One of the main tasks of higher education institutions is to give their students the skills to work independently with sources and teach them to think independently. Therefore, at the end of each course, students write a term paper. The article will describe an example of how to write a term paper, with recommendations.
Preparatory stage
Before you write a term paper, you need to decide on the topic, supervisor and bibliography. Everything is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Each of these items will be detailed below.
Teacher's Choice
From this step, your work on the term paper begins. Each supervisor has his own interests, on which the topics of work directly depend. Also, some teachers may have a bad temper or, on the contrary, be too loyal to your work. Both in the first and in the second case, the result will not be positive. You need a teacher whowill point out your mistakes and be able to give a sample of how to write a term paper.
Choose a theme
The topic of the coursework is not always given to the student's choice. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the choice of a teacher is very important. Tell us what topics you would be interested in and discuss possible options. It is better to come at the beginning of the year or, in extreme cases, at the beginning of the second semester. You can take several topics to choose from and think about which one seems more interesting and attractive to you. After you choose one of them, the question of how to write a term paper yourself will not seem so unsolvable.
Studying general information
After you have chosen a topic, the hardest part begins. The question immediately arises of how to write a term paper on your own. Start by reading general information on the chosen topic. This will allow you to understand in general terms how to write a term paper.
Planning
After the introductory stage, begin to plan your scientific work. To begin with, you need to write a general outline of the course work, similar to the content, and discuss with your supervisor. If the plan is approved, it is better to explain each point. What will you write about. Again, check with your supervisor.
How to make a bibliography
Most of the teachers give a list of references that you can rely on. But usually this is not enough. Remember to use monographs, articles,which are published in scientific journals and collections, not encyclopedias and textbooks. Some departments are asked to use foreign literature. It is better to include one or two editions that you could at least skim through than to just fill in at random. This may not work in your favor.
Department and teacher requirements
Each supervisor may have their own writing requirements. So it's best to ask to be shown in advance how to write a term paper.
Collecting material
Prepare for a lot of information that you will need to process through yourself. In order not to "drown" in it, divide it into two categories:
- "Flagships". These are the sources from which you will get most of your information. It is better that the number of such literature be from three to five.
- Auxiliary materials. These are the sources from which you will take any statistics, a couple of quotes and the like.
How to write a term paper?
You have passed the preparatory stage, and now everything does not seem so scary and incomprehensible. It's time to move on to the practical part - writing.
The parts of the term paper are always the same regardless of the chosen topic:
- title page;
- content;
- introduction;
- main/theoretical part;
- practical part;
- conclusion;
- references;
- applications.
Structuringmaterial
Before you start directly writing the work, it is best to sort out the material you found. Formally divide it into chapters and subparagraphs. Some students feel that the more information the better. This is an erroneous opinion. If you stick to this position, then you run the risk of getting more than a hundred pages instead of the prescribed 20-45.
One of the main tasks of the term paper is to teach you to isolate the main information from sources.
How to design a title page
A sample title page is usually shown by your supervisor, as each university may have different requirements. If it is not possible to see a sample, then make a title page according to state standards.
As a rule, at the beginning of the title page there is a heading in the center, which is written in a standard font (Times New Roman 14, paragraph one and a half).
A sample title page can be seen below.
Some universities require that after the words "term paper" the data about the student who is doing the project and his supervisor should be right-aligned, not centered.
How to write content
The content will be similar to your research plan. To make it easier to compose it, you can take several textbooks on your topic and look at the content in them. Compare how they treat your topic, what chapters and subparagraphs are taken there. Compare with your plan written earlier. Based on this, you can easily writecourse work content.
How to write an introduction to a term paper
It is better to start your work by writing an introduction. This will help you build your future work correctly and logically. If you put it off until the very end, you risk getting far from the problem of your coursework.
A term paper problem is a question that you answer while writing the paper itself. And just the problem should be indicated at the very beginning of your introduction.
The first thing you should indicate in your introduction is the relevance of your work. In this paragraph, you write about why the problem needs research and what role it plays in the development of science, society or other areas.
Next are the research tasks. As a rule, four parts are distinguished:
- Study sources and recommended reading on the subject.
- Study the main concepts (they will be key in your term paper). In this part of the work they are simply enumerated. When writing the main part of the work, you will give them a precise definition.
