Hi Leslie!

I have found that warning them that points will be taken off if they do not look at my feedback regarding their APA or GCU Style and make the corrections on the next assignment works well.  Often times, they do not pay attention after the first warning but when they see that 10% was taken off for it the next time, that usually gets their attention and they will start utilizing the feedback and improving their APA.  Hope this helps!

~ Shanna

HI Leslie,

I've been called the APA Nazi by some students. No kiddling...I've seen it in forums. I have a CAT question in week 2 where they are asked to provide a full reference, paraphrase and direct quote. I then provide them with some resources I have created. If they cannot do it correctly after that, the points come off...

Jennifer

I found that even with points taken off, some students sometimes end the course without knowing how to cite  or write a completed references. I provide them with resources and show in their assignment feedback  how it should be done and some still turn in the next paper with the same issue.  Jennifer, I like your idea  of a CAT question . I will try that next class. 

Thanks for sharing.

Meva

Hi Colleagues,

Students at every university complain about learning APA or whatever style manual that they are to use. 

When students use webpages as references, they are so inconsistent. Some students look at the wrong examples in the GCU online APA powerpoint and the GCU summary of APA style.

The examples in the GCU summary of the APA handbook in the pdf form add to the problem, because they have proper nouns in both of the current examples.  Students will use all capitalization for the webpage or article title as a result of this. I get some students who will use all italics for a webpage article. Others do not provide the full webpage link. 

I point out the errors, but APA is not factored into many of the auto grading rubrics for my class.

I get many students tell me that they have only a few classes left and no one ever told them that they were making APA errors.  

I have had to learn to cite webpages myself, because as a student I was generally not allowed to use webpages.  

Phillip.Brown, Ph. D.

Phillip Brown, Ph. D.

Like all of you, this is a very frustrating part of facilitating classes.  I post several tools in the Instructor Add-On's.  APA example, Paraphrasing practice sheet, How to write a Scholarly paper and an academic integity statement.  I also put the integity statement in the Questions for Instructor forum and ask them to let me know that they read it the first day of class.

Like all of you, I correct/write the in-text citation and reference for them on the first paper and tell them that they will lose points on future papers if they do not use APA.  It is amazing to me that in week 8 some of the students are making the exact same errors.  

I also have an end of the week post each week that mentions all of this again.  I believe that there are some on-line students who do not really participate.  They do the assignments and submit the minimum in the discussion forum and do not really care as long as they pass.  This is unfortunate.  

Thank you all for sharing. It helps to know what others are doing.

Diane McMillan

Some days I wonder if we should take as much time as we do with the APA format since students will not use it in their careers. 

As you all do, I give examples and refer students to the OWL website. I grade for the following: 

Title page, title of essay on page 1, correct formatting of in-text citations, and references.

I like the idea of presenting APA in a CAT.

Ron 

Thank you for bringing up this question Leslie! I think an important part of your point is how much time do we spend on it. I teach ENG 105 and although formatting is worth points, it is only one of the considerations in grading.  English instructors have to prioritize. English instructors understand that our courses should cover formatting thoroughly, but it is not an "APA class," and students earn passing grades without mastering GCU style. Speaking only for myself, students in my class can expect an average of two or three comments per draft that point out APA problems among a list of 5 or 6 other kinds of comments and suggestions for revision.

APA formatting is not complicated, but every new resource can feel like an exception to a rule.  Students need to realize that instead of memorizing rules, they will always need to have a tool available to consult like the Publication Manual, or OWL.

Students also need to understand that formatting is is a minimum requirement and not the icing on the cake.

Renee

Hello All,

The success rate of getting students to become APA experts is about 10% for me, and I teach on the graduate level.  I, too, have provided all the tricks in the book as well as talking it through over the phone.  The students favorite line is that other teachers have not spoken to us about this, or this is how I have always done it.  Reading through your replies shows me that we are all facing the same dilemma.

Renee, I have told my students the same factor regarding the value of points for APA on assignments.  However, they tend to get caught up in missing the points that they cannot move pass it to seek help.  I wonder if GCU should offer a specific class for APA formatting for every level to ensure process in this area.

Phyllis

Hello All:

I am glad to see this discussion, because I fight the APA battle, and am glad I am not alone. I have graduate level courses and have had the last class of the educational leadership program. I am amazed how poorly the students are with APA formatting. I am an APA Nazi too, but I do think they have called me worse. On evaluations they complain that I don't need to be at GCU because I do not understand how it works, and one even complaining, "This is not an APA class."

