Research Paper Assessment Criteria

How your research paper is assessed

      Writing a Research Paper (8-12 pages or about 5000 words)

Total number of marks: 100 

This is how your research paper will be assessed:

Assessment Criteria
Introduction (10 points): Focuses the reader’s attention on the subject of the research paper; clear, logical formulation of research objectives, research question, research hypothesis and thesis statement.	10
Table of Content (8 points): Reflects the structure and content of the paper.	8
Conclusion (10 points): Logically complete the development of the thesis, research question and research objectives.	10
References page (10 points): References are written in APA style, on a separate page. Follow the APA guidelines.	10
Format (10 points): Follow the guidelines for the format of the paper: Times New Roman 12, spaces between lines 1.5, and margins 1” to 1.25”.	10
Syntax and punctuation (12 points): Avoid sentence fragments, comma splices, and fused, incomplete, or awkward sentences. Avoid misuse or omission of the apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, period, question mark, quotation marks, semi-colon, slash, underlining, or italics.	12
Quotations and paraphrase (10 points): Effectively quote and paraphrase from sources.	10
Organization and coherence (10 points): Arrange ideas in a logical order; use transitions and other cohesive devices to link ideas effectively within and between paragraphs.	10
Spelling and capitalization (10 points): Avoid spelling and capitalization errors.	10
Grammar and usage (10 points): Avoid inappropriate verb or pronoun use, unclear pronoun reference, inappropriate shift in person or tense, redundancy, imprecise language, or incorrect usage.	10

                                                                                                                              Total: 100

Any of the following may result in failure or a lowered grade:  

1. Research topic not approved in advance 
2. Outline, notes, and draft not approved
3. Research question lacking or unsupported
4. A paper that is primarily an anthology of direct quotations
5. Cheating, plagiarism, or falsification
6. Frequent errors in grammar and mechanics that prevent communication
7. A carelessly written or typed paper
8. A late paper (submitted late)
9. Failure to use APA referencing style
10. A lack of correlation between works that are cited in the body of the paper and sources that are listed on the works cited page.

Task Instructions

Dear Student,

You will have to write a review and discuss it in class (give a five minute oral report).

Write a review in report format of what you have learned during GCD 1022. You should write about 500 words in total.

Task instructions: Your review must have two parts plus an introduction and a conclusion.
Introduction: basic information about the course and a statement of what you will include in your report (3-5 sentences).
Part 1: review of what you have studied.
Part 2: reflection on what you have learned.
Conclusion: very short summary of what you have learned in the course and why it’s important to learn these things (2-4 sentences).

Part 1 must describe what you have studied in this course.  You should think about language (vocabulary and grammar) as well as skills (different kinds of speaking, writing, reading and listening skills).  You should write in paragraph format, but may use bullet points as part of your answer if you choose.  Include details and examples.

Useful phrases:
I have learned how to…
I have practised…
I have learned vocabulary about…

In part 2 you must reflect on what you have learned.  You should answer these questions:

a) What learning activity (e.g. project, assignment, classroom task) did you find most useful or interesting?  Why?

b) What learning activity did you find most difficult?  Why?

c) How do you think you will use the skills learned in this course in your future career?  Give as many examples as you can.

d) You will be studying English again next semester.  What would you like to learn or practise in next semester’s course?

Submission date: Wednesday, 13 May 2015.


Algirdas

About your research paper

Dear Student,

In the Introduction you should write the following:

General information about the research topic (in two or three sentences)
Why you decided to choose this topic (in one or two sentences)
Basic research question (in one sentence)
Explain why the research question is important (in about two sentences)
What you expected to find out in your research (your hypothesis)
Research objectives (two or three objectives)
Describe briefly the general structure of your research paper, e.g. ‘’our research paper consists of introduction, two chapters, conclusions, references and appendices.”

Chapter 1 should address the objective 1.
Chapter 2 should address the objective 2.

