Why do we continue holding on to traditions when we have evolved? Doing a degree, assignments and other course works are mostly done using soft copies and digital platforms. The internet has several libraries, books, academic articles , teaching videos among other academic resources.
Yet when students have to submit their final thesis the tradition mode of submission is adopted. Why should a student be tasked to submit several hard copies of a dissertation when they easily submit their works in a soft copy format?
A quick SWOT analysis for “submission of hard copied dissertation” shows a lot of weakness in the system i.e. Hard copies are expensive, time consuming, difficult to access, environmental unfriendly among others. On the other hand , “soft copied dissertation” shows a lot of strengths i.e. evaluation of a thesis is made easier when submitted in a soft copy format, accessibility is also made simple to readers, submission of thesis in soft copies is cost effective, plagiarism could be checked easily, most revisions and comments could easily be made using track changes , it is environmentally sustainable . In simple terms soft copied thesis has more strengths than hard copied dissertation.
Our education system that preaches about environmental protection, is the one which encourages students to submit hard copies of their dissertation. In the time when both students and professors are conversant with the use of computers and other software systems, it is only reasonable to switch the submission of dissertation.
Disclaimer: This by no means reflect the opinions on my University or professors

© Hadson Sitembo