- The third and fourth tasks will be devoted to the practical part. Here you indicate what new things can be implemented on the topic of your research. You can offer your own version or use the experience of your predecessors.
- This problem should show your own contribution to the course of the study of the issue. Then the purpose of the course work is indicated, which must necessarily be consistent with the conclusions of your work.
After that, you describe the object and subject of your research. These two concepts should not be confused. The object is thatwhat happens to the subject, and the subject is what the research process is directed at.
How to write the body
In this part of the term paper, you summarize information on the selected topic. You can find this information in various scientific literature. Which literature is better to use is described above.
This part of the term paper is usually divided into sections - from two to four, each of which, in turn, is divided into paragraphs. Items should be logically arranged and not interrupt your thought.
The first part of the term paper assumes the theoretical basis of your research and how to solve the research problem. Here you can also place any data that is taken from official sources.
The second part is analytical. The purpose of this part is to study the factors that influence the analyzed processes. The analysis should not contradict the goals and objectives of the course work. Here it is better to describe recommendations and suggestions for improving and improving the development of the object of study. Also here you need to indicate the shortcomings of the object, the reasons for their occurrence and ways to solve them.
The third part is experimental. It describes ways to solve the problem posed in the introduction, recommendations that will improve the processes under study. The third part should not be voluminous, but in writing it you should master the basic methods of the science under study.
This division is exemplary and does not have to be adhered to. The breakdown into chapters depends entirely on the chosen topic, goals and objectives.work.
Practical part of term paper
To write this part of the coursework, you need to agree in advance with the company where the practice will take place. Whether it's a school, a hotel or a factory. Before going there, it is better to prepare a plan of the event, experiments or questions in advance and coordinate it with your supervisor.
After your experiment, you need to carefully process the resulting material. Graphs, tables or business plans with recommendations and the like are drawn up. It all depends on the topic of your term paper.
But remember that the conclusions obtained during the practice must confirm your theory, which you indicated in the introduction.
Conclusion
This part is where you summarize your work. Here it is necessary to indicate brief, but at the same time capacious conclusions. To make it a little easier for yourself, mentally divide the conclusion into three parts:
- theoretical conclusions;
- conclusion on the practical part;
- your suggestions and recommendations for improving the object of the course work.
Start your conclusion with a short introduction. Three to five sentences will suffice. Only after that start writing the main part.
You can't use the pronouns "I", "my" and so on. Replace them with "we", "our".
Formation of the bibliography
The design of the list of used literature should be approached as responsibly as the writing of the main parts of the term paper. There are certain criteriato consider when choosing literature:
- Literature should be modern. Best in the last 5 years, i.e. 2012-2017). Relevant to the chosen theme.
- Sources from the 1990s should be used at a minimum.
- Required footnotes. That is, in the work itself, you need to indicate from which source the information is taken. Do not leave the arrangement of footnotes at the end of the work. At the end of the work, you can easily forget what and where you took it from. It is better to leave footnotes immediately. They took information from literature or a source - they left a footnote.
- If, when writing a term paper, you relied on any laws and by-laws, then they should be drawn up in the latest edition.
Examples of the design of various literature can be seen below.
How to design apps
The word "APPS" is written in the center of the page. Each application should have its own sub title. For example, "APPENDIX A". Various graphics, drawings and other illustrative materials of course work are brought here.
Text information can be divided into parts. Then each part also needs to be numbered. For example, "APPENDIX A 1".
Checking work
First, you hand over the draft material to your supervisor, who will read it and point out the shortcomings, if any. If the teacher is conscientious, then he will explain to you how to write a term paper correctly in order to bringher to the highest praise. It is also better to re-read your work again, because the fewer errors and typos it contains, the higher your score will be.
Don't forget that your work must pass "Antiplagiarism". At least 70% uniqueness - standard requirements. So before carrying the work to the teacher, it is better to check the uniqueness yourself. And if necessary, increase the percentage of uniqueness.
After reading this article, you should have an impression of how to write a term paper yourself. By following all of the above recommendations, there is a high chance that you will pass your term paper with excellent marks. Do not forget that the term paper implies some kind of problem that you must pass through the prism of your worldview. The more original your work, the greater the chance that you will receive an "excellent" grade for it.