Conclusion must be clear and logical. For example, you briefly explain what was found out (what you discovered); then you make clear statements, such as
The following conclusions were made:
1. 
2. 
3. 

The last paragraph (two or three sentences) summarises your research. 

References should be written in APA style on a separate page. You will find out how to write references in APA style if you click on the following links:

The basics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOEmM5gmTJM

APA Paper Microsoft Word 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyCexGBT_5o

Creating a reference page in an APA-formatted paper:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGHw6Gwt7Q 

Referencing electronic sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6KZK4-SXfU 

Learn how to cite a website in APA style when there is no author, no date and no page number:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQ0wuf54qM

APA Format in Word for Mac:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAhHWNcU3vM 

There should be two appendices. 

Appendix 1 should contain a diagram / table / chart, etc. 

Appendix 2 should contain a standard letter in which you claim that there was no plagiarism and cheating in your research paper. You must sign it.
Learn how to write an appendix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlEomxPErYQ

Mini-research

Describe graphs, table charts and pie charts. Write brief descriptions of graphs, table charts and pie charts. Explain why they are used. Give examples. E-mail to your teacher.

Definitions - ESP Vocabulary

Dear Students,

Please study the following word definitions and write your own examples (20 sentences):


hardware - the machines, wiring, and other physical components of a computer or other electronic system.
"Select a software package that suits your requirements and buy the hardware to run it on."

software - the programs and other operating information used by a computer, e.g. "the software industry."

data - facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis, e.g., "there is very little data available."
Synonyms: facts, figures, statistics.

tax - a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers' income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions, e.g., "A failure to pay tax is usually punishable by law."

satellite - an artificial body placed in orbit round the earth or another planet in order to collect information or for communication, e.g., "a communications satellite."
Synonyms: space station, space capsule, spacecraft.

encode - (verb; past tense: encoded; past participle: encoded) convert into a coded form, e.g., "using this technique makes it possible to encode and transmit recorded video information."

process - a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end, e.g., "military operations could jeopardize the peace process", "faxing a seventy page document is an expensive process."
Synonyms: procedure, operation, action, activity, exercise, affair, business, job, task, undertaking, proceeding.

processor - a machine that processes something, e.g., "the processor overexposed the film."

data processing - the carrying out of operations on data, especially by a computer, to retrieve, transform, or classify information, e.g., "management strategies in data processing."

eliminate - completely remove or get rid of (something), e.g., "a policy that would eliminate inflation," "this diet claims to eliminate toxins from the body."
Synonyms: remove, get rid of, abolish, put an end to, do away with, banish; knock out, beat, get rid of.

quality assurance - the activity of checking goods or services to make sure that they are good. In developing products and services, quality assurance is any systematic process of checking to see whether a product or service being developed is meeting specified requirements. The goal of quality assurance is to identify defects after a product is developed and before it's released.

information security - the processes and methodologies which are designed and implemented to protect print, electronic, or any other form of confidential, private and sensitive information or data from unauthorized access, use, misuse, disclosure, destruction, modification, or disruption. Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction.

cell phone - (also known as a cellular phone, mobile phone, hand phone, or simply a phone) is a phone that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator, allowing access to the public telephone network. By contrast, a cordless telephone is used only within the short range of a single, private base station. In addition to telephony, modern mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services such as text messaging, MMS, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, gaming, and photography. Mobile phones that offer these and more general computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones.

server - computer or device on a network that manages network resources. There are many different types of servers. For example:
File server: a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.
Print server: a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic.
Database server: a computer system that processes database queries.
Servers are often dedicated, meaning that they perform no other tasks besides their server tasks. There are top 5 server terms: web server, proxy server, dedicated server, application server and cloud server.

mainframe computers - (colloquially referred to as "big iron") computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning and transaction processing.

supercomputer - the fastest type of computer. Supercomputers are very expensive and are employed for specialized applications that require immense amounts of mathematical calculations. For example, weather forecasting requires a supercomputer.  A supercomputer is typically used for scientific and engineering applications that must handle very large databases or do a great amount of computation.

handheld PC - a computer that can conveniently be stored in a pocket (of sufficient size) and used while a person is holding it. Today's handheld computers, which are also called personal digital assistants (PDAs), can be divided into those that accept handwriting as input and those with small keyboards.

