Professors’ Expectations: Helpful Writing Tips for College Students
Professors’ Expectations: Helpful Writing Tips for College Students
Students often struggle with writing essays. Some have difficulty with structure. Others dread dealing with APA formatting. I teach everything from bachelor-level to doctoral-level courses. The following contains some helpful writing tips that I have found may make writing essays a little easier.
Continue reading “Professors’ Expectations: Helpful Writing Tips for College Students”
Top Resources for Writing College Papers
Please review the following video and articles for help with formatting, APA, grammar and other writing issues. To return to Dr. Diane Hamilton’s blog, click here. For updates on help with writing, bookmark the following page: Dr. Diane’s Writing Help
- Checklist for Writing the Perfect College Paper
- Doctoral Dissertation: Proposal Approval Checklist
- Top 5 Secrets for Online Student Success
- How to Get an A in Your College Courses
- Education and ADHD: Changing How People Learn
- Successful Students Use Plagiarism and Editing Programs
- Top 10 Most Common Writing Mistakes
- Top 100 Vocabulary Words That Adults Should Know
- Top 10 Tips for Surviving a Doctoral Dissertation
- Top 10 Sources for Help with APA 6th Edition
- New Studies Show Technology to Blame for Increase in Plagiarism
- How to Paraphrase and Avoid Using Direct Quotes
- How to write a Perfect College Paper Tutorial
- Help with removing extra spaces between paragraphs
- Help with page numbers and headers
- Example of an APA paper
- Example papers, research and documentation help
- 15 Ways to Improve Writing Skills for Students and Everyone Else
- APA Style: 5 Essential Tips for APA Style Headings
- Citing Long Quotations in APA 6th Edition
- Adding 2 Spaces After a Period to Meet APA 6th Edition Requirements
- What is the Difference Between a Citation and a Reference?
- Is Wikipedia Reliable?
- PowerPoint – Resources and Examples to Make the Perfect Presentation
- Explanation of First, Second and Third Person Writing
- Anthropomorphisms: When Not to Use Them
- Have Some Fun With Common Grammar Mistakes
- What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal?
- How to Paraphrase and Avoid Using Direct Quotes
- Top Sites to Find Statistics and Charts for Writing Articles
- Statistics Every Writer Should Know
How to Write a Perfect College Paper: Video Tutorial
The following is a video presentation that explains how to write the perfect college paper. For a written version with more complete information, check out: Checklist for Writing the Perfect College Paper. There are some sources referred to in this video presentation. Here are those sources and the links:
Click here for doctoral dissertation writing help.
Related articles
- Checklist for Writing the Perfect College Paper (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Doctoral Dissertation: Proposal Approval Checklist (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Top 5 Secrets for Online Student Success (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- How to Get an A in Your College Courses (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Education and ADHD: Changing How People Learn (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Successful Students Use Plagiarism and Editing Programs (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
Doctoral Dissertation: Proposal Approval Checklist
In the years I have spent as a doctoral chair, I have read many excellent proposals and final dissertations. Writing a dissertation takes a great deal of patience and time. Some students may become frustrated if he or she believes that the process takes longer than anticipated. To avoid a lengthy proposal approval process, the student should spend time going over some common mistakes. Although each school may have different requirements, the following checklist may be helpful to the doctoral learner prior to submitting his or her proposal for review.
