TESU Capstone Course - difficulty rating

[EeBee]

I am chiming in late... Here are some tips:

1. Pick a topic before starting to save time and think about the research.  I picked a bad topic... executive function skill interventions to close the academic achievement gap in socioeconomically disadvantaged youth.  This involved psychology, education, economics, and data.  DO NOT pick a topic with that brings together that many fields.  I should have just evaluated EF skill interventions in the classroom.  It would have been half the work, easier writing, etc.  You can pick any topic and you need your topic right after you start.

2.  Get paid Grammarly. The paid version is amazing.  It will correct and rewrite you work.  I think they have a free trial.  You will have near perfect papers. It rewrites entire passages for clarity.  

3.  The final paper is really a combination of the previous papers.  Putting it together at the end was the easy part, start the class by reading ALL of the final capstone requirements, visualize your final paper, and write your assignments as you go.

4.   My mentor was responsive, gave samples of every assignment, recorded audio feedback, etc.  I suggest reaching out after your first assignment to make sure you know exactly what they want.  She stressed things in our one on one that I didn't get in my feedback and really fine tuned my paper.  I got a 94 on my first paper and brought the rest to 99 as I knew what she didn't like.

5.   KEEP A ANNOATED BIBLIOGRAPHY as you go. You will need this at the end. It is easier to do it as you go and eliminate what you don't need.  Annotating as you go makes it much easier to remember what you want to add.

6.   Go into Google Scholar and add  NJSL library and TESU to your libraries.  It will allow you to see what papers you will have full text access to immediately.  It is the fastest way to research, although you will have to show that you used the school databases.

7.   It isn't hard.... just time consuming.  Pick your topic wisely... I cannot stress this enough.

 Per #5, I can't stress this enough - find a citation method BEFORE YOU START. Here's a great list: https://library.bu.edu/create_bibliographies  I use Zotero - every time I find something online, I toss it into Zotero and then, at the end, all my quotes, footnotes, reference page - just write themselves. I picked Zotero because it syncs online/offline but any work.

Also? YES TO PAID GRAMMARLY.

I was an AP tutor for 10 years and these two tips alone have secured dozens of 'A' grades for 'B' students.

Good luck!