PDA - short for Personal Digital Assistant; a handheld device that combines computing, telephone/fax, Internet and networking features. A typical PDA can function as a cellular phone, fax sender, Web browser and personal organizer. PDAs may also be referred to as a palmtop, hand-held computer or pocket computer.

motherboard - (sometimes abbreviated as mobo) the main circuit board of a microcomputer. The motherboard contains the connectors for attaching additional boards. Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive. Collectively, all these chips that reside on the motherboard are known as the motherboard's chipset. On most PCs, it is possible to add memory chips directly to the motherboard. You may also be able to upgrade to a faster PC by replacing the CPU chip. To add additional core features, you may need to replace the motherboard entirely. 

heat sink - a passive heat exchanger that cools a device by dissipating heat into the surrounding medium. In computers, heat sinks are used to cool central processing units or graphics processors. Heat sinks are used with high-power semiconductor devices such as power transistors and optoelectronics such as lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs), where the heat dissipation ability of the basic device is insufficient to moderate its temperature. A heat sink is designed to maximize its surface area in contact with the cooling medium surrounding it, such as the air. 

Retrieved and adapted from the following sources:

http://www.sans.org/information-security

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Quality_Assurance_vs_Quality_Control

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PDA.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_assurance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainframe_computer

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/supercomputer.html

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/supercomputer

http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/handheld

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/motherboard.html

ESP Vocabulary

hardware
software
data
tax
satellite
encode
process
processor
data processing
eliminate
quality assurance
information security
cell phone
server
mainframe
supercomputer
handheld PC
PDA
motherboard
heat sink
expansion card
processor
enclosure 
component 
fan
case
loading up 
remove
hard drive
tablet PC.
device
scroll wheel
touch screen
crystal clear sound
microphone
mouse
scanner
monitor
keyboard
display
encourage 
router
IP address
signals
routers
configuration
interconnect
CAT-5 cable
LAN
DHCP
file
folder
location
drag
minimize
maximize
font
digital
pointer
menu
shortcut
icon
template
processing
compatible
formatting
format
layout
POP3s
attachments
ISPs
hyperlink
website
search engine
retrieve
web host
web browser
website
resized
adjusted
cropped
contrast
exposure
graphics
pixels
graphics
images
spreadsheets
operator
database fields
functions
sort
analyze
extensive experience
usability
navigation
functionality
navigation
Web Development
appearance
content
visibility
typography
visual arts
techniques
page layout
electronic pages
desktop publishing software
Adobe InDesign
Microsoft Publisher
Scribus
extra
offset lithography
comprehensive layout
clip art
echo-cancellation
video-conference
bandwidth
monitor
video bridge
monitor
webcam
bandwidth
shopping cart
banner
page view
animated graphics
digital certificates
certificate authority
e-commerce

Classroom Presentations

Assignment:

• Find a recent news article about your major, relevant to the UAE.  
• Save it to your computer. Print a hard copy for your teacher.
• Read it. Study new vocabulary.
• Prepare to give a presentation to tell the class about this article.

The First Computer Programmer

Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. She was taught by Mary Somerville, a well-known researcher and scientific author, who introduced her to Charles Babbage in June 1833. Babbage was an English mathematician, who first had the idea for a programmable computer.

In 1842 and 1843, Ada translated the work of an Italian mathematician, Luigi Menabrea, on Babbage's Analytical Engine. Though mechanical, this machine was an important step in the history of computers; it was the design of a mechanical general-purpose computer. Babbage worked on it for many years until his death in 1871. However, because of financial, political, and legal issues, the engine was never built. The design of the machine was very modern; it anticipated the first completed general-purpose computers by about 100 years.

