The Step-by-Step Guide to Engineering Term Paper Writing

The Step-by-Step Guide to Engineering Term Paper Writing Writing a term paper is an irreplaceable element of the learning process. As a compulsory writing activity, term papers refer to the end of the term when students sum up their knowledge acquired during the half year. It is important to write a term paper as: It provides a student with an opportunity to demonstrate the ability to develop and further defend their logical arguments, yet demonstrate the knowledge on the subject to the professor. It allows the educator to assess the ability to express what is learned during a term. Besides showing the knowledge and assessing it, term paper writing is aimed at improving the writing skills, the ability to think clearly and concisely. In regards to the range of topics, term papers require a specific issue in the studied discipline to be analyzed by the student. Meanwhile, term papers are written once in a term. They are accounted for the biggest part of the grade, that is why writing a term paper becomes a highly important process. Top Writing Difficulties to Avoid in a Term Paper on Engineering The foremost explanation for the student’s dislike of writing term papers or any other kinds of academic assignments is the need for significant research to be done. The second reason for antipathy towards term papers is the need for meeting the deadlines. All that is not so difficult if you organize your engineering term paper writing properly by dividing it into simple parts. Imagine you have only two days to write your term paper on Engineering. Usually, it is a common factor that makes most students worry about this assignment. Stop worrying! Everything is achievable if you know what to face and in what way. First of all, remember that the research part is the hardest part of the whole term paper writing process. That is why the first day is the time which you may devote to research for the relevant sources of information from where you can take some useful information for your term paper. Then, you make an outline which will considerably make your process of writing easy. With that in mind, the second day is the time of actual writing. The last reason why students don’t like writing a term paper is the lack of knowledge regarding what the academic paper should look like. The next passage will explain all the peculiarities associated with good term paper writing and all difficulties you may find while writing your term paper. 7 Stages of Writing a Term Paper: How Our Writers Do The main elements involved in the writing process are known to everyone, but not everyone includes them in the term paper writing. Choose another way of dealing with this issue: Choose a topic; Doing extensive research; Create an outline and a thesis statement; Write a term paper; Create a list of sources used in the paper; Check the term paper for possible grammar mistakes and plagiarism; Read the paper out to follow the logic of writing. A Topic Choice Is Careful When You Write a Good Term Paper on Engineering The first part of any academic assignment is choosing a meaningful topic which will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge on the subject as much as possible. Nonetheless, choosing a deliberate topic is not enough as anyway, you will have to develop a persuasive, logical argument. With that in mind, think about whether you will be able to reveal the knowledge on the topic appropriately. It is common that professors offer students a list of topics and it, of course, makes the process of searching the topic for your term paper easier and faster. In contrast to this assumption, some professors believe that students are creative enough to invent the most interesting topics if given an opportunity to choose the topic by themselves. In this case, choosing a topic may seem challenging, but believe, this is even better as you can take any topic you want to write about. Just remember that your topic should resemble the class materials as any term paper aims to summarize your knowledge on the studied subject. However, if you cannot think of the topic quickly brainstorm! This is the best option to find what inspires you. Take a pencil and a piece of paper. Imagine you are drawing a sun with rays. In the circle, write the main concept associated with your topic. For instance, it can be only â€Å"engineering.† Further, write your associations regarding engineering. It can be â€Å"biomechanics,† â€Å"electric cars,† â€Å"solar energy,† â€Å"robots,† etc. In case you still struggle on the search for the topic in the engineering discipline, there is a list of topics to consider. Certainly, you may change a topic from the list and alter it in accordance with your ideas and wishes. So, try out the following topics: System Engineering Management: How to Plan a Project to Get the Desired Results? How Can Electric Cars Be Modified to Get Rid of Gas Cars Forever? The Development of the Solar Energy Panels with the Suggestions for Their Further Improvement Human Labor Vs. Machines: Will the Battle for Jobs Affect Engineers? The Future Possible Inventions by Engineers: Pros and Cons Engineering Design Tools and Their Limitation of Using Does Today’s Coastal and Waterway Engineering Prevent All Catastrophes? Genetic Engineering: Its Future Development and Significance for the Humankind. Your First Steps of a Good Term Paper Writing After you choose a topic for your term paper, don’t hesitate to research into the background information. Remember that your professor expects to see only credible sources. That is why the search for information on your topic should be conducted in the database which offers you academic sources. The best databases of such kind are JSTOR, ProQuest, and EBSCO. Additionally, Oxford Academic is a perfect database for searching the specific academic journals. Now that you have done a lot of research based on the sources that you consider the most credible (by the way, know how to examine every particular source? Follow the link â€Å"Is my source credible?†), you are ready to persuade the reader of your opinion about the engineering issue. What is the issue of your paper? What are you going to persuade your reader of? The point is that you should write your thesis statement which is your actual argument you are going to prove. For instance, if you choose to write about electric cars and defend their advantage, then your thesis may sound like the following (just an example): â€Å"In comparison to gas cars, electric cars offer a healthy future to the humankind as they do not contribute to the environmental pollution due to reduced level of emissions.