students to learn about the legal profession, find mentorships and grow their networks. LABS is an McMaster Students Union club and an affiliate of the University of Toronto’s Black Future Lawyers program.

Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, LABS has hosted a range of events and have seen increased interest and enthusiasm within their organization.

The LABS presidential team is composed of three fourth-year justice, politics, philosophy and law students. Brianna Fable-Watson and Elizabeth Oyegunle are the club’s co-presidents and Nicole Anozie is the vice-president. 

LABS Presidents (left to right): co-president Brianna Fable-Watson, co-president Elizabeth Oyegunle & vice-president Nicole Anozie. C/O Brianna Fable-Watson

“[LABS] was intended to be a space where People of Colour, Black-focused but not Black-exclusive, but People of Colour on the spectrum could find a community and establish some kind of space where they could really talk about their experiences, one in which we felt was necessary, especially in the field of law,” said Oyegunle.

“[LABS] was intended to be a space where People of Colour, Black-focused but not Black-exclusive, but People of Colour on the spectrum could find a community and establish some kind of space where they could really talk about their experiences, one in which we felt was necessary, especially in the field of law,” said Oyegunle.

Fable-Watson explained that she and the other presidents are three of five Black students in their majority white class cohort. 

“That’s very minute in comparison to the amount of white counterparts that we have in our classes and so we all found each other and realized that we all had the same struggles and issues. It’s this constant feeling of being out of the loop that we wanted to change for incoming Black students and minority students,” Fable-Watson said. 

LABS has changed that feeling and has seen increased interest and engagement with their programming throughout the year.

“This is an initiative that people want to be seeing because it's catering to their needs, at least right now,” said Anozie.

This is an initiative that people want to be seeing because it's catering to their needs, at least right now,” said Anozie.

Throughout the year they have seen increased interest and engagement with their programming.

“Not a lot of people knew what LABS was, who we were [last year] and I feel like this year we’re really making our footprints in the McMaster community,” said Fable-Watson.

In November 2020, the club hosted LABS Chat on Zoom to discuss racialized students’ experiences with the pandemic, the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter movement, diversity in the workplace and more.

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A post shared by Law Aspiring Black Students (@labs.mcmaster)

The event was intended to be a safe space for students to share, to be introduced to the club and for LABS to share plans for the school year. However, in the midst of introductions, multiple participants began saying and typing racial slurs and sexual profanities. One participant changed their Zoom name to Brianna Fable-Watson and used a mirror effect so that there were two screens of her in the call.

The perpetrators of this attack on the event added and re-added each other but the LABS team was ultimately able to remove each of them. In the process, a genuine attendee was accidentally removed and denied access from the event. Another attendee felt too uncomfortable and took a step back, though they did rejoin. 

The event continued and according to the executives, they were not going to let the attack affect the rest of the meeting.

“Honestly, I think it added to the chat because it just made it more apparent [that] that's why we need events like this because things like this happen all the time,” said Fable-Watson. 

Fable-Watson, whose computer appeared to be hacked, reached out to the Hamilton Police Services about the incident but was only told to have her computer checked out.

“You would hope that something can be done, an investigation can be done, to see who these people are. Even tracing an IP address or something, you have resources at your disposal. It’s a matter of using them,” said Anozie.

“What made it even more concerning and worrisome to me was that it literally could be anybody. It could be somebody that’s in my tutorial or in my lectures and that we'd have no idea,” said Fable-Watson.

The identity of the perpetrators are still unknown as of publication of this article. A lot of students have reached out to share that these hateful ideologies are present at McMaster.

“What made it even more concerning and worrisome to me was that it literally could be anybody. It could be somebody that’s in my tutorial or in my lectures and that we'd have no idea,” said Fable-Watson.

“I was completely distraught cause I was like, if this were to be even more severe or if someone was actually harmed where would I go? Who will actually listen to me because I know that the dean of [students] McMaster would not be listening to me. Who will I be able to actually tell my problems to and would they actually be concerned for me?” said Oyegunle. 

The LABS team is focused on moving forward and ensuring that this does not happen to other students. Oyegunle noted how McMaster’s Equity and Inclusion Office has resources but that a lot of students are unaware of them.

“We really want to use our platform now to really allow people to know about and really learn about [these resources],” said Oyegunle.

“We really want to use our platform now to really allow people to know about and really learn about [these resources],” said Oyegunle.

“I feel like now moving forward it’s a matter of assessing and seeing what can we put into place to ensure that security measures are there so that things like this don't happen,” said Anozie. 

The team described the attack as a learning opportunity to implement increased measures and to continue to create safe spaces for racialized students to network and build community.

“We are still going to move forward. We're still going to be here and it's not going to stop us. It's not going to deter us from holding future events,” said Anozie. 

“We are still going to move forward. We're still going to be here and it's not going to stop us. It's not going to deter us from holding future events,” said Anozie. 

“As students of colour, especially Black people and Black women in general, we face so much more hardship and barriers in our lives that something as simple as a zoom infiltration, obviously it’s horrible, but that’s literally not going to stop us. The whole point of LABS is that we’re so focused on success that it doesn’t matter what you do. We’re all here for each other. We’re all united,” said Fable-Watson.

The whole point of LABS is that we’re so focused on success that it doesn’t matter what you do. We’re all here for each other. We’re all united,” said Fable-Watson.

Since then the LABS team has worked with Tolulope Ojo, from inclusion and anti-racism programming in the EIO and Faith Ogunkoya, a student services team lead, to learn more about navigating Zoom safely and to share these resources with other clubs on campus. LABS has successfully implemented these measures in other events, such as a career panel in January 2021.

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