In the honours thesis seminar, students work to define a research question (not 'topic'), learn about and then choose a methodology or approach, and then execute the research project.
What's required of me at the outset is to help the students narrow down their questions to get to something that is achievable and will be satisfying. I connect them to one of my colleagues who is expert in the area the student is working in; this person becomes the student's co-supervisor. In the early stages we read some work in political science that is emblematic of a wide range of approaches and methodologies. Students have a series of mini-assignments designed to get them marching through the steps that lead to a research prospectus in late November. The winter is for doing the hard work to gather data, categorize materials, build arguments, analyze data, and write it up.
Learning Significance