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I'm not looking forward to writing a 20-page paper for the COSC Capstone. Has anyone done this course for their concentration? How was the paper writing? Did the prof. do a good job navigating you thru the process?
I am not a great writer, so it has me a bit concerned. Note, this is one of my last courses aside from a TECEP and a couple Davars, so I need to pass.
Thanks,
Kel
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I cannot comment on COSC, but I am in the capstone at TESU right now. The 25 page minimum length was daunting for me as well, but it turns out I easily doubled that (That's excluding front/read matter). I wouldn't panic about the length. I would advise that you find someone that can act as a second set of eyes for proofing your paper. Maybe family or friends.
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TRCC Emergency Management Certificate, 2018
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(01-14-2018, 10:28 PM)GoldieLux Wrote: I'm not looking forward to writing a 20-page paper for the COSC Capstone. Has anyone done this course for their concentration? How was the paper writing? Did the prof. do a good job navigating you thru the process?
I am not a great writer, so it has me a bit concerned. Note, this is one of my last courses aside from a TECEP and a couple Davars, so I need to pass.
Thanks,
Kel
Writing long papers, to me, is no different than writing short ones- think of it as a string of shorter papers linked together. If you can break your paper down into major categories, then break each major category into points, each point can get "its own paper" of sorts. This is generic advice, I don't know your instructor's instructions for you- but break it down and work from there.
Also, submit before the deadline- that doesn't guarantee anything, but from a psychological point of view when teachers get an assignment early, their perception of the student is stronger than when they are handing it in 1 minute before the window closes. If anyone thinks a teacher's perception doesn't color the way they grade, you're missing out on low hanging fruit.
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01-15-2018, 12:58 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-15-2018, 06:02 PM by Marcus Aurelius.)
Just break the paper up into shorter sections and it won't seem too bad. Just create an outline like this:
- Intro (2 pages)
- First Point (3 pages)
- Second Point (3 pages)
- Third Point (3 pages)
- Fourth Point (3 pages)
- Fifth Point (3 pages)
- Summary (or tying everything together) (2 pages)
- Conclusion (1 page)
There, it doesn't seem so bad now, does it?
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Thanks, I'm still overwhelmed by the thought of it. But I have a fairly solid topic in mind, so I'm hoping I can find enough research to be able to back it up. Eight weeks goes by fast though.
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(01-15-2018, 06:12 PM)GoldieLux Wrote: Thanks, I'm still overwhelmed by the thought of it. But I have a fairly solid topic in mind, so I'm hoping I can find enough research to be able to back it up. Eight weeks goes by fast though.
20 pages in 8 weeks will be a cakewalk. Less than 3 pages a week. Which means less than 1/2 page a day. Each page is under 300 words, so 150 words a day and you'll be golden. If you shoot for a little more, maybe a page a day, you'll have wiggle room for unexpected things that arise.
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(01-15-2018, 06:12 PM)GoldieLux Wrote: Thanks, I'm still overwhelmed by the thought of it. But I have a fairly solid topic in mind, so I'm hoping I can find enough research to be able to back it up. Eight weeks goes by fast though.
The topic is probably a thousand times more complex than you think at first blush. The key will be breaking it down into manageable chucks.
So, what did you decide to write about?? 
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Yes! Inquiring minds want to know! I'm oddly fascinated when I get to hear people's topic choice! 
Amy
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Don't forget that formatting eats up a lot of the page count. I don't know the COSC format but TESU has you write in modules. Each module has an intro, body of work and conclusion. Then you have literature reviews and references. There is a lot of repetition. It was pretty easy to fill up 20+ pages. I'm guessing COSC will be similar.
MTS Nations University - September 2018
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I think part of the panic is that I don't have a topic yet. I've been racking my brain, but nothing yet. There's a few IT-related topics I might write about, but I'll keep you posted once I pick one. I have till next week to get a topic approved.
Also, I don't think that we do the module-based capstone paper at COSC, but on the brightside, it's only 20 pages, rather than the 25+. Still daunting to me...
Thanks for all of your tips and tricks!
Kel
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