Sourcing Information
Evaluating Information
Online Support
Communication
Academic Writing
This section is included to assist you with some of the tasks you will undertake as part of your studies in FET 5602. If you don't find the information you're looking for on this page, please contact the course teaching team or post a question to the discussion forums.
The explosive growth of the world wide web has promoted the development of online resources. As a result, much of the information you will need or choose to use for this course can be accessed online. Online search engines allow you to search the millions of pages on the web to find information relevant to your studies. A few of the more popular search engines are linked below. You may also have favourites of your own which are not on this list. If so feel free to share those resources with your peers via the Resources forum in the discussion area.
Yahoo - an OK all-round search engine available in different languages with regional search capabilities
Google– A widely used search engine with great coverage of the web. Many of you probably use this already.
Dogpile– Combines the power of many of the popular search engines
Hotbot– Links in with other engines if needs be
Ask Jeeves– allows you to search using a question
For a search that is targeted at more authoritative academic sources, you may wish to use the many databases available to you through the USQ Library. The library staff have compiled an excellent page of resources to assist you with this process. There is also information about utilizing the library's resources from off campus. You'll probably be most intersted in searching databases which have been identified for those studying in Education.It is strongly recommended that you engage with the process of independently sourcing authoritative materials for your ongoing postgraduate studies.
However, please be aware that searching the web can be a time consuming and frustrating process. The following tips are provided to help you find what you are looking for more efficiently:
The sheer volume of information on the web is overwhelming. It is important for you to critically evaluate the information you source online. Consider the following issues when judging the value of information:
Authorship - Who are the primary authors of the information? Are they fully credited? Is the work original or taken from elsewhere? Are other works referenced? What are the credentials and affiliations of the authors? If this information is not provided, it will be difficult to evaluate the quality of the information or refer to it in your assessment work.
Sourcing – What sort of site has the information come from? Is it from an individual or an organization? Is the source credible? Is the source authoritative? As individuals are free to publish to the web, there are literally millions of personal web sites out there. Is the piece you've found from an experienced professional or from a crackpot with a personal computer? Is it reliable and stable, so that you can refer to it and find it again later?
Publishing standards – Is the work published elsewhere? What criteria have been met for its publication on the web? The number of high-quality web based publications is rising. Most will have criteria for publication of information included somewhere on the web site. If they do not, it will difficult to confirm the quality of the work.
Editorial Control – Has the information been subjected to an editorial review process? Is it an individual's opinion or does it represent the views of a wider group? Some publications have been reviewed by a panel of professionals, others have not. The former is preferred as this review process indicates some acceptance of the ideas in the professional community
Perspectives/Bias – Is the presentation of information balanced? What are the biases of the source? What interest does the source have in disseminating that information? Is the presentation objective or subjective?
Taking time to ensure the reliability of the information you find online will save headaches when it comes time to synthesize your learning and integrate these ideas into your own written work.
You have access to a variety of support services from the USQ. The first point of contact for enquiries is USQ Assist.
Academic support will be provided by your teachers directly through the course materials. If there are other services to support your study that you would like to see included, please let us know.
You are able to communicate with your instructor and student peers through discussion board forums and electronic mail and online chat facilities located in the virtual classroom within this platform. This gives you the opportunity to seek and share information. By using electronic mail and the discussion board forums as integral parts of the learning process, we hope to bridge the distance between you, your peers, and the teaching team. This approach questions the traditional definition of distance education that has implied an independent learning focus with little opportunity for group interaction. In this course, it is assumed that each member of the group has knowledge and skills to share with the others, aiming to engender a collaborative learning approach.
While debate and argument are encouraged, discussion should generally focus on academic issues. We do, however, consider ‘social presence' to be an important pedagogical feature of an e-learning environment and encourage you to become part of the learning community established for this course. Please read the ‘Netiquette' (net etiquette) section below to familiarise yourself with the parameters of appropriate discussion in computer mediated communication settings and the ‘Statement of Ethics for Students' near the bottom of this Resources page
Another important document to look at is the University of Southern Queensland Code of Practice for the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources http://www.usq.edu.au/resources/10-3.pdf.