Common Errors | Place X to Signify Compliance |
All Required Forms Are Included | |
Note That Data Will Be Saved 3 Years Then Destroyed | |
Paragraphs Must Contain At Least 3 Sentences | |
Any Defined Words Must Include A Citation | |
85% Of References Must Be Less Than 5 Years From Proposal Date | |
All Sections Are Listed In Proposal | |
References Are In APA Format | |
Submit to TurnItIn Or Plagiarism Checker | |
Submit To Editing Software Or Editor | |
Submit To Statistician If Necessary | |
Two Spaces Are Required After Periods | |
Design Is Carefully Described | |
Clarity – Person Reading Proposal Could Perform Study If Necessary | |
No Personal Opinions – All Conclusions Substantiated | |
The Word “Proposed” Is Listed Before Referring To Proposed Study | |
No Use Of The Wording “The Researcher” To Refer To Writer Of Proposal | |
No First Person References | |
No Fluff Words Including:Â However, In Addition, Therefore, Etc. | |
Proposal In Future Tense; Will Change To Past Tense After Study | |
What Others Have Written In Past Tense | |
Long Tables Should Be In Appendix | |
Long Citations Cannot Be On Two Separate Pages – Must Be On One | |
No Slang Is Included | |
Use Words “Which and That” Correctly | |
There Should Not Be Any Tracking Changes Left In Document | |
Headings Must Be In APA 6th Format | |
Chapter 1 Must Start On Page 1 | |
Proposal Author’s Name Must Be Listed And Current Month/Year | |
Watch Use Of The Word Randomly (Be Specific) | |
No Anthropomorphisms Should Be Used | |
Watch Implying Causal Relationship If None Exists | |
Do Not Make Predictions | |
Multiple Studies In Parentheses Require Names In Alphabetical Order | |
Avoid Vague Statements Like Something Was “Poor” | |
Articulate How Participants Were Selected | |
Articulate What Was Done To Reduce Researcher Bias | |
Do Not Use Vague Terminology Like “Others” | |
United States Is U.S. And Not US | |
1980s Should Be 1980s And Not 1980’s | |
Stick To One Subject Per Paragraph | |
Do Not Write In Contractions (Do Not Is Correct – Don’t Is Not) | |
Do Not Have Back to Back Charts With No Explanation | |
Use He or She Rather Than They To Define Subject | |
Be Sure All Chapters Include A Summary | |
Target Population And Sample Is Clearly Described | |
Hypotheses May Be Numbered And Supported By Narrative | |
Choice Of Method Is Clear And Substantive | |
Punctuation Should Be Inside Of Quotation Marks | |
Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Is Completed | |
Checklist Should Be Provided To Doctoral Chair | |
Application Should State If Exempt and Why |
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- Top 10 Most Common Writing Mistakes
- Top 100 Vocabulary Words That Adults Should Know
- Top 10 Tips for Surviving a Doctoral Dissertation
- Top 10 Sources for Help with APA 6th Edition
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Top 5 Secrets for Online Student Success
Online education is growing at a pace that far exceeds general education enrollment. Because of the popularity of online learning, many traditional universities are offering online courses. Forbes recently reported that MIT will soon offer free education for everyone. With all of the online options available, students may be confused as to where to go for helpful information. There are plenty of sites available to help online students find schools, locate loans and even determine majors. What is not as readily available is information about how to be a successful online student once he or she is enrolled.
The following is the top 5 list of things that can help the new online student succeed once they have already chosen their school and major. Click on the blue links for more information about each topic:
- Learn Goal Setting – Read about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (sometimes also Results-Based), and Timely (or Time-Bound).  Students should set S.M.A.R.T. education goals. Those that neglect to do this may find that it takes them longer to graduate, while they waste time and money.
- Learn Tools Offered – Most online universities offer some extremely helpful writing, editing and plagiarism-checking tools. The school’s online site may also have helpful tutorials to explain how to use the software (also known as the platform) that delivers the classroom information. Learning how to navigate in the online classroom may take a little time. However, after taking the first class, many students feel more confident in their navigating abilities.
- Use the School’s Library – Students may forget that their university has an online library. It is important that students do not get in the habit of searching for information using Google, Yahoo! and other similar engines. A well-written paper is supported by peer-reviewed articles. These may be easily found using the school’s search engines located in their online library.
- Learn APA – APA stands for American Psychological Association. For college students, APA refers to the format in which papers should be written. While APA may seem daunting to the new learner, there are some very useful examples of APA papers online that can help explain the requirements.
- Learn How to Cite – Professors often require students to cite research in his or her papers. Most often they must cite in APA format. There are some helpful sites to help students learn how to cite correctly. Students must also learn how to paraphrase, include in-text citations and avoid plagiarism.
Click here for more useful tips about how to be a successful online college student.
Related article:
- Top 10 Most Common Writing Mistakes
- Top 100 Vocabulary Words That Adults Should Know
- Top 10 Tips for Surviving a Doctoral Dissertation
- Top 10 Sources for Help with APA 6th Edition
- New Studies Show Technology to Blame for Increase in Plagiarism
- How to Paraphrase and Avoid Using Direct Quotes
- How to Receive an A in Your College Courses