Breathe Life Back Into Our Podcasts

Believe it or not everyone but people are saying "we enjoyed the first podcast, 'Comma Drama', but where are the rest?"

To continue using technology in a proactive way and gain more recognition from the community on our innovative approaches to reach out, we are asking for ideas and even your time in helping script, read, act, videotape or edit both new podcasts and you-tube videos.

To generate some ideas and start the ball rolling I have thought of a few ideas I would love to see bloom!

Podcast

*What do students want from us?

1. Describe what the writing center does

2. Obtain a few common concerns from the "hope to accomplish" section of the session log

3. Interview a few students about their experience before/after

4. Interview a few consultants

5. Bridge the student expectation of a "grammar and spelling check" to generating ideas about his/her writing process.

*Chicago/Turabian Style

1. What's the difference?

2. What one should I use?

3. What are some good resources?

Youtube

*How to format title pages and headers for APA

How to add footnotes for Chicago

Other paper formatting issues

What ideas or suggestions would you like to see added to our technology of products?

-Genevieve

Being the Instructor... If Only For a Moment

I just had two presentations discussing APA style back to back for a Rhetoric 160 course. There is something so liberating and rewarding about sharing information to people who, for one reason or another, listen. I want to encourage all the staff to take advantage of presenting APA materials to rhetoric classes for a variety of reasons. Reason #1 If you are going to be a teacher, you should get all the practice you can. Reason #2 Being shy is not a good excuse for not getting in front of a small class. All consultants have a working knowledge of APA and reviewing the material on the PowerPoint will make it easy to discuss with a class. In fact, if you are shy you should find ways to safely move out of your shell and what better way than to present to a class who wants to listen (because they want a good grade)! Reason #3 Eventually someone (probably you) will have to take my position as APA guru and I need an apprentice. I want to continue spreading the word about how easy and great APA is and I need your help! Reason #___ Insert your own reason in the comments section. I agree with Aaron, we need to breathe some life into this blog! Cheers, Genevieve

APA language... Many Teachers Speak It Differently

During my years at the writing center and in class, I have learned that determining what the professor wants/expects is extremely important to consider while writing. I specifically want to focus on APA style and what is expected according to the APA manual versus what the teacher expects. I have found many inconsistencies between the two that lead to confused students and sometimes confused consultants. First, it is important to understand the fundamentals of APA in order to address the specific requests of an instructor. I have encountered many teachers that want the student to include the year after each time a reference is mentioned within the paragraph, even though on pp. 208 in the APA manual (2001) it states "... you need not include the year in subsequent references to a study as long as the study cannot be confused with other studies cited in the article..." This is just one example. I recall specific sessions when many students visited the writing center and had a specific sentence they needed to use in their paper that was a) grammatically incorrect and b) insensitive to APA language. According to the students, the professor demanded that the beginning of the sentence was written to assist the students in learning how to write in APA as well as to identify the results of the study within the paper. Such cases that may not be limited to APA style are unfortunate, but need to be done in order to get the "grade". Those are just a few examples where the rules of APA are thrown out by the professors and the students have to follow their lead. It can be confusing because they do not even know what the thrown out rule was or why it is changed. I always try and ask for a syllabus when working with students with APA questions because I want them to follow the guidelines set by the teacher. For APA reference, I would suggest to those who are still unfamiliar with APA to use the Keys for Writers guidebook or the OWL website. These resources are user friendly and less intimidating than the APA Publication manual (note: this resource is for those looking to publish research. Aka, very intimidating to some). In the next post I want to discuss some key points to help students establish appropriate language use and style suggested by the APA manual.

APA- Issue Number

I was browsing through the library's "Writing Resources for Students" and I was clicking and clicking and I came upon an APA guide in the APA official website. In the guide, there is a disclaimer about electronic resources and the things that need to be included in the references page. If you find a journal online: "For journal articles, always include the journal issue number (if available) along with the volume number, regardless of whether the journal is paginated separately by issue or continuously by volume. This change in reference style from the fifth edition of the Publication Manual is intended to make the format for journal article references more consistent." This is a gray area for many students who write in APA because professors either demand the issue number, or they don't care either way. This is an update in the electronic references guide, and it popped out at me because I have been confused on whether to identify the issue number or not because of professor preference. Now it is a rule and I would mention to the client if they are also unsure. The "Writing Resources for Students" is almost as entertaining as the "Harvard Writing Center" website... American Psychological Association. (2008). Electronic references. APA Style.org. Retrieved September 8, 2008, from http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html