VIVA VOCE
P. M. Dr. Zaleha Aziz
Faculty of Science and Natural
Resources
8 September 2016
Methodology Course
Postgraduate Studies
Semester 1 Session 2016/2017
Link 1
Link 2
A Latin
word
Viva
voce ?
“with
living
voice”
Academically
Oral Defend of a
Thesis
To show your ability in
academic discussion
with other researchers
Viva voce is one method to
evaluate a postgraduate student
Variation in evaluation (viva voce)
of Postgraduate candidates
U.K
Closed Door
Japan , Africa & a
few European
country (Phd)
External and
Internal
Evaluators
Open to Everybody/
Public Defense
Ireland
Same as
Malaysia
Everybody can ask
question but outcome
determined by
committee
Malaysia
Closed Door
Viva voce
committee:
More than 3
people
Australia
& New
Zealand
No Viva
Voce
Viva voce Dutch Style
Viva voce UK Style
Viva voce Universiti Sains Islam
Malaysia
To make sure that
the thesis is the
candidate’s own
work
Candidate have
developed the
skills at the level
of their studies
(Master or PhD)
Purposes
of Viva
voce
In cases where the
candidate does not
meet the criteria for
the award, the viva
voce session is trying
to determine why/the
possible reason
Candidate understood
his/her research
and understood the
relationship with
wider field of
knowledge
To clarify any issue
relating to specific
parts of the thesis,
to the thesis as a
whole, and to the
award
Afraid
Want it to
be soon
The
prospect
of a Viva
voce
Stress
Nervous
With a little bit of information and
some tips viva voce can be less
stressful
Events leading to viva voce
Before the Viva voce
On the day & During the Viva voce
After the Viva voce
Before the Viva voce
1. Write the thesis – please NOT very THICK!
2. Hand up Notification to Submit Thesis (3
months before submitting)
– Nominate external & internal examiners
•
•
•
•
Master (1 external & 1 internal)
PhD (UMS staff: 2 external & 1 internal; Non UMS: 1
external & 2 internal)
Students are NOT involve in choosing examiners
Examiners’ names will be endorsed by UMS senate
Before the Viva voce
3. Submit thesis - with your supervisor’s consent
4. Examiners read the thesis (time period – 1-3 months)
5. Examiners submit their reports and suggestions of the
award
(In UMS, your supervisor will not be informed about
the examiners’ suggestion until a few mins before the
viva voce)
6. CPS will inform the candidate the date of the Viva
voce (at least 2 weeks before Viva voce)
Before the Viva voce
7. Your Preparation:
a) Read and know your thesis inside-out!!! – You Should!!
After all you did write it!!!!......if you didn’t…they would
know
b) Remember, your examiners read your thesis for the first
time and they will pick up something that you did not.
c)
Clarify anything that is vague, follow your instinct, if you
are confused with what you have written down make an
effort to understand it.
d) Use postit-Note to mark the pages in your thesis.
Before the Viva voce
7. Your Preparation…cont:
e)
Be familiar with the references you cited in your thesis –
especially very old references!!, remember, UMS is just 21
years old and we do not have references in the 19 century and
below.
f)
Read the examiner publication – this will give you a bit idea on
what he/she might ask. (OPTIONAL)
g)
Prepare your slide presentation (Master : 30 mins & PhD: 45
mins) as early as possible
h)
Arrange time to see your supervisor before the Viva voce and
show your supervisor your slide presentation
Before the Viva voce
7. Your Preparation…cont:
i)
Ask you supervisor for a mock Viva voce (In UMS,
a few faculties make it compulsory for students to
present their work at the faculty level before the
thesis is submitted e.g FSSA and FPE). Beneficial
– give confidence.
j)
Make an effort to present your work orally in
seminar or conference before the Viva voce
k)
Publish one or two papers before the Viva voce.
Before the Viva voce
7. Your Preparation…cont:
l)
A day before the Viva voce, install you slide
presentation into the computer at CPS (inside
the viva voce room and try it out)
m) Have an extra copy of your presentation.
n) Do NOT contact your External or Internal
Examiners
Before the Viva voce
Important:
A day before the Viva voce, try to avoid from eating out,
you may get food poisoning.
Take at lease 2 days leave from the office – after all
passing your Viva voce will help you in going up the
career ladder (a day before and on the Viva voce
day)
Don’t stress out yourself
Sleep early!!!!!
SLIDE PRESENTATIOIN FOR VIVA VOCE
(the format)
• Title
• Introduction (short & concise)
• Problems/gaps – this should justify your
work
• Objectives
• How was the work done –methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
On the Viva voce day
On the Viva voce day
•
Have a good breakfast!!!!
•
Come early to CPS and try out your slide
presentation for the last time
•
You will not be allowed inside the Viva voce room
once the CPS staff had laid out the reports on the
table.
•
You wait outside of the viva room until you are
asked to come in
•
Viva voce is an open book examination – bring a
copy of your thesis!!!!!
