Credit Weight: The term paper is worth 10% of my final grade.
Objectives: The overall goal of this paper is to study a particular aspect of human development.
Instructions: consider a life experience and reflect on a particular aspect of your development. for example, of a certain period of your life that was more challenging, that you wish you understood better, or in which you were particularly striving. Were you part of a family where discord reigned? Did you experience difficulty to adapt in school or in the workplace? Did you have challenges as a child, as a teenager, or as an adult? Once you have identified a specific event of your life, you will research literature that covers your topic and will use that literature to make sense of your experience. The literature you use will have to be chosen critically and will include at least two articles from scientific journals.
Format: The paper should be 3-4 double-spaced, word-processed pages using a standard 12-point font.
Your paper will include three major parts: an introduction, the body, and a conclusion. It will start with a title page and end with a reference list.
The title page of your paper, the headings, your citations and references, and your reference list should follow the APA style. You must acknowledge your sources in a scholarly manner throughout your paper.
Structuring the Paper
Title Page
Introduction: (10 Points) – (10 to 12 lines)
The introduction to your paper addresses the following questions :
• The purpose of the paper, and how is it important and meaningful to you.
Significance to the field of psychology
• How your paper is divided.
Body: (40 Points)- (3 to 4)
The body of your paper is where you develop the material you introduced. Pay attention to the clarity of interpretation and to the relevance of the theories, concepts, and research findings to your topic. Any quoted material and any ideas attributable to someone else must be acknowledged with proper in-text citations, and must be listed in correct APA reference format at the end of the paper. Your ideas should flow in a logical fashion, and your ideas and paragraphs should be connected well.
Conclusion: (30 Points)- (10-12 lines)
This section gives a summary of your paper, and your personal comments/thoughts on the topic and information discovered about the topic.
Reference List
Language and APA Style: (20 Points)
Marks will be deducted for grammar, usage, spelling, typing, and punctuation errors, and for not following APA style.
Marking Key for the Term Paper:
Title Page
Introduction /10
-Purpose
-Significance to the field
-How is your paper divided
Body /40
-Reflection on a particular aspect of your development
-Choice of literature, including two peer-reviewed articles
-Analysis, identification of how they make you make sense of your experience
-Structure well defined, with sections identified by headings
-Ideas flow logically and there are transitions between each major section of the paper
Conclusion /30
-Summary
-Comments
Reference List
Language and APA Style /20
-Grammar
-APA format
-Scholarly writing
