Thesis writing is a problem?

In Indonesia, the bachelor’s degree commonly takes four years of study. Some of students who have a good performance are able to accomplish it even less than four years. On the other side, there are a lot of students who are not capable of finishing their study at the specified time. In this case, we can see an unfairness and also weakness of the system which is used by University as a final project for every student. The major project which, unfortunately, traps so many students is the thesis writing. Thus, the thesis writing should be dropped out from the university curriculum because of some reasons.

Not all subjects that we have learned are implemented in the thesis writing. We all agree that in four years, there are a lot of subjects that have been studied. Then, in the end of study, there have to be some kinds like a final project to assess our understanding about what we have learned. It can be understood that thesis writing is not only to increase students writing ability but also prepares students to be professional in their discipline for instance in Mastering English. However, in term of evaluating students’ understanding about all subjects that have learned, thesis writing is not an effective way. Some people say that through thesis writing, the teachers would be easier to consider their students ability, but in fact, thesis writing does not represent all of our subjects because in thesis writing, we are only required to conduct some research about certain problem. It means that thesis writing is not significantly related to our major. Angelo (1991) stated that, “Assessment is a simple method faculty can use to collect feedback on how well their students are learning what they are being taught.” Thus, it will be unfair if the University takes the thesis writing as a final project.

                There are now a lot of plagiarisms in thesis writing. According to some people, thesis writing intended to extend the academic information in students’ area of specialization, but some fact show us that not all the ideas in thesis writing are originally written by students. It is also understood that thesis writing is a challenging way to know the differences between the theory and the fact based on students’ research, but nowadays, thesis is something that is merchantability. For instance, in Yogyakarta, there is a thesis seller which already operated since 1995. Anyone could have a thesis only for 60 thousand rupiahs. So, it is a big shame for people who promote themselves as academic persons, but they try to violate against the academic rule.

The length of study due to thesis writing influences the accreditation status of the institution. The positive effect is thesis writing trains students to work independently, but it is really cruel to find out that thesis writing is a cause that makes the students will not be able to finish their study in specified time. Some people say that completing the thesis on time will be the motivation for the students to study hard, but sadly, most of the students, who are not able to finish their study in appointed time, are stuck because of the thesis writing. This situation gives a disadvantage to the institution in term of accreditation status. According BAN-PT, one of the significant criteria which have to be concerned by the University is the ratio between freshmen and graduated students. It means that the University has to graduate its students at least in four years of study. It may be true that being able to accomplished the thesis writing will be the highest achievement of study and as pride for a student when they can complete the thesis writing on time in a good quality. Following this ideas, it seems that thesis writing is something that very valuable for students. However, we have to realize that not all students are able to do so. There are a lot of students who do not have capability to finish their thesis writing on time. Obviously, this situation forces them to postpone their graduation. Thus, implementing thesis writing as a final project for students is really a wrong choice for institution if they want to get a better accreditation status.

In conclusion, a final project is required in order to measure our understanding about what we have learned, but we find that thesis writing is not a proper system. Even though, in some aspects, thesis writing can give some advantages, but implementing it as a major project for students is a big mistake. An unrepresentative measurement, plagiarism, and also a long term of study are some examples of consequent that we have to take if we implement the thesis writing. Thus, thesis writing should be dropped out from the university curriculum and replaced by another alternative which involves subjects that significantly related to our major.