As each of you, I share numerous resources for APA, model, correct and provide feedback consistently. Few students attempt to incorporate the guidance. For me, APA is extremely important because it reflects the ability to analyze and synthesize information for educational purposes. According to APA (2010): 

The physical appearance of a manuscript can enhance or detract from it. A well-prepared manuscript encourages editors and reviewer [instructors] to view your work as professional. In contrast, mechanical flaws sometimes lead reviewers [instructors] to misinterpret content. (p. 228)

I have a difficult time digging through the direct misquotes, and conversational tone, to discern the substance and the purpose. So for me, it is not the APA, but rather the scholarly and academic approach educators display to validate and  provide credibility to the profession.

It is not just GCU. I instruct in an online doctoral program with another university, and we have the same issues with a general lack of writing skills and APA. 

Cherri

I wholeheartedly agree with the many comments on this topic of APA Formatting. In many instances, we simply need to "pick and choose our battles"... I teach in lower level courses, graduate level, and doctorate level courses and the APA challenge is the same. Realizing that many struggle with APA or are simply new to the APA formatting, what I tend to do is offer as much APA formatting feedback on assignments as possible during the 1st and 2nd week's assignments...based on my feedback, I do see "some" changes and on the other hand, I find that no changes in student formatting are evident. My thought is that I have done as much as possible to provide them the needed feedback on corrections rather than "ignoring" the errors. We do students an injustice by not bringing these errors to their attention; particularly when there is an End- of-Program Capstone Project or Dissertation to be completed. As a number of comments have indicated; students are making it through entire programs without correcting their formatting even when corrections have been offered and students have been directed to the APA Writing Guide or Manual.  At the end of the day, the questions in my mind are: Have we as faculty done our part? Has each instructor done their part? Have the students done their part? Are placing too much attention/emphasis on this problem? What are GCUs thoughts about this problem? As many have noticed, there are very few points allotted for APA formatting on rubrics which seem to suggest that APA is of low importance. In light of this information, should not faculty govern themselves accordingly in terms of the amount of feedback provided and just grade the assignment with APA deductions applied in accordance with the rubric?

Drj

I am enjoying the discussion. I find that most students catch on and by half way through the course they are quite proficient.

I had an interesting experience in a graduate class that started last week. I posted this example of how to format a reference taken directly from APA Owl;

Edition Other Than the First

I, too, have been called the APA Nazi (actually, that would have been kinder, I was called something starting with a "B" and it wasn't "Blonde Bombshell").  There have been times when I have corrected a student's paper, and the student replies "that is what I did".  I then need to go point by point to explain why their APA format was incorrect.  Indeed, it is almost as though the student feels that so long as any information is given, it is close enough.

Like many other instructors, I have also felt the frustration of hearing students whine that "you are the only instructor who has ever taken off points/complained about my APA formatting."  I know that this is not true, but it does remind all of us that if one instructor allows poor formatting to pass, the student will expect all instructors to allow poor or sloppy formatting to pass.

It can also be frustrating when a student is arguing over a point or two lost in APA format, but is not addressing the 15 or 20 points lost in content.  When that occurs, I sometimes feel that the students have lost sight of the forest and only see the small sapling right in front of them. I know that the student is struggling with the content, and is hoping to somehow gain extra points in formatting to earn a better grade. I will address the content with student, explaining that this is where we can make the biggest impact on the overall grade.

Cherri has brought up another point; students seem to compartmentalize their learning.  I have had students become angry when I point out grammatical errors or spelling errors.   On more than one occasion  I have often received the retort that "this is not an English class".   Indeed, I even had a student once comment that the fact that I pointed out errors in spelling and grammar was proof that I did not care about the student's success.  Sigh.

But, we must keep fighting the good fight.  The rewarding feeling you get when a student thanks you for taking the time to help with grammar, spelling and even APA formatting because it helped in other courses can help take the sting out of being called a "Blonde Bombshell".

Louise (who is not blonde)

Ron Frieson, you wrote:

The other error made by many students is the 1 space change in APA 6h edition.

This is true; however, I am thinking that not all students are aware that this change from 1 space to 2 spaces reflected in the APA 6th edition is an "error in publication". As a result, this is an error that I do not deduct points for but do bring to the student's attention the publication error.

