Taking the stress out of dissertations / projects…

J

Jazz01

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Hi,

Just looking for some input into an idea I have to earn something extra to help with bills. Few years back, I helped a few mature students with their project work as they didn't have much computer skills, things like formatting their essays / written projects, generating & adding statistically charts to their essays / dissertations, and embedding pictures etc - getting it "ready" for handing it in so to speak. There wasn't any cash that exchanged hands... I had free time, they were stuck... helping out friends of friends so to speak.

I found a lot of people become very frustrated when using computers, especially when they hit a brick wall - changes they made aren't there anymore, machine crashed, formatting no longer looks correct etc...etc, we've all been there... & sometimes it's just a guiding hand removes all that frustration & puts people on the right road again.

So, has anyone done something like this before? As I said, need some money to help pay the bills - so any idea on what to charge? Is it best to keep formal - pay per hour or just set prices? Is there even a market for this? Was just thinking of putting flyers up in specific areas & word of mouth to help spread it... Any constructive feedback is most welcome...

Thanks in advance...
 
For the types of issue you cite, it sounds like a reactive sevice, e.g. someone phones you at 23:30 saying they need to have a report/thesis ready for 9am and their machine has 'died'.

And if you can't recover their data, they may be less inclined to pay you for your time & efforts.

Your model could include a call out charge, say EUR 10.00, then a set amount per hour or half-hour after that.

Baby sitters can get up to EUR 10.00 per hour. I assume you value your knowledge and experience above that ?
 
Generally people value and appreciate the service that you have provided hugely but for some daft reason are not willing to pay for it !

Have a look at www.clearpreso.com, Irish guy doing something in the same sphere as what you are talking about but for presentations and the corporate market. A lot of the same principals would apply of being able to articulate the value of your service and having references to happy customers.
 
sticvk a colourful flyer u pon college and university notice boards- i'd say charge an hourly rate - maybe 10 per hour- or you might price yourself out of the market.

busy times for projects are ends of semesters- or you could offer a ' proofread and formatting service' for a set fee. get thesis ready for printing and binding........could be a go-er as people get very fustrated with projects towards the end and just want it done.
 
I definitely think there is something to this idea...particularly for mature students. I'm just finishing a PhD and will soon be looking for someone (paid of course) to do my diagrams as I just can't do them myself and I want it to look well. Best of luck with it.
 
thanks for the response everyone... appreciate that... think I will go ahead with this...

Lou2 - if you want an initial diagram or two done, feel free to pm me to chat on this... no charge initially ... would just like to see in general what people would need to get done & be happy to help you out if I can...
 
If a student is found to have someone else do their work for them it will go against their grades. This is not morally right as the look and feel of what they hand in contributes their results.

I think that if you were to post that on any wall in a college - it would be taken down very quickly by the lectures.
 
Jazz01,

I think that's a great idea.

Not everyone knows the ins and outs of a computer programs when it comes to presentation and you can spend half your time trying to format something into a way you find acceptable so as to present your information

Whether assistance is acceptable or not may depend on the college and the course.

Certainly it was acceptable for persons doing an architectural thesis to seek the assistance of other students in helping finalize the presentation.

Assistance from professional practices was frowned upon, but the level of presentation achieved could not save a thesis if it hadn't been addressed and developed all the way through under the watchful eye of the yearmaster and studiomasters.

Similarly when presenting dissertations recently as part of my course in management, it was a given that you could use diagrams and information from other publications so long as these were credited and the material was no more than circa 20% of the presentation.

The assessors were looking for original comments and observations on the submitted material and including the baseline material you were commenting on was considered to be good practice as it meant you weren't wasting time re-iterating something already said, but were concentrating on you own original work.

I don't think that getting help in presenting tables and charts should be an issue, particularly when these contain you own raw data, but the one thing to bear in mind is that employers may expect a similar polished presentation level when taking on board a successful applicant.

If they cannot walk-the-walk as well as talk-the-talk, they won't last long, and I think it would be useful if you made it your policy that they would have to accept some tuition at that level as part of your service, to ensure they develop the appropriate level of competence themselves.

ONQ.
 
Hi alexandra 123...Of course if someone was 'doing' a student's work for them then this would obviously be an issue. I was talking about a professional look being put on a diagram that I have done but doesn't look well. It's purely aesthetic. I've put a huge amount of effort in to doing a PhD...I want my 2/3 diagrams to look nice! And it is very common practice at PhD level. I know of many (15+people) who have fairly recently completed PhDs and have done the same. My job doesn't require me to have the ability to do professional diagrams so from that perspective it's not a problem that I'm not great at them.
 
This certainly would have been frowned upon when I was doing my dissertation (also as a mature student) and tbh I would expect any final year student of any age to be able to do this stuff for themselves.
Formatting work, and certainly "generating statistical charts" is part of the work required, and is graded. IMHO your service would count as cheating.
 
I think this would be a great service.

I don't see this as cheating. The service is only to improve the project's presentation. It's not to edit or change the content of the project work.

A lot of people outsource the typing of their dissertations etc. This is no different.

Go for it.
 

Fantastic Idea, I could have done with someone like you 6 years ago to help with the presenting of my statistical data for my dissertation as my course of study had nothing at all to to do with computers. In fact at the time I remember other people in my class paid friends for the statistical information to be presented although they were able to analyze the information themselves.
My computer application skills has improved somewhat since but I never forget the stress I had in trying to get it together myself, however, I did eventually succeed but it was an ordeal that could have been avoided.
So Go For it and Good luck to You!
 
Hi All,

Thanks for the great feedback & also the raising of the concerns...Just to ease peoples fear... I will be approaching this purely from a technical perspective.. The actual content of the work will have to come from the person themselves - lets take a essay on "evolution of medical care for children in the 20th century" as an example.. content of this I would have no background in, so I would have nothing to add... I just want to be able to help those with a skill that I have in computing... I see so many people struggle with basics of computer & helping them to succeed should not be considered cheating... They won't have the time or maybe the understanding to solve the issue they come up against... I know in my career I have sought help from those with the knowledge that I required at the time, but didn't have...

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to respond .. I do appreciate your time & thoughts on this...
 
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