Senior Honors Thesis Information

The Senior Honors Thesis is a requirement for students who are enrolled in the School of Nursing undergraduate honors program. The purpose of the senior honors thesis is to promote students’ learning of the research process in nursing through direct experience. To complete the thesis, students must enroll in two sequential courses: N681 and N682. Each course may be taken for 1 or 2 credits. Students typically enroll in N681 and N682 during their final year of study. However, the only prerequisite for these courses is N302. Letter grades will be assigned to both N681 and N682. At the end of the semester when N681 is completed, a “P” will be assigned. Upon completion of N682, the N681 “P” grade will be converted to the same letter grade assigned to N682.

The design and completion of the thesis will occur with supervision from a faculty mentor. Students select their mentor during the Honors Seminar course, N680. With guidance from their mentor, students will design their thesis while they are taking N302. The thesis can involve many different types of research activities. Students may participate in one or more aspects of the research process such as reviewing literature, designing nursing interventions to be tested, data collection, data analysis and interpretation. Upon completion of N302, students will have completed a description of their thesis (see below) and will attach this description to a N681 form. These documents, the thesis description and N681 form, should be submitted to Academic Programs Office, K6/146, by the end of the semester in which N302 is taken.

Before completing N681, students should submit a N682 form and attach a progress report to the form. The progress report should be prepared with guidance from the mentor and address the questions listed on the N682 form. These documents are due by the end of the semester in which N681 is taken and should be submitted to  Academic Programs Office, K6/146.

A final written report is due by the last class day of the semester in which N682 is taken. Copies of the report must be submitted to the mentor and to Academic Programs office, K6/146. The components of the written report are as follows:

1. One-page abstract describing the research experience; and
2. Detailed paper describing the research experience
1. Problem statement
2. Research questions
3. Methods
4. Activities completed
5. Results, if applicable
6. Conclusions, if applicable.

Letter grades will be assigned to both N681 and N682. At the end of the semester when N681 is completed, a “P” will be assigned. Upon completion of N682, the N681 “P” grade will be converted to the same letter grade assigned to N682.