Course project brainstorming
each course requires you to complete a course project. in most cases, that project will be a paper
that deals with a topic related to the course content. your instructor may have additional
requirements. in general, the course project paper should be between 1600 to 1700 words in length,
12 point font, double-spaced; and must use apa format for both in-body citations and the reference
page at the end of the paper.
the individual course project assignments will all contribute to your final product so there is no
wasted effort! in this lesson, your goal is to brainstorm topics that will you to narrow down the
focus of your paper. a good way to start the brainstorming process is to check out the "table of
contents" of your text book. if you see a subject that interests you, leaf through that chapter and try
to pick something that interests you even more. you can also preview the six course lesson
presentations for ideas.
then, you may also want to google that topic and see what types of information are out there on the
web. read a few things you find to see if you are on the right track, in other words, does the topic
still interest you. there's no point in writing a paper on something that is boring, right? here's a tip:
don't try to brainstorm in isolation, trying to pull a topic out of the proverbial rabbit's hat. all that
does is make you panic for no reason. research a bit, using the process described above first, then
decide on a topic or two.
after you do your detective work, submit:
• two or three broad topic areas to your instructor for feedback
• a paragraph (minimum 150 words) on why you chose those topics.
your instructor will you refine your ideas so that you can move on to the next step in lesson 2.
and keep in mind; you can change your mind. good hunting for topics, not rabbits!