The first post you make will probably be your biography. Every facilitator requires that you post one to the Chat forum. Do yourself a favor: write yours in Word and save the document to your computer for the next class so you won't have to rewrite one every six weeks.
Don't close Word yet! Rather than relying on your browser not to crash, or Phoenix's servers not to go down (which they have during my degree program on more than one occasion), simply compose your response to each discussion question in Word. Not only do you have a nice backup on your PC (be sure to enable automatic background saves), you can enjoy the benefits of on-the-fly spell-check and grammar correction. Because some facilitators frown on use of the passive voice, enable flagging of your use of the passive voice when you enable grammar and spell checking:
, and then click Word Options. Spend some time looking over all the settings so you can maximize your use of Word to improve your academic writing. Given all the writing you'll do, you'll improve over the long run so you can spend less time on proofreading and more time on your substantive learning after the first few weeks.
Although APA style dictates use of the active voice, the big question on everybody's mind is: how do I cite this or that source? The University of Phoenix makes it easy with many of their online Library resources. In addition, your syllabus for each class often has the required textbooks already listed in the proper format for your References page or the end of your online posts. Get in the habit of using APA citations in your posts, and they will become second nature in short order. Take advantage of the citation links in Phoenix's library when they are offered (not all databases will generate a citation at this point in time). For offline or offsite resources, navigate to Phoenix's Library>Center for Writing Excellence page and under Useful Resources in the lower left hand side of the page, click on the Reference and Citation Generator link.
If you are composing a response and you aren't logged into Phoenix, visit Son of Citation Machine and enter your reference information in the fields it prompts you to fill out. Choose "APA" from the left hand side of the page, and then choose your source type from the same area. A word of caution: read the instructions carefully! In small red letters, there are instructions regarding how to properly fill out each field. Son of Citation Machine will not figure everything out for you; you must understand how to capitalize properly in APA format, for example, in order to get a correct citation from the website. The Son of Citation Machine will generate both in-text parenthetical citations and reference page citations.
Lastly, since this is your first week in class, download UoPHX's sample paper and writing style handbook, two excellent resources. Print them out and put them in a binder for easy reference, along with your current syllabus.
These tips are intended to familiarize you with the APA style to meet the demands of facilitators that desire proper APA formatting for your online forum posts. You'll need more advice for your weekly writing assignment - and you'll get it. Up next: writing your first APA paper!
0 comments:
Post a Comment