THE research-paper-topics-ideasy is the last test for you to earn your academic degree, being the Course Completion Paper, or TCC, more common.
At this decisive stage, it is very common for students to have difficulties, especially in relation to points such as planning and time management, language standardization and textual normalization.
This academic work comes to “crown” the entire course, and its performance is decisive for the completion of a stage, after all, all its effort and performance throughout the course years, need to be proven in this official document.
Many people already know how making a monograph is a difficult, long, complex and judicious job, regardless of the area of knowledge it addresses.
So, to help you craft a perfect dissertation, we've brought you this text. We will cover, in 8 steps, tips on how to structure, develop and finish this project.
Read until the end, get closer to winning your title and starting your professional activities, such as accounting Service, for graduates in Economics or Accounting.
What is a monograph?
All higher education courses, whether undergraduate or graduate, necessarily require the delivery of concrete proof of the practical application of the theoretical framework learned throughout the period of studies.
Thus, each institution determines the format used for the TCC of students. The most used are:
- The monograph;
- The production of an academic article;
- Publication in a scientific journal;
- Or other modalities more specific to the area, such as a documentary.
These are all exercises that are very different from other college assignments that involve the discussion of design of a product, like the rope guide, in the case of a course such as Production Engineering.
Furthermore, it involves a lot of scientific research and investigation, in addition to following specific and mandatory norms and standards for its acceptance.
Monograph x academic article
The term monograph is derived from the Greek: “monos” is a suffix for “one”, and “graphein” which means “to write”.
In other words, it is writing about a delimited topic, such as "Prototyping of level transmitter ultrasonic”, in an example aimed at a course such as Control and Automation Engineering.
The objective is for the student to get in touch with the reality of scientific research, to complete the basic requirements regarding knowledge and experiences, for their professional training.
The academic article, on the other hand, despite its development methodology being very similar to that of the monograph, differs in the form of presentation, since it is a short, very objective format, while the other one demands a great wealth of details.
They are used for publications in scientific journals and presentations at congresses related to the field of knowledge, as one that addresses a topic such as tank maintenance industry, still following the example above.
As the monograph is the most widely used format, and is often the basis for the development of one or more articles, we will focus on it.
How to develop the perfect monograph?
The construction of a good monograph is done by carrying out a series of steps, and we can divide it into three main moments:
First, the idealization, construction of the project and choice of advisor; second, the execution of the work, be it a bibliographic survey, laboratory tests or statistical sampling; and, finally, the writing of the monograph itself.
There are some techniques that can facilitate the process, and can be applied to any type of study, from clinical research in the health area, literature review or development of new solutions, such as clamping elements.
Below we point out 8 critical moments for the elaboration of a high quality work. Check out:
- setting the theme
The definition of the theme is the first step towards a TCC. As we said, it must be specific, it must solve a problem, answer a question, test an idea and/or discuss a situation in society.
In other words, your work must be a contribution to a certain segment of human knowledge, so think a lot about where you will focus your efforts.
It is very important that you choose a topic that really interests you and in which you engage, after all, it will be necessary to spend a lot of time dedicating yourself to the subject.
At this point, you don't have to worry about what you'll do for the rest of your life, but show your performance with the baggage you have so far.
- Choosing the advisor
The advisor is the professor responsible for your research project, and has a fundamental role in the development of the work.
It is the advisor who will help you with all the difficulties, whether to refine the topic, guide on ethical issues, the best methodologies, indicate references, tips on approaches, and with whom you will discuss your findings in the search for insights.
He must monitor the entire process so as to ensure the final quality. But beware: the responsibility for the result does not lie with the advisor, but with the student.
It is your obligation to seek him out when you have difficulties, expose doubts and problems, ask for guidance on how to use equipment, such as a alignment machine, submit the material for review, and ask for directions.
Always value your advisor's time and, most importantly, value the time you have with him to learn as much as possible. It is crucial to choose a teacher with whom you have an affinity and are able to dialogue easily.
We are not talking about choosing someone because they are nice or friendly, but because you have access and naturalness to talk to them. Also, look for those who work professionally or academically with the chosen theme.
It is also important to choose a person who is really available, or you may have problems along the way. However, the best professionals are usually those with the least amount of time available.
A solution here might be to adopt a co-advisor. Know how to weigh the pros and cons, and think about how self-taught you are.
Talk to other students and find out what it's like to work with each teacher. Another tip is to ask the director of your course department for guidance on which faculty to choose. Share your ideas and ask who could guide you better.
- work structuring
A scientific research is structured around a central problem, a question to be answered.
It must start with hypotheses of what is expected, and be concluded with the results obtained after the experimentation, their discussion, comparison with the existing literature and, finally, be concluded with a pertinent and cohesive conclusion.
Know from the outset that structuring and planning will be the basic guideline for all your future efforts.
This step must be worked very well, in order to avoid wasting valuable resources, such as your time and the institution's money, after all, the use of equipment such as digital tachograph, and facilities such as laboratories, come at a considerable cost.
- Creating a schedule
A monograph is a long project that, as you've seen, depends on different steps to progress, so it's essential to plan for it so there's no despair down the road.
Work out a schedule together with your advisor, set goals, and stick to them. One of the biggest enemies of the perfect monograph is procrastination.
As it is a work that will only be delivered at the end of the course, some people worry about it in the last semesters. Don't make that mistake.
- Development of research work
Throughout your research and project development, be sure to take notes, whether references, observations, insights momentary or future ideas, in addition to taking good care of all your work data.
Knife backups, ever. We recommend having the project saved on more than one device, for your safety.
- writing the monograph
From the beginning, pay attention to the standardization rules adopted by the educational institution. The most common is the use of the rules of ABNT, the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards.
And pay close attention to these rules. The guidelines regarding pre-textual, textual and post-textual elements are diverse and very specific.
Start writing fast, so you don't get bogged down at the end: arrange periodic reviews with your advisor, as another big pitfall is sending only the final version for review. You run the risk of having to redo all the work.
- Normalizing and standardizing
After your work on, for example, a autotransformer innovative to be complete, carefully review whether it complies with all standardization standards.
Review references and pass the work through a plagiarism checker. Works with plagiarized content are just cause for your monograph to be discarded, in addition to constituting a crime against someone else's intellectual property.
- Delivery and presentation
Most institutions require that, in addition to delivering the printed document, the student presents the content verbally to an examining board.
Usually, the student chooses with the advisor on the composition of this panel, which can be formed by other professors or other qualified professionals in the area.
The presentation must be objective and you must be prepared for questions and inquiries. We advise you to do previous tests with your advisor, with the mirror and with close friends, after all, it is very common to be nervous at this moment.
Final considerations
A monograph should be taken very seriously as it is your first opportunity to prove your professionalism. The adoption of organized practices and advance planning are essential to avoid any problems and ensure quality.
This text was originally developed by the blog team Investment Guide, where you can find hundreds of informative content on different segments.