The messages in the discussion forums look and operate like email messages, but have one important difference. Email is all about communication between people. You send a message either to a person, a number of people or a special address (a mailing list, which then ends up being sent to a number of people). In email, the messages are stored in individual accounts, just as letters in the post are sent to individuals at a particular address. The discussion forums exist independently of individuals, more like messages on a bulletin board on the wall of a lecture theatre. Topics in the discussion forums have a unique thread name related (hopefully) to the topic being discussed.
Sending a message to a discussion forum is called 'posting' and operates similarly to sending an email message except it goes to a specific discussion forum for display by all users, instead of being sent to an individual.
In a threaded display, any replies to a message are shown relative to the original message instead of just appearing as an unassociated list in order of time. This helps with following a flow of discussion as you can see which messages are linked and the order they were joined.
email Do's
email Don'ts
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Acceptable Use Policy | |
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You will have access to the email addresses of all participants. I do stress, however, that this access is a privilege , and not a right, and must not be abused. By using email and the discussion forums, you have agreed to be bound by the Code of Practice for the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources. It is in your best interests to be aware of your obligations | |
Post messages which only relate to the theme of the discussion forum.
Avoid and ignore provocative (otherwise referred to as “flaming”) messages. It is assumed and expected that you will exhibit a high level of ability to discuss opposing views without creating negative feelings in others.
If a message irritates you, reply privately to the author or discuss the matter with your teachers.
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Confidentiality | |
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It is advisable not to post confidential information that you would mind becoming public knowledge. Due to the nature of the communication medium, it is quite feasible that Internet communications may be intercepted by external entities and agencies. Also, any electronic mail that is incorrectly addressed may be received by a third person or may be bounced to a "Postmaster" in an external organisation Ifor redirection. | |
Writing is an essential skill at this level of study and your ability to write academic prose is a key to your success in this course. The world wide web has hundreds of sites dedicated to the topic of academic writing. The links below are a suggested starting point if you need advice or points of reference for your own writing.
The Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/resources/genre.html (OWL) – a nice collection of general information about different genres of writing, including information about referencing different types of sources and a section on writing abstracts and proposals.
The Writing Center http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html (at the University of Wisconsin at Madison ) – A simple overview of literature review writing, which many of you will be doing in this course. For more general information about referencing, style or grammar and punctuation, refer to their writers' handbook.
A Writer's Checklist http://www.arc.sbc.edu/checklist.html– a list of points to refer to when constructing a paper or checking a draft. A number of other topics are addressed in the Writing Services http://www.arc.sbc.edu/writing.html section of this web site.
Academic Writing Guidelines http://www2.umist.ac.uk/eltc/gpdp/– Quite a detailed presentation of many of the issues related to academic writing. If you've got a question about your own writing, chances are that answer is here somewhere
Also, you may find the referencing guides hosted by the USQ Library useful. APA and Harvard styles are strongly preferred for this course.
As a learner in this course, you are expected to conform to USQ policies regarding academic integrity in issues related to the originality of your own work, citation and referencing conventions when the ideas contained in assessment submissions are not your own, and the related issue of plagiarism.
When submitting work for assessment, your submission goes with tacit acknowledgement of the following statement:
I/We certify that the attached material is my/our original work. No other person's work has been used without due acknowledgement. Except where I/we have clearly stated that I/we have used some of this material elsewhere, it has not been presented by me/us for assessment in any other course or subject at this or any other institution
In the case where any portion of the work has been submitted for assessment at this or any other institution, this must be negotiated with the course teaching staff prior to submission and explicitly acknowledged in writing within the piece of written assessment.
Also, please familiarize yourself with USQ's policies regarding Academic Misconduct at http://www.usq.edu.au/business/policies/acadmisconduct.htm.