Drj

Louise Xifo

I too realize that not all faculty appear to place emphasis on grading, deducting points for APA formatting, and providing necessary feedback to students as it relates to the APA errors found. This holds true for those assignments where APA formatting is required as reflected on the assignment rubric and assignments where APA formatting is not explicitly stated. This kind of inconsistency by faculty is confusing to students and as you seem to indicate, is a cause of frustration and even anger by students when points are deducted. Consistency by faculty would seem to be essential if improvements in the area are to be realized. Thanks, Drj

Hi everyone,

I too get to spend the majority of my time getting my students to understand APA formatting and even though I refer them to the OWL, they tend to NOT use it because it's "too hard to understand".  Really?!

And because APA formatting is required for almost everything in the class I teach, I am left with very little time to address any of the other faculty requirements that have been deemed necessary. 

I am an adjunct instructor and I end up spending all evening, every evening, and most of my weekends checking/grading their comments, QI, DQs, and homework and then coming up with my own comments, announcements (which none of the students read) which I end up posting in several places just so it will cut down on the QI comments, and CATS. For me, all of the work my students turn in has an APA formatting requirement, so you can guess how much time this entails!

Unfortunately, I have just recently decided not to take that particular class on any longer (even though I really enjoy the subject) due to the immense workload. And without any chance of making it into a full-time position by taking on a couple of other classes (I've asked), I have to maintain my full-time employment elsewhere. All this happens while I constantly see job listings for more online adjunct instructors for subjects I could also teach--go figure.

Anywaaay...I think that APA formatting is important because we do not have any idea where our students are going to end up in their professional life and, believe it or not, the majority of them will be required to use it for a written report or professional journal article at some point in their career. I think it's important enough that they should be getting it from an English teacher (which I am not)!

Thanks for reading :-)

Leslie - thanks so much for beginning this discussion!  As many of you have commented, I am frequently described as being "too picky" for attending to APA requirements.   Here are a few tactics that I've tried:

1. In week 1 of graduate classes and capstone undergraduate classes, I post a CAT.  I ask learners to review this video that was created by APA: 

   http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx   Then I ask three questions:

   • How would you rate your skills with APA 6th edition style, on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being very skilled)? 
   • What are your favorite resources to assist you with APA 6th edition style?  
   • What new learnings did you glean from the APA tutorial video?
2. The first week of course, I carefully review APA style in the DQ forum.  The first time any learner makes an error, I send a message via the Individual Forum (IF) with their post and include corrections.  I ask them to respond that they have read and understand the message PLUS I ask what their plan is to achieve good APA style.  Amazingly, this works for those who read the IF message.  I am always astounded that some students don't read the message. 

Karen:

I like to use APAstyle.org rather than OWL; I figure, go to the source for information. 

I really like your suggestion of having students review the tutorial and self-evaluating their skills.  Would you mind if I also used that in my classes?

Louise

I just finish teaching my first online class. Despite the fact that this was a graduate level course, there were plenty of poor APA use. There were plenty of comments that students brought such as "I have done this in my previous classes and nobody had mentioned as being wrong and suddenly this needs to be done differently". Therefore, I had two choices, to either let them go on with a wrong way of doing things or try to help them learn the APA format and help them improve their knowledge. I chose the second round as I felt it is the  right thing to do. 

First, I requested that every posting has references in APA, so they have to chance to practice on using the APA. Secondly, I corrected the references and I allowed time to reassign the papers so they corrected what was wrong on the reference page in order to see and improve for the subsequent submissions. In the beginning, the idea of having to correct the work and resubmit was not received with too much enthusiasm. However, when we got to the main long papers and they have seen that the APA is something they have to use and when I also have mentioned the fact that prior to graduation they have to submit all work in APA, and this  work is not accepted unless has nothing less than perfect APA, things changed. I had received e-mails with the realization that they have actually learned it and were thankful for another block of needed knowledge. 

Wow!  So glad I found this. God is good!

I am glad I am not the only APA Nazi!  Part of the problem is that APA is a format for science. If the students are taking English, History, Law, Accounting, etc., they usually have a choice to use MLA.

If APA was across the board at all universities, we would not have such a problem. Mine do not "listen" either. I try to correct it in the DB the first 3 weeks of class to teach it. After that, I start taking of points also. Yes, they do not read my feedback either.

