Final Project

Over the last six modules, you built toward this culminating moment: the submission of your final project. This week you will be drafting a research paper of 3-5 pages (approximately 750-1250 words) that builds on your previous Milestone work. Use the Final Project TemplatePreview the document for an example of how to create and format your final paper. 

Begin by reading pages 7.8-7.13 in the webtext before beginning this assignment.

Step 1: Reflect on Previous Milestone Feedback and Make Adjustments 

Each week after you submitted a Milestone assignment, your instructor provided you with feedback, often including suggestions for improvement. Take stock of that feedback and incorporate it. This might mean adjusting the wording of your thesis statement, replacing a source, fixing errors in your APA formatting, rewriting your introduction, or rethinking your organization of paragraphs. Make sure to use your peers feedback on Milestone 5 as well what suggestions did they have to improve your introduction and outline? Did they understand your argument and if not, how can you communicate it more clearly? 

Step 2: Use Your Outline to Draft Your Paper

Using your Milestone 5 outline, begin to flesh out each of your body paragraphs by adding evidence from your sources that support your thesis (along with proper in-text citations for ideas or quotes from your sources). Make sure to include transitions between paragraphs and wrap up your paper with a conclusion paragraph that reiterates your thesis argument and offers some concluding thoughts. 

Step 3: Review and Edit Your Work 

Once you have a full draft written, make sure to re-read it carefully with an eye on the details like spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence clarity, and word choice. Go back to the Writing Refresher section of the course for help with any weak areas of your writing. Try reading it aloud to catch errors you might otherwise miss in print. 

Step 4: Submit to the Canvas Dropbox and Review Your Turnitin Report. Make Changes If Needed and Resubmit.

As you learned in Module 4, Excelsior uses Turnitin in the Canvas dropbox as a learning tool for students. Plan to submit to the dropbox a few days early if you can so you have time to review your Turnitin report and similarity score. If your score comes back high, revise your content to make sure you are using original writing, citing ideas from others, and properly putting the exact words of others in quotation marks. 

Note: you can resubmit to the dropbox up until the due date for this assignment, which is Sunday night at 11:59 pm ET of Module 7. After that due date has passed, your most recent submission is considered final. 
Resources

    Final Project TemplatePreview the document (Word document)
    Writing Refresher

Submission Instructions: 

Submit a completed 3-5 page (approx. 750-1250 words) research paper on your topic choice made in Module 1 that incorporates your work from Milestones 1-6. Use the Final Project TemplatePreview the document for an example of how to create and format your final paper. 

It should include: 

    At least 4 references 
    A title page and reference page in APA style
    In-text citations in APA format
    An introductory paragraph with your clear, one-sentence thesis statement (this should NOT be underlined at this point)
    Body paragraphs that use information from the sources as evidence to prove the thesis statement 
    A conclusion paragraph that offers final thoughts and reiterates the thesis statement
    Proper spelling, syntax, and grammar
    Improvements based on your instructors feedback on your previous milestone work (i.e. to the thesis statement, introduction, organization, use of sources, APA style, etc.) 

Evaluation: 

    This assignment uses TurnItIn.
    The Final Course Project assignment is due Sunday by 11:59 pm ET and will be evaluated according to the IND101 Final Project Rubric. Make sure to review the rubric before submitting so you know how you will be assessed.
    This assignment is worth 20% of your overall course grade.