Have you completed your Term Paper ?
April 3rd, 2007 | by Ridhima Suri |Well, this is the question I used to ask my students, after the first quarter of the academic session would reach its slow end. Also, this is the same question my teachers used to ask me, while I was a student too! However, while dealing with ‘How Tos’ for academic research, I learnt a few lessons.
The research or term paper is becoming such an ingrained part of the academic scene that one often loses its objective. For any student, a Term Paper comes up as the complete excuse for ruining his vacation or bunking classes. When I asked for guidance to write my Term Paper on E Commerce, my Professor immediately started saying, ” Put in facts, figures, pile in statistical analysis!!!”, so on and so forth. Now, as I was a Post Grad, this was required of me and I really worked hard on all scores to get that positive nod from her. I did and I was happy.
Cut… to my Teaching assignment in the Under-grad. Management Faculty. One of my earlier follies was to do the same to my students. However, with the grace of my seniors and some literary help, I mended my way pretty soon. Just for putting this recollection to writing, I wish to explain the difference between two interchangeably used terms :RESEARCH PAPER and TERM PAPER.
Although all research papers can be Term Papers. Yet all Term Papers do not officially or essentially require research. The Term Paper is usually a paper assigned as a major part or the academic requirement. Major generally permeats down to marks and grades. I remember, at PG (Post-Graduate)level, each semester had a Term Paper of 50 marks. However, at UG (Under Graduate Level), this was 100 marks. The Term Paper requires a student to do some original thinking and does not require use to lab work, experimentation, or questionnaire analysis.
A Research Paper, generally requires a student to find answers to a problem through his literary and practical search and analysis. It includes exhaustive study of literature available on the subject.
Since I have dealt with Term Papers in typical classroom settings, I have a few personal observations to share. At Under Grad level, I was sure to follow a tailor-based strategy for each student in a classe strength ranging from 50-85.
How a topic was chosen ??
Ideally, a student comes up with an idea or interest area, and proposes to his Supervisor for approval. However, since at such a junior level, generally it is the Teacher’s duty to show the candle. And so, I used to classify various functional heads and throw in a bunch of issues, which might interest the students in class. This would follow an open discussion for quite a long span of the session and finally, both the parties would nod a ‘yes’ on something!! phewwwwww…not all that easy, especially when two minds seldom agree…I would feel I am a marketing professional, trying to sell and idea for the Paper to my always fleeing students!!!
What to include?
Ideally, a simple study for the Term Paper is good enough. Yet there is immense competition among students and I never let this spirit down. In my personal opinion, if I felt that a student is capable of doing more than the standard I am setting, then God only save that pupil/team!!
I never had any ironclad pre-requisites for the Term Paper. If a student wanted to do data study, I nodded yes to that. If the Team wanted to do a questionnarie, I never dscouraged. I knew if they could do it then, then they would never have a problem during advanced studies. So long as there was a need TO DO, I tried not to say NO.
However, faced with the vagaries of peak bunking periods around submission dates, I could not always do my best. Also, Classroom time is limited, and there is a limit to how much maximum information you can disseminate during one academic year/semester. Hence, this paved path to some practical approaches as well. One was to aim at making the student learn about what he is writing, become aware of various aspects of the subject.
I realised that the whole merit of a Term Paper needs to be put forward more emphatically. It should go beyond merely scoring high and impressing the teacher. It should go beyond merely asking “Have you completed your Term Paper?” to “Do you want to do another one????”"
hehehe…another one…I am sure I would get “ARE YOU KIDDING ME” glances from the entire student body..neways…I loved doing that then and I love doing Research even now…:)
p.s my all – time favourite topics were Downsizing, BPOs, Consumer Behaviour, Small Scale Enterprises, Innovation, Stock Market…and well, well, there were lots of them…but I am running short on time, to post this one now..:)
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