Introduction is an important part of the course work that the reviewers pay attention to first. One of the essential elements of it is the formulation of goals and objectives – and here it is important to clearly understand how the goal differs from the task in the coursework.
How to write a goal in a coursework
The goal of the course work is usually one.
Definition 1
The goal is what work is generally done for.
Many students write courseworks on the principle of “just to pass,” but such a statement of purpose will not work. The goal should be connected with the topic of work, with the final result of the research (scientific or practical, and not due to the organization of training).
Coursework may reflect a different approach:
- For a purely theoretical work (which are usually written in the first courses), you can formulate the goal of the course work as follows: “To study the topic.” This reflects the purely academic orientation of labor.
- For project works, the goal of coursework is formulated with the help of the verbs “develop” or “design”.
Example 1
For example: “Develop a software product for automating the work of a sales manager”, “Develop an interior design project for a cafe with 30 seats”, “Develop a project for implementing an ERP system in an enterprise”.
- For works containing recommendations for improving any aspect of the enterprise’s activity, they are the target.
Example 2
Example: “To develop recommendations for improving accounting for settlements with customers”, “Suggest ways to improve the management of current assets”.
How to write tasks in coursework
After you managed to define the goal, you can proceed to writing the tasks of the course work.
Definition 2
Tasks are stages, “steps” on the way to achieving the goal.
If the goal is based on a topic, then the tasks are modified items of the work plan (table of contents).
Example 3
Therefore, the introductory phrase before the tasks often serves as follows: “The objectives of the course work, in accordance with which the structure is built”.
A clear correspondence between the tasks and paragraphs of the main text will later facilitate the writing of the conclusion (which should reflect the solution of the tasks set in the introduction) – it will suffice to put together the conclusions on the paragraphs.
Tasks are associated with certain actions, so their formulation usually begins with a verb (less often with verbal nouns).
Useful Verbs for Formulating Objectives:
- Familiarize.
- To study.
- Systematize.
- Categorize.
- Describe.
- To bring
- Characterize.
- Reveal.
- Estimate.
- Match.
- Transfer.
- To analyze.
- Develop.
- To design
Example 4
Here is an example of transforming work plan items into a list of tasks:
- In terms of: “Legislative basis of accounting”, the task is “Consider the legislative basis of accounting”.
- In terms of: “The advantages of the simplified taxation system”, the task is “To identify the advantages of the simplified taxation system”.
- In terms of: “Measures to improve capital productivity,” the task is to “Develop measures to improve capital productivity.”
The number of tasks should coincide with the number of items in the plan (tasks are most often written by second-level items – paragraphs. Chapter titles are not included in the task list, since they serve as a generalization for paragraphs).
Tips, how to write the goal and objectives of the course
Although in the order of the introduction goes to the main part of the work, it is not always convenient to write it first. If the goal can be formulated immediately after receiving the topic of work and the requirements for it (it is usually stated in the guidelines that the work should be purely theoretical, analytical or project-oriented), then it is better not to hurry with writing the tasks.
At a minimum, writing tasks should be postponed until writing and approval by the plan manager in order not to do extra work (if changes are made to the plan, you will have to redo the tasks). But even this does not guarantee that, after writing the main part of the coursework, no corrections will have to be made – sometimes in the course of the study, previously unrecorded aspects of the topic come up, there is a need for additional developments, or there are changes in the subject area that cause the content of the work to change.
None of the tasks should completely repeat the goal, otherwise the question will arise as to why all other tasks are needed. The sequence of tasks is determined by the logic of the study:
- First you need to study what has already been created on the topic being developed (theoretical chapter). In this case, the issues under consideration are deepened – the most general aspects (basic concepts) are described first, then the narrower ones.
- Further analyzed “as is” in the subject area.
Example 5
This can be a financial and economic analysis of the enterprise’s activity as a whole and individual areas of its operation, analysis of the applied methods and management structures, analysis of technologies and existing software products – everything depends on the topic and discipline on which the coursework is written.
- The final stage is the development of something new, one’s own. These tasks complete the list of tasks, and these paragraphs last in the course.
Example 6
This may include both the formulation of proposals and the development of measures, as well as an assessment of their effectiveness (confirmation by calculations that someone will get better from the implementation of the proposals).