Senior Thesis

1
Senior Thesis

• Ms. Hamby/Mr. Guthrie
• Created by Ms. Smith
• Research
• APA Formatting

2
Where do I find resources?

• My 1 recommendation MTSU Library. Click here
  for more info. VISIT the library to search their
  databases. They offer much more information than
  Gale/TEL and it is worth your while to spend time
  there because you will find lots of relevant
  information.
• Visit the Reference room (to the right when you
  enter) and the librarians there will be happy to
  help you find the most appropriate resources for
  your topic.
• You can also search their catalog from anywhere
  and place holds on books relevant to your topic.
  

3
Where do I find resources? (cont).

• CMS Library webpage Research Resources by
  Classclick on CTE/Engineering.
• GVRL
• Click on the search box to browse or type in any
  search term.
• All results are full text and contain MLA/APA
  citations. Click on Citation Tools.
• Limit results by looking on the left at document
  type, publication type, and subjects.
• Refine your results by searching within the
  results.
• Save articles to revisit later (or email to
  self).

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Where do I find resources? (cont).

• CMS Library webpage Research Resources by
  Classclick on CTE/Engineering.
• Science in Context
• Browse Math, Engineering, Technology or the
  databases that are most relevant to your topic OR
  type in specific search terms.
• All results are full text and contain MLA/APA
  citations. Click on Citation Tools. Note the
  disclaimer!
• Explore the various publication types and use
  Related Topics to find additional results.
• Bookmark or email articles to self to revisit
  later.

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Where do I find resources? (cont).

• Other helpful databases for engineering available
  on from CMS Library
• Student Resources in Context
• Opposing Viewpoints in Context
• Computer Database
• Insurance and Liability Collection
• Vocations and Careers Collection
• Science, medical topics Health Reference
  Center, Health and Wellness Center
• History topics Global Issues in Context
• Education topics Educators Reference Complete
• Literature topics Literature Criticism Online,
  Literature Resource Center, Scribner Writers
  Online, Twayne Authors Online

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The Five Ws of Website Evaluation

• Who? Who wrote the pages?
• What? What type of site is it and is the purpose
  of the site? What information is on the site?
• When? When was the site created? How long since
  it has been updated? How old is the information?
• Where? Where does the information come from?
• Why? Why is this information useful for my
  purpose? Why is this page better than another?
• Use these criteria to find reliable online
  resources.

7
APA Formatting

• Click here for a comparison between APA and MLA
  and examples for every kind of source you will
  likely use.
• Refer to this presentation for tips on formatting
  your title page, abstract, and references page.
• Also visit the citation help section on our
  library page or Purdue OWL.

8
APA Formatting Basics

• Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on
  standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins
  on all sides. You should use a clear font that is
  highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt.
  Times New Roman font.
• Include a page header  (also known as the
  "running head") at the top of every page. To
  create a page header/running head, insert page
  numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR
  PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital
  letters. The running head is a shortened version
  of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50
  characters including spacing and punctuation.
• The References page should also be double spaced
  and each citation has a hanging indent.
• All information used in the paper must be in the
  reference page.
• Any information that is not your own needs to be
  cited.
• Works cited is last name, first initial Ex. Doe,
  J.
• Citations are listed alphabetically on the
  References page.

9
APA Formatting Basics

• When using APA format, follow the author-date
  method of in-text citation. This means that the
  author's last name and the year of publication
  for the source should appear in the text, for
  example, (Jones, 1998), and a complete reference
  should appear in the reference list at the end of
  the paper.
• If you are referring to an idea from another work
  but NOT directly quoting the material, or making
  reference to an entire book, article or other
  work, you only have to make reference to the
  author and year of publication and not the page
  number in your in-text reference. All sources
  that are cited in the text must appear in the
  reference list at the end of the paper.
• If you are directly quoting from a work, you will
  need to include the author, year of publication,
  and the page number for the reference (preceded
  by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal
  phrase that includes the author's last name
  followed by the date of publication in
  parentheses.
• According to Jones (1998), "Students often had
  difficulty using APA style, especially when it
  was their first time" (p. 199).
• Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty
  using APA style" (p. 199) what implications does
  this have for teachers?
• If the author is not named in a signal phrase,
  place the author's last name, the year of
  publication, and the page number in parentheses
  after the quotation.
• She stated, "Students often had difficulty using
  APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not
  offer an explanation as to why.

10
Citation generators

• Remember that one advantage of using the school
  or MTSU databases is that the citations are done
  for you. However, when you find online articles
  that do not provide a citation, use a citation
  generator.
• BibMe (best option)
• Free citation generator for all styles that
  allows you to copy and paste a URL and generate
  an instant citation. Also allows you to manually
  enter information into a wizard to create a
  citation. Automatically builds a works cited that
  is downloadable once you sign up for a free
  account.
• EasyBib
• Free MLA citation generator. Paid subscription
  for additional styles and resources. Allows
  you/your students to copy and paste a URL and
  generate an instant citation. Also allows you to
  manually enter information into a wizard to
  create a citation. Can be temperamental!
• Remember that these citation generators are not
  foolproof. Fill in missing info and double check
  the accuracy of your citations before adding them
  to your References page.

11
Examples of papers in APA Format

• Diana Hackers Research site (MLA example is
  under Humanities and APA example is under Social
  Sciences).
• Purdue Owl (APA example with comments/corrections)
  .
• Please see or email the librarians if you need
  help finding relevant resources, have questions
  about APA formatting, need help with
  revising/editing, or any part of the thesis
  process. We are happy to help you! ?