When Ada translated the article, she added a set of notes which specified in complete detail a method for calculating certain numbers with the Analytical Engine, which have since been recognized by historians as the world's first computer program. She also saw possibilities in it that Babbage hadn't: she realised that the machine could compose pieces of music. The computer programming language 'Ada', used in some aviation and military programs, is named after her.

Questions

Q1 - Ada Lovelace's teacher introduced her to Charles Babbage.

True  False

Q2 - Babbage programmed the first computer.

TrueFalse

Q3 - Ada translated the article in 1842.

TrueFalse

Q4 - The Analytical Engine was electronic.

TrueFalse

Q5 - Luigi Menabrea designed the first computer.

TrueFalse

Q6 - Babbage finished the machine before he died.

TrueFalse

Q7 - Babbage's design was ahead of its time.

TrueFalse

Q8 - Ada's work was instantly recognised as being the first computer program.

TrueFalse

Q9 - Babbage saw that his machine could write music.

TrueFalse

Q10 - Ada wrote military and aviation computer programs.

New Academic Vocabulary

Write your own sentences with the following words:


approach  
apparent    
consistently       
occur
occurrence
display
consist
consistency
initial
initialed
initially
potential  
item  
deny      
technique 
emergence  
version 
contrast
precede
individual 

Assignment 2

1. Find a recent news article about your major, relevant to the UAE.  
2. Save it to your computer.
3. Read it. Study new vocabulary.
4. Prepare to give a presentation to tell the class about this article.

Assignment 1

Explain meanings of the following words and give your own sentences with them:

research ……………………………………………………………………………………………

researcher ……………………………………………………………………………………………

researchable …………………………………………………………………………………………

weakness ……………………………………………………………………………………………

weak …………………………………………………………………………………................

professional …………………………………………………………………………………………

professionally …………………………………………………………………………………

professionalism ……………………………………………………………………….........…

punctual ………………………………………………………………………………………

punctuality ……………………………………………………………………………………

exaggerate ……………………………………………………………………………………

exaggeration …………………………………………………………………………...……

strangers ……………………………………………………………………………………

appreciated ……………………………………………………………………………………

appreciation …………………………………………………………………………………

maintain ………………………………………………………………………………………

maintenance …………………………………………………………………………………

selected ……………………………………………………………………………………….

selection ……………………………………………………………………………………….

selective ……………………………………………………………………………………….

demonstrate …………………………………………………………………………………

demonstration …………………………………………………………………………………

demonstrative …………………………………………………………………………………

accomplished …………………………………………………………………………………

accomplish ……………………………………………………………………………………

accomplishment ……………………………………………………………………….....…

considerably …………………………………………………………………………………

consider ………………………………………………………………………………………

consideration …………………………………………………………………………………

considerable ……………………………………………………………………………..……

considerably …………………………………………………………………………………

confide …………………………………………………………………………………………..

confidence ……………………………………………………………………………………

confident ……………………………………………………………………………………………

confidentiality …………………………………………………………………………………

confidently ………………………………………………………………………………………

confidentially ………………………………………………………………………………..…

confidential ………………………………………………………………………………………

to be in the centre of attention ………………………………………........................…...…

eye contact ………………………………………………………………………………………

a bore …………………………………………………………………………………………………

boring …………………………………………………………………………………………………

boredom …………………………………………………………………………………………

to hurt smb’s feelings ………………………………………………………..............….....…

agree with smb. ………………………………………………………………………...…....…

disagree ……………………………………………………………………………………………

disagreement ……………………………………………………………………………......…

Introduction

Dear Student,

This course is designed for Applied Diploma students in their first semester and focuses on the use of English for Specific Purposes. It will benefit you in your studies and in your career. 



Assignment:

1. Find a recent news article about your major, relevant to the UAE.  
2. Save it to your computer.
3. Read it. Study new vocabulary.
4. Prepare to give a presentation to tell the class about this article.