Sample Thesis Titles and Papers

Titles of some of the previous theses created in my section of Educational Research are listed on this page.

The first few titles are links to .pdf versions of that anonymized thesis. Please keep a few things in mind when looking at these sample theses:
First, none of these papers are perfect and not all earned As. On the first one, I left in the comments I made so you can also get a sense of how I review papers and what are important points to me. Still, please don’t look at these as exemplars and duplicate their errors; instead, look at them as guides of varying abilities that will each help in different ways but where no one helps you in all ways. Second, some of the papers are the final product after the first semester and some are the final product after the second semester. I’m not sure I should have mixed them together like this, but figured it should be pretty clear which is which and thus to show you the differences between the two. Remember that after the first semester, you will not have any results or a well-developed discussion section, so those papers without those two parts are from the first semester. Third, yes, you can use these as guides in your own research. If you are interested in a topic similar to any of these, you can use the articles they cite to help you in your own thesis. (Note that a few of them have too few articles: I increased the minimal number needed at one point.)

• Effects of Divorce on Children
• Building Interconnectedness: A Study of High Schoolers and Their Expectations for Their Schools
• Childhood Grief and Loss: Support and Interventions Used to Promote Healthy Coping Strategies
• The Effects of Extra-Curricular Activities on Student’s Perceived Academic Self-Efficacy
• An Evaluation of the Effects of Group Support and Skills Training to Help Maltreated Children Overcome Their Socialization and Behavioral Shortcomings
• Homelessness and Academic Success Among Females
• Intervening When Parents of Children with Disabilities Are in Denial
• Preventing and Overcoming Self-Harm
• Social Emotional Learning: Developing Emotional and Social Intelligence in Students with Incarcerated Parents
• Academic Success Among Minority Students
• Addressing the Intergenerational Gap Between Students and Teachers
• Can a School-Wide Horticulture Project Improve the Attitudes and Perceptions of Homogeneously Grouped Primary Students?
• Childhood Obesity
• Do Anti-Bullying Programs Work?
• Do Teachers Who Accommodate Different Learning Styles Increase Students’ Likelihoods to Succeed?
• The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Student Achievement
• The Effects of Outside Employment on High School Students’ Academic Achievement
• The Effects of Students’ Participation in Organized, Competitive Sports on Academic Success
• Factors That Influence a Child’s Decisions to Read Outside-of-School
• How Does Low SES Affect Students in a School Setting?
• How Well-Liked Are Girls Who Are Skilled in Relational Aggression?
• Impact of Family Structure & Parental Involvement in Low Socioeconomic Areas on Reading Development of 2nd Grade Students Elementary
• The Impact of Parental Involvement on the Academic Achievement of 3rd Grade Students
• Increasing the Self-Efficacy of Students with Learning Disabilities
• Overcoming Adversity: Death of a Loved One
• Preparing Middle School Children for College: Attitudes about College and Their Effect on Student Motivation
• The Relationship Between Low Socioeconomic Status and Student Achievement
• Students’ Perception on School Environment
• Social Popularity and Academic Success
• Teachers as Bullies
• Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs and the Crucial Role They Play in the Education of English Language Learner

I hope both the list and the samples help you think of ideas and see generally what you can hope to gain from participating in my section.