Can anyone tell me how to change my signature? I forgot how to get there. I was going to put a Bible verse with it as someone else suggested.

Jacy Henk, MSN, RN

Jacy, Nice to meet you. If you click on your name at the very top of class you will find a menu of information you can give your class. Signature is found under Personal Information. Click on Edit and add your Scripture.

I hope this is helpful.

Ron

Leslie,

Thanks for bringing this topic for discussion. I usually post all of the APA format resources in the general announcements and post an announcement about them. The first week I will spend too much time writing corrective comments for them. I refer them to the documents posted in the general announcements since they do not go to the student success center. The next step is to take off points for not making the correct citations. Other times, I will send it back for them to correct and assign a zero until they resubmit the corrections. This usually will get their attention.

I think the problem is that there is inconsistency as  to how the expectations are applied in the various classrooms. I am often perceived as being hard and they did not have to do this in other classes. I have them to read the plagiarism policy and send me an email noting that they have read it and understand it. This eases the conversation for a season.

We all must apply the policy in a consistent manner and we should do this all of the time. Otherwise, this will continue to be one of these battles we must decide if it is worth fighting.

Barbara Lee, Ed.D.

Dr. Lee

I gave up. I have some courses that are the last class of the program, and students have no idea of how to cite or provide APA References. If they can get through all their courses and still not know how to write a reference for a book, then I cannot teach them in six weeks, and must assume it is not a priority. When I started, I spent hours trying to identify, correct, and guide students. I decided this was not a battle to fight, because I can't fight it alone!

Dr. Barker

Hello Dr. Barker,

It is difficult to believe our students do not embrace the same values we have towards their work.  I have done the same as it relates to assignments, as well as posted examples, but I still get the same errors.  You are right we cannot fight this battle along; therefore, we are going to have to come together as a faculty and develop methods to hold our students accountable.

Thank you for your comments.

Phyllis

Dr. Barker,

I do understand. We all must be on one accord or those of us who choose to follow the rules will stand out as "tough graders" or other names.  I will continue to try to enforce the format, but I am glad this topic is being discussed so that maybe those who are not enforcing the APA format policies may see the problems they are causing and will get on board.

Thanks for the post.

Barbara Lee, Ed.D.

It is indeed disheartening to be teaching a capstone course to find that students are still  unable to format a paper  following APA.   I have come to believe that since  adherence to APA is such a small percentage of most rubrics  many students  decide to do take a loss on those points. 

I am also  not sure of the consistency of faculty in their expectations  of students because as of late I am shocked to see the quality of work being submitted by students within their last 1-3 courses before graduation.  I know this is not a research institution however we are held accountable for preparing students for the future.

My experience has also lead me to believe students do not always read the feedback it does become hard to push the concept of APA format but I do  make every effort.

I really believe the complete APA manual should be a mandatory book in lieu of the GCU APA guide.

I am glad this thread continues to be active.

I give lots of feedback to students about their APA format. It pays off. By the fifth week, the majority of students are using APA format correctly.

I direct all students to Owl as well.

Ron

Every Monday I post a video  in which I review the course competencies, objectives and APA.

I go review the GCU APA guide and I share other resources. I point out common errors from the prior weeks assignments  and provide examples of correct format.  Many of the courses I teach are toward  the end of the program.  I would expect a higher level competency as they have been in the program  an year to a year and a half.  This as of late is sadly not the case . Not sure why.

Melanie

Melanie, I assume you create your own video. Is this correct? How long is the video? Can you send me a sample? [email protected]

Ron

Jacy, I appreciate the challenge you are highlighting. I found that if I stick close to the assignment instructions I am able to address the content issues. I will quote the section of the assignment the student did not address. If the student does a good job on addressing the individual sections of the assignment, I will say "well done." My final remark will address the learning objectives as either "fully met" or "partially met." I quote the objectives as well. 

I do point out the APA issues as I go along.

Ron

I'm currently teaching my fifth Nursing Health Assessment course.

I'm also really struggling with helping my students with APA formatting and I've found so much plagiarism.  I actually had a student tell me that their Bachelor Degree is just straight copying and pasting.  I'm frustrated to the point that I do not want to continue teaching.  I've reached out to students, posted announcements, individual messages, and even sent early alerts without much improvement.  

I try to enforce learning but I can't seem to get across to my students and then I see terrible evaluations of myself after I feel like I put more effort into the students learning than they do.  