•
a pen or a pencil
During the Viva voce
• You will be called into the Viva voce room
• The chairperson will introduce the Viva voce
committee members to you (you are familiar with the
majority of them)
•
The Viva voce committee members (UMS):
Viva voce committee
• Chairperson
• Dean/Director of School or Institute
• The supervisor
• 2 Committee members
• Internal examiner (master: 1; PhD: 1 or 2
• External examiner (master
: 1; PhD: 1 or 2)
The supervsor is present but will not be
involved in the Viva voce
PROCEDURE FOR VIVA VOCE in UMS
Student Present his/her work
Question and Answer Session. Mainly External and
Internal examiners
Student leave the room for the committee to
discuss the outcome
The student will be called in and the result will be
announced to the student
During the Viva voce
Your Presentation
Make it clear and do not exceeds the time
limit
Master – 30 mins
PhD – 45 mins
Your PRESENTATIOIN Should focus on:
1) Results – Highlight the significant of your
findings
2) Discussion
3) Conclusion – Answer your objectives
During the Viva voce…cont
Examiners will evaluate your thesis based on:
1.
Problems/gaps to be solved are clear and important
2.
Objectives – clear, can be achieved and sufficient for the degree
(master or Phd)
3.
Are the methods suitable and sufficient to answer your
objectives?
4.
Are the results clearly presented and explained, were data
collected and analaysed correctly (stats etc), and are the data
enough/sufficient?
5.
Was the thesis written clearly?
………
Please make sure your thesis is well written, decide
in which language you are be able to explain your
results clearly.
Think about the people who will read your thesis
(examiners & other researchers)… they must
understand the information.
IF you can’t express yourself in the language then
don’t use it. It will irritate the reader (examiner)
Don’t give the reason “all terminologies are in
English and it makes it easier for me to use the
language” but in reality you are weak in the
language…..this is a lazy excuse
Most Important
Please avoid Plagiarism in
your thesis
During the Viva voce…cont
A few viva voce questions:
1)
What is the contribution to knowledge from your work/thesis
2)
What is the major finding? Originality? link
2)
The examiners may ask you basic principles, even for the PhD
candidates!!
3)
Why did you do it this way why not that way?
4)
How can you apply your findings in the real world?
5)
How many were your replicate.
6)
What is the next step? Future work
h) NEVER EVER come into the
viva voce with the intention to
just answer “I will take the
input/sugession” or “YES?NO”
to all the questions – YOU
WILL IRITATE EVERYBODY IN
THE ROOM
g) The examiners
might try to intimidate
you, to see your
reaction
f) Respect and be
polite to everybody
a) Show
enthusiasm
During
question
and answer
session
Try not to blame
supervisor by
answering “my
supervisor asked me
to do it that way”
This shows that you
were not thinking
when you did the
project..
b) Defend your thesis
professionally, but do
not be defensive!!! – in
defeat you must know
to let go.
MEANING ANSWER
THE QUESTIONS
POSED TO YOU
c) Be open to the
suggestions from
the examiners
d) If you do not know
any answer, it is best
to admit it rather than
trying to twist fact
around, you will
irritate the examiners
(Do NOT dig your own
grave!!!)
Dos
and
DON’Ts
Speak Clearly and
slowly
Speak incoherently
Answer confidently & be
assertive but be sure not to
be arrogant and snobbish
Be arrogant towards
examiners and everybody
in the room
Make sure you understand the
question - Ask for the question to
be repeated if not clear - politely
Making up answers
Keep quiet after answering a
question
Think before you answer
Avoid answering with Yes
and NO, or try to blame your
supervisor and everyone else
Dress Smartly
Start answering questions
before an examiner
finished a question
Don’t try to blame your
supervisor, defend your
thesis professionally
Don’t be too defensive
Dress casually and with
flip flops
The Outcome of the Viva voce
1) Be awarded the degree without any condition (very rare)
2) To be awarded the degree subjected to some minor amendments
3)
To be awarded the degree subject to major amendments
4) Decision deferred pending major amendments to the
thesis/dissertation
5) Decision pending amendment and reexamination of the thesis
6) Not to be awarded the degree and the thesis/dissertation is not to
be resubmitted for reexamination
7) YOU WILL BE TOLD HOW LONG YOU ARE GIVEN FOR THE
CORRECTION & WHO WILL VERIFIED THE CORRECTED THESIS
Correction period
1) Minor (1-3 months) – typo errors, minor grammatical error,
correction of reference
2) Major (3-6 months) – extensive rearrangement of data or
information in the thesis, reanalyse data or rewrite a few
chapters, usually does not involve additional of data, major
spelling and grammatical errors
3) Major Correction (6-12 months) – the thesis has potential to be
awarded a degree but must fulfill a few more criteria. May
require additional of data. Extensive revision of thesis to
improve quality, reanalyse data or rewrite a few chapters,
improve discussion to show ability to explain the results, major
spelling and grammatical errors. May or may not require
reexamination of thesis. It does not necessarily mean you have
failed.
After the Viva voce
No thesis is perfect, almost all postgraduate students have to do
corrections
1.
Thesis corrections – must be done, and based on what have
been written In the reports and scribbled on the thesis, and
ALSO what have been mentioned in the Viva voce (some sort of
an agreement)
•
To make it easier for the examiner to verify the correction –
prepare check list
2)
Verified by examiners
3)
Format checking by pascasiswazah
4)
Binding for hard cover
5)
link
Submit 3/4 copies to CPS. (Please check current requirement)
RESPECT THE VIVA VOCE
SESSION ….. DRESS SMARTLY
Attire for Viva voce
Attire for Viva voce
Attire NOT for Viva voce
Attire NOT for Viva voce
Footwear for Viva voce
THANK YOU
&
Good Luck