During the country's fight against COVID-19, Shandong Theological Seminary is following the education regulation of "suspending classes without stopping schooling" by having classes on line.
In order to further improve the quality of students' graduation thesis writing, the seminary organized an online "Graduation Thesis Writing Guidance Symposium" on March 13, 2020, according to the seminary.
Rev. Gao Ming, Chairman of the Shandong Provincial Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, presided over the symposium and shared that Shandong Theological Seminary had been working hard to improve its management and academic standards. He referenced two teachers who had gone out for further studies, obtained doctorate degrees and returned to the seminary to teach.
According to the conference agenda, Rev. Wang Mengkun gave an initial speech on "thesis selection". Rev. Wang talked about his subject with three points: "recognizing the importance of choosing a topic", "choosing a topic" and "how to select a topic". He pointed out that students should treat the selection of a thesis topic carefully. The topic needs to have significance and give guidance for the development of the church. Topics should also reflect the students field of study and their own interests and abilities. Rev. Wang also encouraged students to read and think more, to be efficient in their completion of a thesis of high quality, all under the guidance of their mentor.
Rev. He Aixia, who had just obtained a PhD from Lutheran Theological Seminary of Hong Kong, gave a lecture on "Thesis Writing Methods". Based on his own experience in writing a doctoral dissertation, Rev. She introduced various writing methods. These included focusing on spiritual practices, the use of resources and interaction between students and teachers.
Mr. Shi Jilong, who is director of library services, used PPT presentations to show how to make better use of the library resources. He introduced a large number of high-quality online journals and e-book resource websites, and talked about how to classify and organize resources, as well as the property style of adding footnotes to a thesis.
Finally, Rev. Li Hongyu thanked the three teachers for sharing. He pointed out that this seminar could help the students improve their thesis writing skills. Rev. Li emphasized that writing a graduation thesis is an examination that tests the comprehensive ability of students. It requires not only hard work, but also a positive attitude and a rigorous style of study. Working on a thesis is preparation and training for further service and work in the church. Rev. Li required students to consider the value and significance of the essay when writing, and use what they have learned and their own thinking to solve practical problems in the church.
More than 90 persons, including faculty and upper-class students took part in the online meeting.
-Translated by Lin Changfeng
