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Events This Week
At the Library
- Message from the Head Librarian
- Keep Your Library Card Privileges
- Library Lessons : Research Process and Approaches
- Circulation Desk
- Next Week at the Library
A Message from
the Head Librarian
Welcome to your second week at the Library. I hope your first week at the library was active, pleasant and somewhat quiet.
Everyone seems to be moving along nicely in the library. I have tried to respond to most as they have turned in their reaction paper but still have a few to read this evening. If you are experiencing any difficulty navigating the course or figuring out what you should be working on each week then please do not hesitate to email me or Melissa.
From my experience this past week, I am issuing the following reminders:
- Please be sure to include your first and last name along with the course you are in (EDF 6481) in ALL emails you send to me. I have many, many students in several online courses. Many of you have the same first name and some have the same last name. Your email address does not always identify clearly who you are. If you want me to respond to you in a speedy manner this is the best way for me to be able to answer any question or check on anything. I wish I knew who everyone was by simply looking at the email address it came from but this is not going to happen the first weeks of class. To be safe, so I know who it came from, SIGN YOUR EMAIL!
- Remember that when you send a note to the listserv it goes to EVERYONE. IF you are reading a message sent to the listserv and you hit the reply button to answer someone's question then remember that this goes to everyone on the list. If you want to answer specifically to someone then you will need to send them an individual email - do not hit reply - (Another good reason to include your name and email address in all communication)
- When you send a message to the listserv, everyone else will get it but you will not. The listserv assumes you don't need it since you sent it. If you want to save a copy, carbon copy yourself or use your email settings to save it for you. There are also directions you can follow to set your personal settings to receive the mail you send if you choose to do that.
- Any technical difficulties should be directed to the Media Specialist. Feel free to copy me on it but I will generally let her assist you on technical matters.
This week things will begin to get busy. We have 2 chapters this week and a quick glance at the schedule will tell you that we almost always cover multiple chapters each week. This is generally due to the need for you to gain all the information possible early in the semester so that you can apply them in producing your final polished research proposal. Also, we are in the Summer semester and so the term is even shorter than usual but we must still cover the same content as the other terms that are generally 16 weeks in length.
Writing is a large part of your graded assignments in this course and is not always easy for everyone. This creates an additional burden if you come to this class with shaky (or simply rusty) writing skills or statistics knowledge because it will slow the rate at which you can complete assignments.
Your work in the course may be reviewed using the University's access to TurnitIn. If you are not familiar with the University's policies related to plagiarism, refer to the Unversity of West Florida Plagiarism Policy. (Optional: To self-check your understanding of plagiarism, you may complete the Library's tutorial [If you complete the tutorial quiz, you do not need to submit your results to anyone other than yourself.]).
One thing you will see here each week
to assist you with your writing is a weekly APA tidbit. It is
required beginning from today and throughout the rest of the course
that all written documents turned in MUST be in APA 5th edition
style. The manual is a required text for this course.
If you think you can get by without it I would like to suggest you rethink
it. I'll provide suggestions to strengthen your written expression
and mechanics as we proceed through the course. Don't
be threatened. Writing is a skill
developed by opportunity to practice and feedback from readers. The intent is to facilitate growth, not
make value judgments. Most social
science research is written using the conventions contained in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition) and your
written work should be in APA format when appropriate. Each
week I'll begin this section with a note about one of the common APA errors
I find in my work, student papers, and dissertation manuscripts.
The ubiquitous anthropomorphism is this week's APA
tidbit. A writer attributing human
characteristics or abilities to something animal or inanimate commits an anthropomorphism
(see page 38 of the APA manual). They are acceptable in the popular literature
and can be an effective tool for fine-tuning meaning. They are not generally acceptable in
the professional literature, especially the research literature. You will see anthropomorphisms that slipped
past a journal editor, but work on avoiding them in your writing this term. Examples of anthropomorphisms frequently
appearing in dissertation manuscripts are:
This study sought to determine if the ... (a human can
determine, a study can not). Revise
to state, the author of the study sought to determine if the...
The elementary school grouped students into... (teachers
can group students, a school can not). Revise
to state, the students in the elementary school were grouped into... or
the school principal grouped the students into...
These data imply... (a researcher can identify implications from data, but the data can not). Revise to state, from the data analysis, the author identified three implications...
Library Patron Feedback
This week I have added a new feature. What I will be asking you to fill out each week is a "Library Patron Feedback" form related to the previous week's activities. You should view this as an opportunity to play a role in the design, development, evaluation, and improvement of this course for you and future patrons. What I would like is your honest opinion of the readings, activities, and other assignments. Your feedback will assist me in making changes in the current course as well as making changes in future semesters. I sincerely hope you will provide me with positive feedback on the things you do like as well as constructive feedback on how I could improve this course. The link to these feedback forms will be in the library card tasks section each week. They are not time intensive so I hope you take the time to fill them out. While there is an option for you to put your name, you may remain anonymous if you choose.
