Academic Methodology

COURSE DESCRIPTION &OBJECTIVES :
This is a mandatory class to help students organize their time, to develop efficient study skills and habits and to learn the techniques required in the production of an academic research paper and reports.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY :
Students will receive certain basic material in the form of a mini-lecture, but because this class is of a very practical nature, there will be ample opportunity for hands-on application of the study skills learned. The last 3 sessions of the semester will be devoted to the application of the skills you will have learned by writing a short research paper.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Understand the importance of academic honesty, adhere to the ethical code of conduct, and apply all the appropriate academic conventions in research writing, assignments, tests and exams.
- Develop effective personal learning and studying strategies.
- Calculate the grade point average (GPA).
- Use dictionaries & textbooks effectively.
- Understand the importance of time management, develop a schedule/monthly planner and learn how to prioritize tasks.
- Develop effective reading skills.
- Take notes from a text and or in a lecture using different strategies (mindmaps, clusters, lists etc).
- Acquire and apply effective research methods (find and limit a topic into a workable thesis).
- Use competently format features in research papers (capitalization, titles, headings, paragraphs and footnotes etc.)
- Evaluate library & Internet sources and produce an accurate bibliography.
- Prepare for exams effectively.

TEXT :
MLA Handbook, Gibaldi, 7th Edition, 2009

EVALUATION :
The final grade will be determined as follows: class attendance & participation (20%), a group assignment: an annotated bibliography for a short research paper (30%), a trade show (8 page-report) (20%) and a final exam (30%)