The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) organized a Thesis Writing Bootcamp for final-year MPhil students from October 30 to November 1, 2024, at the SGS conference room. Each day, sessions ran from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The bootcamp aimed at creating a focused, distraction-free environment where students could advance their thesis work with guidance from experienced resource persons.
The main facilitators were the Vice-Dean, Prof. Irene M. Kretchy, and former Vice-Dean, Prof. Dorcas Osei-Safo. Participants were provided with three 90-minute writing sessions each day and were strongly encouraged to put away their phones during these sessions to concentrate fully on their writing.
On the first afternoon, they watched a recorded presentation by Prof. Heiko Schoenfuss titled ‘Turning Your Writing Into A Publication’. This was followed by a time to continue writing or consult with resource persons. Dr. Caroline Badzi provided support for qualitative analysis, while Dr. Richmond Atta-Ankomah assisted with quantitative analysis
On the second day, Prof. Clement K.I. Appah led a practical session on using EndNote21, a reference management software. The third day was dedicated entirely to focused writing sessions.
Throughout the bootcamp, Prof. Osei-Safo and Prof. Kretchy engaged participants in discussions, offering pieces of advice on optimizing their interactions with supervisors, staying motivated, supporting each other, and ensuring their final thesis submissions remain below the 20% plagiarism threshold required by the University of Ghana.
At the end of the bootcamp, most students indicated that it was an invaluable programme that significantly helped them make good progress on their theses.