Dr. Darrell Baughn, a Full-Time Instructor at Jackson/Lefleur shared with me a powerpoint presentation he uses during all his courses to introduce students to writing expectations. You can find the file here if you would like to use it: APA GUIDE.
A week ago I heard about a student complaining that the Instructor was grading too hard on the writing, instead of focusing on the content. Obviously, the Instructor, in this case, has made the important connection that unless the writing is done right, the content likely won’t even be read in a real-world context. We have to reinforce an emphasis upon writing across the curriculum and ALL of us have to hold this line. To do less is to graduate students who simply won’t succeed in the workplace because they cannot write clearly and with appropriate grammar.
Whether you use Dr. Barnes material above or the other resources which have been shared through these blogs and webinars, please make sure in EVERY course you teach that you set the standard, and then hold the students to that standard. To do anything else is to let them down, and to fail in our mission.
If you have something that you use to reinforce the importance of writing with your students, please share that in reply to this post.
One thought on “APA – Preparing your Students for Success”
Thank you, Dr. Upchurch and Dr. Baughn. This is excellent, and I plan to include it among the resources offered to our students. I provide a downloadable APA template in WORD so that students can simply follow the outline as they type their papers. But even so, some students do not use it. Perhaps this attractive visual will be useful to them.
I also appreciate the encouragement to reinforce the need to develop proper writing skills. It can be frustrating at times. Thank you for your consistent stance on this important issue.
Deborah J, Thompson