Amanda

I teach in the educational administrator masters program. These are teachers and they do not know APA and do not care. Plagiarism is rampant and I can only assume they have always got by with it in their previous classes. it is not ethical. I teach only online and have realized I cannot change this behavior. Apparently GCU is not concerned or students would perform at a higher level. I feel your pain.

Hello ALL;

I think across the board that we agree...APA formatting is a concern even in end of program courses such as Capstone courses where students are charged to develop a proposal or as far as that matter; even in the doctoral courses...it's essentially the same. 

As I feel most of us that expect high-quality work from students which does include correctly formatting documents and APA...it is simply missing...

While repeatedly providing feedback to students about the need to properly cite content and often going so far as to show them the correct formatting, some will change and some will not change...many times I will remind the student that "this is a repeated error and should be corrected by nor"...this is only what I have found...

I think too that students know the "weight" of APA on assignments as reflected on the rubrics...Keep in mind that these students are adults with families and probably full time jobs...as a result, I believe they make choices as to where they will exert energy and this is likely to be focused on meeting the content requirement rather than the APA requirement if this is a weak area for them... to some degree, I can understand this.

Bottom line, faculty must provide feedback on assignments; this includes APA when applicable. However, I now try not to continually repeat myself when clearly corrections from previous feedback are not being made. Another thing to think about is the GCU requires students to write using the APA Writing Style Guide rather than the APA Manual; there may be a difference and in some courses do not require a title page; consequently I see students who do not correctly format title pages in end of program courses such as Capstones.

Hope some of these comments helps...be encouraged, continue to do the best you can. drj

We spend many hours commenting, but it seems the situation remains unchanged.  I have made, a plethora times, comments, for example, about unknown author.  However, next assignment presents the same flaws.

The best solution for me would be establishing a course covering APA and special wriitng issues.  Otherwise I do not see any improvement.  

Dennis Agnew

Dennis

I continue to have graduate students tell me that they have always used URL links (mainly to Wikipedia) and it is always accepted.

It must not be a priority.

I think an APA and a plagiarism class would be excellent especially for ALL graduate and doctoral students.

Cherri, I understand you teach educators. I am very surprised that they think they can get by with using Wikipedia and other non-peer reviewed sources. 

One of my students told me and and the class he proved the unreliability of Wikipedia by adding his name to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He shares the same last name of one of the original signers. No one removed his name.

Dennis, I am sorry that your students do not respond to your comments about APA. My students do take it seriously. If I see a correct title page I always give a positive comment. 

Thoughts?

Hi Ron, like you, I take APA probably a bit more serious than others. I say this because I feel that we do the students a disservice  by not highlighting or pointing out errors relative to APA. I primarily teach research related courses and end of program courses such as the capstone courses that require at a minimal APA style proficiency. It is at this time that it becomes quite apparent that the students are not near proficient in APA as they should be if they were provided appropriate feedback during the core courses of the program.  This becomes an additional stressor for the student and relatively time-consuming for the faculty as well as the student  to point out APA errors whereas the focus should be on ensuring the content  and objectives of their assignments and proposal writings  are being met.   At the same time, I realized that the student play a major role in this as well. This is evident by students repeat of the same errors previously pointed out to them.  However, this does not negate the need to continually reinforce correct APA format or style. This is just my opinion based on my experiences with students at in the program courses. Thank you for listening, Drj

I would agree that a required writing seminar online should be required for all students particularly at the graduate level. It is a little disheartening to know that students have gotten this far and still do not know the basics of APA. I do not require my students to be perfect however I believe I echo the same sentiments has many others when saying I spend a lot of time grading these errors.  

Joyce, I take it very seriously and give very specific feedback on APA, for example, "APA requires title of journal and volume # to be italicized," and so on. I also give praise when students do correct themselves in subsequent work.

Ron

Hi Jacy, I find myself doing the same (providing the correct APA) but this does take up quite a bit of time; time and focus away from the actual content of the assignment...making all the corrections for students; in my opinion, is not the most beneficial approach in terms of their 'real" learning. I feel as an adult learner, these students hold a large degree of the responsibility to seek out resources and ways of learning that are effective and long-lasting in terms of their learning, retention, and application of what was learned...

 Hello All, reading many of your replies makes me feel much better about being so critical about APA. Someone posted about students will not be using APA in their jobs. My opinion of this is that I do not want a student to leave my class and not know how to write in APA format. That is a requirement of graduate school. Many of them say this is my last class, I am surprised that they have gotten this far and still making major APA mistakes. I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. Good luck with your classes.