† However, be ready to present controversial ideas in your paper in regards to your thesis statement as the term paper is not simply a research paper but an academic assignment wh ere you have to offer the contrary opinion. There are readers who will ask you â€Å"What if†¦?† You must be ready for answers. So, prepare your persuading arguments. When you are ready with your thesis statement, create an outline for your paper that will allow you not to lose your track of thought and provide a logical scheme of arguments for your thesis statement. First of all, think about the parts which your paper requires. For instance, the compulsory parts of any term paper are Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. However, some term papers require such additional part as Abstract. In this part, you should mention the issue you explore and the results you come to. In other words, an abstract is a part which contains a brief description of your paper. Our Experts Advise: 3 Paper Centerpieces to Pay Attention to When your outline and abstract (if needed) are ready, start writing your term paper according to the main term paper structure: The first main section is an introduction where you should familiarize the reader with your topic by providing some essential details and a kind of basic information which describes the premises for the issue you are going to explore. For instance, if you decided to write about the electric cars, then your introductory paragraph may explain to the reader why the electric cars appeared and why they are so special nowadays. Your thesis statement usually goes as the last sentence of your introductory paragraph. The second part of the term paper is usually the body which may contain a lot of sections depending on the research you have done and the way you want to organize your explanation. For instance, the topic â€Å"How Can Electric Cars Be Modified to Get Rid of Gas Cars Forever?† may contain such points as â€Å"history of electric cars†, â€Å"why electric cars are beneficial†, and â€Å"suggestions for the future of electric cars† and so on. The number of the main points also depends on the variety of aspects concerning the topic you want to enlighten in your paper. Just remember that the information which you present in your paper should be well-structured and logically connected. The last part of the paper is the conclusion which usually contains the results you come to in your research and generally summarizes the parts of your paper. In conclusion, you should mention what you aim to persuade your reader of and how you come to the results. The concluding part does not contain any new information not to confuse the reader. Post-Writing Is the Final Stage of Term Paper Writing The last points that you should pay attention to in your term paper are a list of references and checking your paper for plagiarism and all possible mistakes in grammar, syntax, punctuation, formatting, etc. While organizing a list of sources used in your term paper, follow the citation rules depending on the formatting style needed to use. The Internet will offer you a lot of literature devoted to writing academic papers. It is advisable that you use the rules from the book and other instructions which may improve your academic writing. The books will provide you with some useful information about writing a term paper and other academic assignments. Here is the list of the additional sources which will help while writing your term paper and which will properly explain all the issues associated with the writing process: Creme, P. and M. Lea. 2008. Writing at University: A guide for students. Open University Press. Oshima, A. Hogue, A. 2005. Writing Academic English, Addison-Wesley, New York. Craswell, G. 2004. Writing for Academic Success. Sage Publications. Murray, N. 2012. Writing Essays in English Language and Linguistics, Cambridge University Press. Hamp-Lyons, L. and Heasley, B. 2006. Study Writing. Cambridge University Press. Simple Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism issues in Your Term Papers Remember that the proper organization of all in-text citations and all the used materials will allow you to follow the rules of the academic integrity. The academic experience proves that unintentional plagiarism happens, and sometimes it does only because of the student’s neglect in regards to the citation rules. In case you do not want to buy a guidebook on academic writing, you may ask the writing center for help. All universities have writing centers which help with the writing process. Additionally, they will surely give you advice on how to avoid plagiarism. However, if you decide not to visit the writing center, then here are some tips on how to avoid plagiarism. As it was already mentioned, knowing the citation rules is obligatory for any student. The second step is using the anti-plagiarism software. There is a variety of anti-plagiarism programs starting from the best one which is Turnitin (it is extremely effective, however, not free) and finishing with Grammarly. The latter is an amazing option for writers as it detects plagiarism and checks your grammar at the same time. Additionally, it is free and easy-to-use! After you use the grammar/spelling checkers and anti-plagiarism software, be sure to reread the paper to detect all possible mistakes. Like any computer program, Grammarly is not ideal, and it sometimes considers some forms of words or prepositions as mistakes. That is why checking your text one more time is advisable. Certainly, your grammar knowledge should be appropriate to check the academic language on your own. Here is a list of books which will help you improve your English grammar based on the language level you have or want to have: Advanced Grammar in Use with Answers: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Advanced Learners of English (By Martin Hewings). Practice Makes Perfect Advanced English Grammar for ESL Learners: Advanced ESL Grammar (By Mark Lester). English Grammar in Use: A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Students of English With Answers (By Raymond Murphy). After reading this guide, you have more chances to start writing a term paper and finish it as required by your strict professor. Good luck!