Basic Concepts

The university prefers to use the term “Realize” (critical examination) rather than “Research.” Realize” refers to the presentation of knowledge by students that results from the crystallization of their own experiences and work, not from studying others’ work, knowledge, thoughts, experiences, or activities.

For Master’s degree topics, the university is interested in analyzing factors, such as success factors of… or factors affecting… For Doctoral level, students are required to synthesize a model, with topics beginning with “The Model of…”

The term “Model” refers to the essential components that make something successful or achievable. It’s like answering the question: if someone wants to replicate what we’ve done, what advice would we give them? Or what preparations would they need to make? It’s similar to creating a blueprint for building a house – anyone wanting to build a similar house can study it, follow it, or more easily improve upon it.

The university focuses on qualitative work. Quantitative data may be presented or collected to support the presentation, but purely quantitative work is not desired. The university does not want students to merely compile, collect, or copy research work, studies, or theoretical data from domestic or international scholars, as is common in other universities.

The university does not register programs as specific fields or curricula. Whatever knowledge area interests a student is considered their program or field of study. Therefore, the university doesn’t have instructors for specific programs but has teachers who provide guidance on organizing and extracting knowledge. Students can request their degree in any field directly related to the knowledge they present.

The dissertation presentation follows an academic article format, divided into three main chapters:

1. Chapter 1: Importance of the proposed topic
2. Chapter 2: Stories, data, work results, operations, direct experiences of the student
3. Chapter 3: Summary of crystallized knowledge

From experience with student presentations, these key issues have been found:

Chapter 1: The importance presentation is often too brief and loosely organized. Students should explain importance at the international level, broader significance, then discuss Thailand, their local area, possibly including supporting data and statistics. The final paragraph should explain why the student is interested in this topic.

Chapter 2: Students often focus on presenting concepts and theories, citing academic sources and textbooks. This follows mainstream university approaches and is essentially copying. Bodhi University wants this chapter to present the student’s direct experiences and work. For example, when presenting a business model, write about your own story, experiences, and work, not copied theories.

This chapter can be written in several ways:

• Timeline approach: Following chronological order, like writing about life events chronologically
• Topical approach: By issues, topics, or activity types
• CIPP Model:
  1. Context/environment and surrounding stories
  2. Input/preparations in various aspects
  3. Process/work procedures or activities at each location
  4. Products/outcomes and impacts (both quantitative and qualitative)

Common problems with Chapter 2:

• Too brief content (Using a coconut analogy: like grated coconut, there should be enough content to extract coconut milk. Too little pulp with lots of milk suggests exaggeration)
• Insufficient supporting images (e.g., discussing a factory without showing even the factory sign)
• Use of internet images without actual work evidence

Chapter 3: This is the direct answer to the research question. The chapter should be structured as follows:
3.1 What is your Model
3.2 Suggestion
3.3 The Moral Principles
3.4 The Future

Common issues include responses not matching the research topic. For example, if the topic is “Management Development Model for Company A,” the answer should clearly outline the model’s components (ideally 5-9 points), supported by concrete examples and events from Chapter 2. Avoid vague statements or merely listing topics, and don’t simply apply existing theories as answers.