Dr. Rivers

Dr. Rivers, I have noted the same "surprise" by students in their final classes about the APA format issues.

All, I have given some more thought about why we are strict about APA formatting. All of our work is a form of discipline. We need to be disciplined in the nature and quality of work we perform every day. I teach in the Master of Counseling program. Professional counselors are held to a high standard. I inform students that I grade hard about particulars because they will be required to pay attention to details in their professional careers. I have created an announcement titled, "Why I Grade the Way I do." Eventually students grasp what I am expecting.

Hello, Everyone ~ I am the newbie here, and so many have made such good suggestions. APA style is, I believe, much easier than other styles once the basics are understood. As with everything, practice, practice, practice improves the knowledge and application.

I worked as a writing center administrative assistant for 2 years at another university, all APA writing focused. As an adjunct instructor, online and on campus, I provide screen shots of all things APA, especially how to read my comment boxes (bubbles). When I asked students via e-mail if they were reading my feedback (psychology), most of the responses were "No." So I made screen shots for earlier and current versions of MSWord, and whaddayaknow, I began seeing feedback incorporated. So I extended the screenshots to all needs with always the APA Style blog and links to my former university's writing center where the staff is APA experts (and also write for the APA blog and worked on the 6th version of the manual). The dissertation students who have used the APA templates and style throughout their graduate coursework have a better idea of what's what, though headings still provide a lot of frustration.

I also provide a course template with full instructions; however, some students are not using lap-or desktop PCs, or are using MSWord in a Mac or phone (templates are horrifically skewed in a Mac). Student device choice is a primary source of format problems. Since I have a 20 point per paper (10 context, 8 terms/concepts/application, 2 APA style), few have reached the 100% though every student has gone from a zero (0) for APA to at least a 1 point, and all have learned and improved. I will add that if previous feedback is not incorporated, I use my autocorrect (xfni) to enter that sentence in the comment box. So, to fix the errors, they must go back to previous papers and study the feedback. Seems to work for them.

 Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions, and for reading my comments.

Cherri and others,

It amazes me how students can get to their Capstone and not able to write  a basic APA reference , it is on us as educators to ensure that this changes. I agree it can be difficult in the beginning, however students should never get to the end of a program without the basic understanding of APA or simple how to write a basic journal reference or cite the references in a post. Students argue with me and make in survey that I do not give full points for DQ because three references were listed.  At the beginning of every class I have requirements posted regarding references and citations with examples, students must acknowledge it before their first post. I post it in the main forum so they can see it before responding to the first DQ, they acknowledge, however some do not follow the instructions when posting. My question here is how do you do this without getting frustrated? What are some things I can do to help students do better? Also how do you not take two hours to grade one paper od about 1500 words. Cherri you mention something about auto correct, what is that and how does that work ?

Thank you

I have said it before and sorry for the pleonasm.

At GCU we have to establish a course, maybe one or two credits and present, inter alia, APA.

Notes and comments do not make any good.  It is like knocking at the door of a person who is deaf.

Hi, Jacy ~ You wrote "

I use a Mac . Can you explain more about how the templates are skewed or what you see? Are you referring to the students seeing the bubbles of feedback or just the original APA template itself?"

Remember that the MS system in a MAC = two separate systems, and MSWord 2106 comes with the Office 365 now, so all at GCU should have the same program. This website has some information on some of the issues that I have encountered with students using my template-> http://www.macworld.com/article/2950475/software-productivity/microsoft-word-2016-review-finally-much-needed-updates-make-word-more-mac-friendly.html

The hanging indent, pagination, table of contents, and list of figures all come back skewed. For example, the TOC will have some of the chapters aligned and others not. Some of this is a student making manual changes, though those who are using a MAC swear they make no changes. So, I am not sure why this happens. Word online via Office 365 does not offer the style changes in APA, so the templates always come back unformatted.

Autocorrect: I place an "x" before a code I have developed over several years for often used phrases and comments to students. For example, xfni will show Feedback not incorporated. xtitle for APA 2.01 ->

2.01 Title: A title should summarize the main idea of the manuscript simply and, if possible, with style. It should be a concise statement of the main topic and should identify the variables or theoretical issues under investigation and the relationship between them. An example of a good title is “Effect of Transformed Letters on Reading Speed.” A title should be fully explanatory when standing alone. American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (Page 23). American Psychological Association. Kindle Edition.

