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Electrical,Electronic and Computer Engineering: Research topic guidlines

Brainstorming tool

The following tools can be helpful as you brainstorm ideas:

Read your assignment

The first step of any assignment is to read it thoroughly and note any specific requirements:

  • Type of assignment (report, critique, essay, analysis, presentation)
  • Number of resources
  • Types of resources (articles, books, videos, etc.)
  • Citation format (APA, MLA, Harvard,  etc.)
  • Clarify your information needs
    • What is your assignment?
    • What are you really being asked to do?
    • State your proposed topic or problem in a  sentence or two.
    • Ask yourself the who, what, where, when and why questions.
  • Organize your thoughts
    • Break the topic into subtopics or key concepts
    • Jot down synonyms or other words to convey each concept.
    • Think of broader or narrower terms that might also be appropriate.
  • Develop an overview of the topic(s).
    • Browse encyclopedias, handbooks, almanacs, or journal contents to gather some background information.
  • Become familiar with the terminology, including synonyms.
    • Browse dictionaries and encyclopedias, thesauri.
    • Precision searching is important when using electronic databases, so spend some time identifying appropriate terms.
  • Keep notes/records

Make notes

A useful strategy to manage your research is to keep notes as you go. Take clear, accurate notes about where you found specific ideas, and, as you consult sources and make notes, keep a list of the sources you used.

There are many ways that you can keep notes to manage your research and citations more easily:

Use index cards or a notebook.

Use a word processor document.

Learn more