Term Paper on "Survival Guide for Long Distance Learning"

Term Paper 4 pages (1456 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Distance Learning Guide

Student Survival Guide

PERSONAL ACTION PLANS

Find the golden nuggets of information

Research will be a major part of my university courses. It will be important for me to know how to effectively search for material that will be appropriate and accurate -- not some blogger's ideas. The Internet, for good and bad, offers millions of responses to a request for information. What to do? The first step is contacting the reference department at WIU and tapping into the resources available through the library. There are many electronic databases that can be downloaded off campus. The librarians can also make other suggestions, such as only refer to peer-reviewed academic articles. This will also limit the concern with unreliable sources.

However, any in-depth study program involves an integration of Internet and in-library inquiry during research. In her article, Rita Vine, like many other researchers, warns about the use of search engines such as Google. Instead she says, "Start with smart sources." Librarians advise beginning with a site put up by a reputable organization, like an academic or public institute. For example, the National Institutes of Health-sponsored medlineplus.gov gives links to recent news along with overviews and clinical test data from various U.S. health agencies.

Naturally, I cannot completely stay away from the search engines. Investor's Business Daily's article on conducting research provides other tips on how to widen the use of the standard search approaches. It suggests using more search engines. Researchers find more, better and different information faster when they use a variety of search tools. Although search engines overlap in coverage, not all have similar content. Also, use high quality, filtered directories for resource discovery. For example, the "Librarians' Index to the Internet" (www.lii.org),is an excellent site of over 10,000 librarian-selected links.

The article also notes, if it is not a search engine, do not search it like one. If the directory permits browsing, try to browse -- it will take extra clicks, but the results will be worth it. Further, be wary of sites with many ads. There is often pay-for-placement. When searching, add qualifier words like "resources," "links" or "directory" to bring lists to the top of the results. Use the advanced features for selected searches to limit results to pages from domains ending in.gov (U.S. government) or.edu (U.S. colleges and universities) for source reliability.

2) Getting into the habit of citing references.

It is easy to take notes and forget to put down the source, or find a website, grab the information and not write the address and other vital information. This is unacceptable with research papers. It is also illegal to plagiarize something written by someone else. Further, Western Illinois University's "Student Academic Integrity Policy" stipulates that "Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty constitute a serious violation of University conduct regulations. Students who engage in dishonesty in any form shall be charged with academic dishonesty." Plagiarism occurs whenever:

1) One quotes another person's actual words or replicates all or part of another's product without acknowledgment. This includes all information gleaned from any source, including the Internet; 2) one uses another person's ideas, opinions, work, data, or theories, even if they are completely paraphrased in one's own words without acknowledgment; 3) one uses facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials without acknowledgment; 4) one fails to acknowledge with a citation any close and/or extended paraphrasing of another and 5) one fails to use quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it is a few words, a sentence, or a paragraph.

The University also provides information I can use on how to cite resources, add bibliographies and the like.

3) Studying how to study best http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:CntW_JIE1jIJ:www.choosehypnosis.com/study_habits.jpg

Research papers are only part of the work that I will be doing during my university years. I will also be reading, gathering information from coursework/lectures, and taking exams. There will be a great deal of work, and I will need to know how to study what is needed in a short time period. Studying is different for distance learning for a number of reasons (Schuemer, 1993):

Many distance-education students are older, work and have families. They must coordinate the different areas of their lives.

Distant students have a variety of reasons for taking courses.

The distant learner is usually isolated. The motivational factors arising from the contact or competition with other students is… READ MORE

How to Reference "Survival Guide for Long Distance Learning" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Student Survival Guide Term Paper

Student Survival Guide

As an online student, it is important to realize that there are certain strategies that need to be incorporated in order to specifically cultivate the responsibilities that… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2007 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Survival Guide Term Paper

Successful Library and Internet Searches

The Internet is a marvelous tool for research; it provides a veritable wealth of information on any topic under the sun, and expert and proficient… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1846 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Different Preferences in Learning Between American and French Learners in a Multinational Corporate Setting Dissertation

Preferences in Learning between American and French Learners in a Multinational Corporate Setting

The way training is delivered in a corporate environment has a tremendous effect on results. This study… read more

Dissertation 65 pages (23082 words) Sources: 65 Style: APA Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Tips for Managers Setting Up a Distance Education Program Thesis

Education

Tips for Managers

If you had to pick just one of these to talk about to a manager who was setting up a distance education program, which one would… read more

Thesis 2 pages (701 words) Sources: 1 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Superheadism Policy of the Labour Party Term Paper

Education

Throughout the world there is an emphasis placed on education; the United Kingdom is no exception. The United Kingdom has long been revered for the educational structure that exist… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (5288 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>