Thesis Writing as Conduit of Behavior Transformation among Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Thesis writing is one of the major requirements when completing an undergraduate degree in the Philippines. The process of conducting involves multiple phases such as proposal presentation, data collection, writing a report based on the findings, and presenting the manuscript to the panel members. Social Influence Theory was the theoretical framework of the study. The phenomenological design of qualitative research was utilized in this study to identify the behavior transformation among fourth-year students who finished their thesis writing subject. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected in an interview with the selected participants. Active analysis was utilized to determine the themes of behavior transformations. It was found that empathy, modesty, confidence, clarity, and collaboration were the transformed behavior caused by thesis writing. In conclusion, thesis writing not only enhances students’ cognitive and psychomotor skills in conducting research but it is also a conduit of behavior transformation among students. This paper recommends having an additional study utilizing in-depth interviews to further dig deeper into the impact of thesis writing. Moreover, a quantitative survey type or research may also be conducted to check behavior transformation in the majority of fourth-year students. Keywords: Behavior Transformation, Thesis writing, Phenomenological, Interview