dissertation writing memes

dissertation writing memes

The Impact of Dissertation Writing Memes on Academic Performance

1. Introduction

This study is a form of correlational study as it will focus on the existing relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable in order to determine how they correlate to one another. The independent variable may be defined as the impact of dissertation writing memes and the dependent variable may be defined as the academic performance of a university student. According to Sekaran (2003), a correlational study is carried out to examine the nature of the relationship between two or more variables. It means to explain the existence of the relationships, to provide a complete picture of what is being examined, and to make predictions (Sekaran, 2003). There are different types of correlational study such as the positive study, negative study, and no study. In the context of this research, a positive study is expected between the two variables. It means that the higher the exposure to dissertation writing memes, the higher the academic performance of a university student. This is a conjecture made from the common perception that memes engage us and have a solid form of influence in the way we think and act. If this is true, meme exposure may be a good supplementary tool for better understanding in learning. This research is also a form of ex-post facto study as the independent variable cannot be manipulated or it is not ethical to be tested on human subjects. According to Best and Kahn (2006), ex-post facto research is used to hypothesize cause-and-effect relationships among variables. This is an appropriate method of study because it is an investigation where there is a need to identify and explain what had happened with respect to the status of a variable and the possible causes were not controlled by the investigator. This is most useful when the independent variables are attributes and there is no method of manipulating the independent variable. This study will attempt to identify what occurred along events to course students who were exposed to memes on lectures, tutorials, and exam periods and involving actual assessments and academic results as the standard way of measuring academic performance in order to compare.

2. The Power of Memes in Education

Memes are a multimodal form of communication, which means they can carry messages in various forms. This can be achieved through images, text, video, or combinations of these. We are constantly exposed to multimodal forms of communication in this digital age. This is especially true for younger generations who grew up with the internet. The advantage of being such a relevant form of communication means memes have a greater potential to engage with students compared to traditional teaching or learning materials. This is important since engagement is necessary for effective learning.

Memes have now become a part of our everyday lives. They usually are intended to be humorous and often carry a message. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in using memes in educational settings since it has been argued they can be used as a tool to help learning. This chapter will explore the use of memes, their influence, and how they can be repurposed as a tool for learning.

3. Negative Effects of Dissertation Writing Memes

Excluding those who suffer from disabilities that incur increased levels of mental health problems, research has found that depression is not a natural part of aging and instead is triggered by an identifiable event. This supports the cognitive explanation for the development of depression, as an event (in this case, the writing of a dissertation) would lead to a change in thought patterns and influence one’s emotions, the key factors involved in defining depression. Holman and Grisham found that events that triggered depression were likely to involve themes of loss and a sense of failure, both of which are common in students required to write a dissertation. Loss is of particular importance here, as the difficulty in adapting due to the changes in lifestyle and sense of loss of one’s identity can be a serious risk factor for older adults. Depressed mood is caused by a number of factors including changes in life, chronic stress conditions, and changes in the state of one’s social relationships. Dissertation writing enforces chronic conditions of stress, giving rise to the perception of failure in an already less than competent emotional state. Failure itself is not critical in the development of depression; however, its perception can be, as the discrepancy between one’s expected goal and their actual attainment can lead to feelings of loss and low self-esteem.

4. Strategies to Mitigate the Influence of Memes

Various theories have emerged concerning how students might battle the urge to procrastinate on an essay, although procrastination is a hard habit to break. Some researchers say that the best way to get what needs to be done is to simply make it more appealing or enjoyable [7]. They argue that if a task is made fun, or if there is a considerable amount of fun incorporated into the task, then it feels less like work and more like entertainment – such as playing a game. By making the task more enjoyable, students are less likely to push it aside and more likely to complete it in one session. Another means of combating procrastination is to practice the opposite; instead of ignoring the task completely, the student should constantly remind themselves of it and imagine what it would be like to have it finished. Considering that procrastination is defined as the act of delaying a task in favor of doing something more enjoyable, this strategy would effectively reverse the act of procrastination without necessarily requiring additional willpower, for the task is still being delayed, albeit in the mind. Once the student feels that the imagined reward for completing the task is sufficient, they will no longer feel the need to procrastinate. This strategy is labeled as “temptation bundling” [8], using a reward to increase the attractiveness of a tough task.

5. Conclusion

It is suggested that further research be done to identify how specific dissertation writing memes used by students match up to the six specific functions isolated in meme theory. The qualitative functions coding chart made for this study could serve as a useful tool to aid content analysts in this process. It is also advised that research using the same methods discussed in this paper be employed in primary and secondary school education as memes were witnessed through personal communication to have relevance to students of a very young age and could serve the purpose of educational foundation in basic research and writing skills. Finally, as most of the research for this project was done through interviews, it is suggested that similar research be done in a wider variety of countries to further broaden the spectrum of how memes are perceived and used in education.

In conclusion, the aim of this study was to provide an appreciation of the scientific value of memes as innovative sources of information relevant to dissertation writing and to offer an understanding of how these memes are used in the context of higher education. It is concluded that dissertation writing memes are perceived to have a great deal of scientific value with potential to make the research and dissertation writing process easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable. This is due to the high degree of accurate and relevant information provided, which helps to clarify complex ideas and procedures in a simple and accessible way. Additionally, the entertainment value of the memes was seen to positively affect motivation and confidence levels in relation to writing up dissertations.