As you begin reading our main text (by Creswell) for this course during your visit to the library this week, I would like to point out a few features of the text. First, I find the text rather user friendly and easy to read but I will let you be the judge of that :-). Second, this week it will be important for you to read the 2 articles sandwiched between Chapters 1 and 2 as these 2 articles are discussed throughout the text to exemplify and further illuminate concepts. Third, near the end of each chapter you will find sections that provide 'useful information for producers and consumers of research.' Initially, you may find the 'consumer' section to be more appealing and applicable to yourself. As your lessons at the library progress, I hope you will also read the 'producer' section and begin to think of yourself as a producer of research as well.
Quizzes
This week will be the first of many in which you will be required to login to the elearning system and take graded quizzes. Please note that your completion (and not your grade) of these quizzes is calculated as part of your final participation grade in this course. This means that you are required to complete the quizzes assigned each week but they should be used for your own self-evaluation of how well you are comprehending the text and other readings and content. Essentially, the quizzes serve as a way for you to check your comprehension and also prepare for your final exam (in which the actual grade is calculated into your final grade). In the oast I have also used the grades on quizzes to make decisions about borderline grades. So, for example, if you final grade is on the border between a B+ and an A- and you have done well on your quizzes then I will bump your grade to A-. So, it certainly is within your best interest to try your best on the quizzes.
Please be sure to run a system check (you will see the link listed on the main page of the elearning system where you log in) on your computer prior to using the system to minimize any technical glitches you may have when completing quizzes. All quizzes will be timed. The time limit will be set according to the length of the quiz and types of items included. This means that one week you may have 60 minutes while another week you may have 120 minutes. When each quiz is introduced in a lesson I will also indicate the time allotted for the quiz. This first week I am allotting some extra time for quizzes to give you a chance to get oriented and comfortable with the system. Once you log in to a quiz there will be a clock for you to monitor your remaining time. There is also a 5 minute grace period for that last save or click on the submit button. The quizzes will be turned off at 5 PM on the day they are due. No late quizzes will be accepted.
Finally, I strongly suggest that you save your quiz/answers as you go - there is a save button at each question. There is also a save entire quiz option at the end of each quiz. To complete and submit your quiz you must click on the submit quiz button at the bottom. If you have technical questions about the quizzes within the elearning system then feel free to email Melissa.
You can view your score on the Quiz immediately upon completing the quiz unless there are short-answer items that I must grade prior to providing a final score. If there are items that I must grade manually, your score at the time you submit the quiz may not be your final score. Correct answers will not be made available until the following week when everyone has taken the quiz. Open-ended quiz items (such as short-answer questions) must be graded manually. If you missed a fill-in-the-blank item solely because you misspelled a word, you will receive credit for the item when I grade the quiz.
Circulation Desk
I have the current status (as of Wednesday at noon) of the Circulation Desk Checklists (gradebook) up so you can get a handle on what assignments you have completed and what you may need to catch up on if you missed it. Check out the Week 1 checklist. Normally, this will not be posted until Friday each week, but the first few weeks I will try to have it up early so you can use it to check your status. I know some of you are completing assignments as I am writing this so please do not be alarmed if you have a blank. I will update it on Friday so you can see if I received your assignments or not. If there is a blank in any box beside your number then that means I have either not yet assessed that assignment or have yet to enter it into the gradebook so there is no reason to email me or Melissa in a state of worry. On Friday, that blank will either turn into a "0", a "L", or a "X". A "0" if your assignment is not completed, a "L" if completed but turned in after 5 PM on Wednesday (today), or an "X" if turned in on time.
Our goals this week are to:
- Identify the steps undertaken by researchers in the process of research
- Discuss why research is important
- List characteristics of both quantitative and qualitative research
- Describe procedures for each research approach as they relate to the steps in the process of research
- Begin to read empirical research articles and identify the steps of the research process as you read
Don't Forget Your
Library Card!
Task #1:
Complete the Library Patron Feedback Form
Task #2:
If you have not yet joined the course listserv do so NOW. This is an important part of our communication to insure that you receive any current information about the course. The list being used for this course is called "edf6481". Instructions for subscribing to the list are provided for you to join the listserv for this course in the Library Lounge. Additional information about other forms
of communication, such as chat and threaded discussions are also there for you to read and review as necessary. Read and follow the directions for subscribing to the listserv for this course.
If you have any difficulties email Melissa (your Media Specialist Mentor).
Task #3:
If you have not emailed me or Melissa with your contact information, your preferred name and preferred email please do so NOW! It is important that I am always able to get in touch with you when necessary. In most cases I will do this by email. Therefore, I would like for you to check the class list and the email I currently have for you to make sure I have the appropriate one. If I do not, please email Melissa with the correct email. In addition, I would like for you to email me with the name you preferred to be called and your home and work numbers in case email fails us.
Contact the
Library Staff
Need Help?
Have a question but can't find the answer? Here are some options:
- Check the FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.
- Email the Head Librarian (Dr. Curda) .
- Email the Assistant Librarian (Melissa).
- Check with the other library patrons.