For the 2.01 example, I have the style blurb highlighted in the bluish color (3rd from left in the color highlight choices). I use green for all grammar, punctuation, capitalization errors, blue for the APA, and yellow for terms/concepts/application that I require in every week's paper. These I use in the comment bubbles. More, such as xhmingdu (Hmm, having difficulty understanding). Most are very short, three or four letters, but always with the "x" in front because few words begin with that letter.

I use either phonetic or whole sections, as above. Another easy is xti for "there is," and then to capitalize I use xcti for "There is." Same for all really short phrases. I also made autocorrects for stats symbols often used. When you choose to make an autocorrect with formatting, just select "Formatted text." I have screenshots for how to do this, so if you need them, let me know. I do not often use the AutoFormat, but they are handy for lengthy same 'ole, same 'ole phrases, such as the IRB and consent forms.

Thanks again for your question. I'm happy to provide more info if you would like. Enjoy your day ~

Cherri, I would appreciate it very much if you could send it to me @my GCU email or here whichever works for you.

Thanks

Hi again, Jacy ~ You are most welcome ~ I started to make a screenshot tutorial for our GCU MSWord 2016 environment that will help. I will complete this before the end of the weekend, as we have the annual male and female grandchildren weeks of summer adventure until the end of July ~ We like to give their parents, our children, a gift we never experienced ~ time alone ~ ;->)

Hello, Everyone ~ Happy Sunday to you all ~ Attached is the document with the basics of how I use the AutoCorrect function, how to find it and place it on the toolbar, and some examples. I am not sure now if I can transfer my autocorrect/text file to my new MSWord 2016, but I am working on transferring from my main desktop PC to my other devices. Enjoy your week ~ ;->)

Oh gosh, I forgot something important. Whatever you want to enter to the autocorrect can be accomplished two ways: (a) highlight, click the autocorrect or text icon, then select plain text or formatted text, and (b) enter your shortcut directly into the autocorrect function.

Sorry about that ~ 

I think I will combine the auto-correct idea with my current comments.

This is the list of comments that I copy into student comments.  These are the most frequently used:

For upper level courses, you are required to provide a cover, running head and page numbers.  Please see template – Student Success Center/Tutorial/Style Guides & Templates/APA Template (without abstract).  The link is http://www.gcumedia.com/lms-resources/student-success-center/v2.1/#/tools/Tutorials

Additionally, please see the template I provided in Instructor Add-ons.

In-text citations are formatted using the author’s last name and year of publication, ex: (Smith, 2004).  If the publication date is not known, then it would be (Smith, n.d.).

When you have a quote, you must provide the page or paragraph number where the quote may be found in your in-text citation (Author, Year, p. #). 

References must be in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.  References must be double spaced with a hanging indent. 

Per APA, you do not use either the full first name or full middle name of an author.  Only initials are used. 

Only the 1^st word of title, 1^st word of subtitle (if any) and proper nouns (if any) are capitalized in the title of your reference.  All other words in the title should be in lower case.

Do not insert retrieval dates.

You must provide the full URL to the exact page where this information can be found, not merely the site’s main page.

Please see Student Success Center/Tutorials/ Style Guides & Templates/APA Style Guide as well as the Writing Guides for more assistance.  

Suggestions to improve your grade include providing support for your position.  This is accomplished through the use of a minimum of two sources (in text citations and references must both be provided to count as a source).

Louise Xifo

Hi, Louise, ;->) Attached is another doc you can use. "Louise Xifo" love it ~ Cheers!

Thanks for sharing Louise and Cherri!

Thanks Cheri,

I have also created this flowchart for my students.  

Louise Xifo

Oh yes! I have this same chart! Thanks! I worked as an APA mentor/admn. assistant for faculty, staff, and students and I've got many, many charts. Feel free to contact me anytime ~ I also like your comments above! Spot on! Thanks again!

I practice in class giving them examples and do them together.  I show them a References page and I have them proofread another student's from the class.  I grade for a class and found that in TurnItIn, you can easily grade papers and click on a button for frequent errors that you can load with your comments and directions.  

I really MISS the good old days when we used APA books; at ASU and PVCC where I taught before, when they had the APA manuals they performed much better.

Felicia