Thinking about taking the Capstone at TESU? Here's what you have to do now!!

[cypster]

Hey there jsd. Do you have any tips for the monstrosity? Is it pretty much a mini book report and and defense for each piece of literature selected for the paper?

[jsd]

It's more of an in depth summary of each source and maybe some information about how it's relevant to your research. This should be organized in some logical pattern, either chronologically or based on subject matter, or whatever.

You wouldn't really defend or criticize the sources here at this point. That'd be more appropriate in the results or summary/discussion, depending on the type of research you're doing. And on how strict your mentor is about sticking to a traditional format

[cardiacclep]

I feel the key to making the capstone some what enjoyable is to pick a topic that truly interests you. I would also recommend just sitting down a banging out a few paragraphs when unmotivated. This action starts the process of doing which you will often finds to doing more than a few paragraphs. I actually enjoyed doing my paper but everyone is different.

[rlw74]

I'm definitely interested in this thread as I'll be taking the capstone sometime in the near future. I'm already working on a topic. So, the first assignment - what exactly is it? Is it a paper explaining the topic you chose and a basic summary of the paper? And the second module is all the research? I feel if that's the first two steps I should go ahead and start working on it because it could take a while to get all the research together. Is there anything one can do to prep for the class ahead of time?

[cypster]

That's really helpful. Thanks. At times, the challenge has been differentiating what's in the book from what actually has to be done...

[cypster]

You are definitely right about that cardiacclep. I am actually enjoying this class a whole lot more than I thought I would.

[cypster]

Hi there rlw74. The first assignment is primarily an introduction to your topic where you state your topic and then provide some background and your research problem and sub questions. The second chapter it seems is like jsd described above. A thorough summary of each resource you will use and why you chose to use it all laid out in a structural framework of some kind. I would suggest getting your NJ state library card early so you can order books early if you don't live near a decent library. It would also allow you to get familiar with the database search early.

[cypster]

This paper is super exciting to write. For anyone who will soon take this class I would like to take a moment to encourage you not to shortchange yourself in your research. Today I ran across an element of research that to my knowledge has seldom or never been discussed in my area of focus and I'm so excited at the new prospects that it brings to the discussion.

[cypster]

Just another quick update for this class. Chapter 2 was a lot of work for me but it all came together at the last minute. I think the text for this class is helpful for me althought it may have been useless to others. I do wish that it was not so focused on one style of research, however. I've found that brain dumping my ideas on paper or a recorder has also proven to be very helpful as well. And zotero was a real lifesaver for doing the bibliography. Hopefully that might help with some questions others might have about this class. I don't have enough time to do a full overview so I'll just post an update when I find the time. Good luck in your completion plans!

[cypster]

I've really enjoyed writing this paper. With Chapter 5 graded now, I think it's safe to say that I will most likely pass this class! All that remains now will be to combine the five individual chapters into my Final Paper. Do you any of you know how I can edit my original post in this thread? I do not see an edit button.