Old Pueblo Academy

Constructing a MindMap for Your Thesis Project

What does that mean? Does it mean that you sit down and draw a map of your mind labeling the areas of the brain that will handle each part of the process? Not at all. Basically what constructing a mindmap means is mapping out in your brain (and hopefully on paper or a Word file) the steps that you will take in writing your thesis.

How it Begins

The whole process begins with a thesis topic. You must first decide what your topic is and then narrow it down to a specific area within that topic. For example if your topic is something like ecology then you might narrow it down to a specific way that people can reduce their carbon footprint.

Once you have your topic the rest should be easy.

Step 2

After you have your narrowed down topic then you should decide what points that are important to cover. These points will be your guideline while you do your research and they will also be bullet points in your outline.

Step 3

Make your outline. Once you have your initial outline in place then you can begin your research.

Step 4

Research your bullet points one at a time. If you fill in the bullet points as you are researching them this makes for an easier process all around. It is also easier if while you are doing your research and filling in the bullet points you are also making a careful notation of all of the necessary citations. This keeps you from having to go back and look for them all over again later.

Step 5

Once you have done the first four steps you need to come up with a conclusion to your thesis. This conclusion should reiterate your thesis statement set forth in the introduction as well as show how that thesis statement was proved in your paper.

All of these steps should be taken not only in the writing of the thesis but in the mindmapping of the entire process. If you have a map in your mind of all of the proper steps to take then your thesis will not be overwhelming. It will also help with keeping all of the facts and information straight if you follow these guidelines to making a mindmap for your thesis project.

Oh, one more thing…always remember to cite any reference or resource so that there is no possibility of plagiarism.

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