Introduction to Computers: Fall 2013

Term paper: Rough draft

You have turned in a prospectus and a progress report for your term paper: these were two important steps for defining the topic of your paper, as well as an outline that specifies the questions you are addressing with respect to this topic. You should also be in the situation of having done most of your research. If you are not yet there, it is time to catch up!

The next step is to prepare a full draft for your paper. Remember, it should ultimately contain the following elements:

• Title of your term paper
• Introduction: introduce the analytical question(s) you will discuss.
• Description: list the arguments you want to make, with links to your research.
• Discussion: list the points that need to be discussed in response to the arguments you included in your description.
• Answer and Conclusion:
• References

A few elements to consider when preparing your draft:

• At this stage, you are still organizing your ideas, making sure the overall organization is logical; you are not yet worried about "details" (such as spelling or grammar). Please leave the "editor" side of you out, so that you can remain creative.
• Make sure your paper includes a question/problem at the beginning and your answer to this question at the end of the discussion.
• "Why" questions will take you further than "what" questions; for example "why do teachers use computer in the classroom" will generate more discussion than "which computers do teachers use in the classroom"?
• Make sure that if you use a quote, you reference it properly. Plagiarism is a misconduct!
• Add your references at the end of your draft. You do not need to format them yet; as a last stage you will format them using APA formatting (here is a good place for finding information on APA styles for references: http://ucdavis.libguides.com/content.php?pid=265545&sid=2192471).

Turning in your draft

Do not worry about how your draft looks! You can go back and complete sentences, and rearrange things into paragraphs, but the key here is to give yourself raw material. When you look at your paper again, feel free to make notes (in the margin or in parentheses) about references and further questions to follow up on--you'll be surprised at how effective this is. Save your draft as draft.doc (or draft.docx) and turn it in on Smartsite.

Grading

The grading for this assignment is simple: all or nothing. You will receive 10 points if you turn in at least two pages of material with your name on it. The cosmetic appearance of this is irrelevant; what counts is your respect for the thinking and writing process.