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What is coursework?
Coursework is a practical work or study done by a student in partial fulfillment of a degree or training. Projects, field work, design studies, long essays etc constitutes a coursework. The nature of work which requires to be carried out depends on the course. It is largely a part of learning exercise and a step to prepare you to handle the required work/ task effectively and efficiently.
- folios of essays
- art and craft items
- speaking tests
- practical work
- assignments and experiments undertaken and assessed during the course
Writing a Ph.D. Coursework
Ph.D. coursework helps students to provide the breadth of knowledge about general skills. The coursework, in general, will help to acquire skills relevant for Ph.D. thesis writing.
The Ph.D. coursework consists of research methodology (qualitative and quantitative research training), basic computer and scientific communication, statistics, principles of management and social ethics, review writing, presentation and seminars, rubric assignment, literature review, referencing style, formulating research questions & development of questionnaire.
The steps which must be followed in executing the actual work are :-
- Do some research about your topic of interest or assigned topic
- Finalize your topic
- Prepare a structure especially for long writing coursework such as thesis (Outline)
- Write an abstract or summary for approval from mentor/teacher.
- Do a thorough research for collecting data, facts.
- Start writing and keep on doing the required research
- Check for plagiarism (if any) and work to remove it
- Give credits & references
- Coursework require you to make something like model, sculpture or artwork
- Find something which you appreciate (its design, concept, through, history, significance)
- Come up with what remains the focus area for your coursework
- Decide what you wish to make and in what form eg. model (scaled or not to scale), sculpture or some craftwork
- Finalize the materials to be used such as waste materials, wax, wood, metal, plastic etc
- Collect all the required stuff for making your masterpiece
- Have a mental image prepared and preferably a rough sketch
- Get working!
Who assigns coursework and why?
Coursework can be assigned by your mentor. The reason can be an assessment by the Mentor but in most of the cases it’s a requirement as per course structure. A coursework is meant to reflect understanding of what has been taught. How well you understand it and apply it in different situations. Your own thoughts and way of thinking about a topic is reflected in your final work. As mentioned earlier nature of coursework is very diverse.
Your creativity, understanding, innovative aspect, talent etc are reflected in the work done by you. All these activities done as a coursework award you marks or grades which are counted to evaluate your overall grade for a particular course or purpose.
Some of the most widely used form of coursework include thesis, dissertations, research paper & term paper as far as writing is concerned.
The doctorate degree requires two to five years of postgraduate work, the writing of a thesis, and the passing of oral and written examinations.
IIM A’s 2 Years Coursework | Learnings & Lessons | ft. Ms. Pranusha Kulkarni | Area- Public Policy
Key points to be kept in mind while working on coursework
- Originality– Your topic/ idea should be original. Originality of idea is given significant importance and can be a deal breaker. This is not just of the requirement in most of the cases but also a scoring parameter. There are countless number of students and scholars doing research so having an original idea keeps you on positive side.
- Need– If your coursework is solution oriented then you must clearly identify the key problems and issues which you aim to cover under your work. A good solution cannot be provided unless the problem has been understood well
- Uniqueness– Uniqueness in terms of idea and work. Preparing good questionnaires and conducting surveys adds to uniqueness and originality of content. Not only your topic but also the content should be unique.
- Your Input– This is the most crucial aspect. Your inputs will reflect the understanding and applicability of topic by you. This is the whole purpose of having a coursework. Try your best and put best foot forward. Having a well-structured and presented work is something a teacher and mentor is looking for.
- Outcomes & way forward– Having worked and making lots of efforts doesn’t have much value unless useful outcomes are shown. Having a good & meaningful analysis and presentation of data with the best data extraction service is an essential factor. These can be in form of proposals or problem identification. Your work might conclude your topic or pave a path for others to continue working.
Final Compiling of Course-work:
- Now, its time to pen-down your Course-work and try to re-evaluate according to the University guidelines before you submit it.
- Always proofread your final paper and make check all grammatical glitches: Subject-verb agreement, Proper usage of tenses, Dangling ,modifiers, Pronoun-antecedent match, Punctuation.
- Don’t panic and take a deep breath whenever you are stressed out.
- Take the help of your professors to effectively evaluation your research paper.
- Our editors are always there to help you, feel free to contact us!
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