Why Term Paper? Week 2

Goals of Term Paper  To become more knowledgeable about finding and using varied research sources in academic writing  Develop critical thinking skills and back up points with evidence  Becoming skilled at synthesizing information  Follow a scholarly research format to document in-text sources and reference page  Compose a well-organized, clear, concise, term paper to expand knowledge on a particular topic

Objectives  To find a research topic  To narrow a research topic  To write a thesis statement  To write a comprehensive outline  To support a stand (argumentative) or to solve a problem (problem solution), demonstrating understanding of the subject  To synthesize a limited number of a variety of sources  To filter and evaluate sources  To cite sources properly  To avoid plagiarism  To draw a conclusion  To revise and polish your writing

Breakdown of marks  Critical reading presentation: 10% (based on lit review and presentation skills)  Extensive outline: 10% (based on feedback during consultation: week 9-11)  Term paper: 30% (including cover and references)  Amended term paper/ final draft: 10% (your revision based on feedback received)

Guidelines  Either PS or Argumentative  Pair work  Any topic of interest  Week 3-5: Choosing a topic, reading up on the topic  Week 6: Critical reading presentation  Week 8: comprehensive outline  Week 9: consultation  Typed, double spacing, 5-7 pages  > 8 references, >3 from peer-reviewed journal articles, other sources: books, magazines, newspapers

Why write a term paper?  To present original research and argument to the academic community  Get deeper knowledge of the topic than lectures can provide  Writing a term paper teaches you to give information and express ideas in a clear, systematic way: this skill is useful for almost all kinds of writing, not just academic writing  An opportunity to show you are capable of researching and arguing about a subject  Good practice for real academic writing  If you produce an outstanding term paper, there is a chance to publish in a journal or conference

Important to note:  Need to have good knowledge of topic  Independent research: you have looked beyond your textbook and lecture notes  Organization of ideas is logical and easy to follow  Language is clear and accurate  If the reader has to stop and think, ‘what is this writer trying to say’, you will not get a good grade