I am often asked to give my opinion regarding online education versus traditional education. Because it is such a popular topic, I decided to conduct some research to determine how online instructors’ perceive online versus traditional degrees. The following is an abstract from my most recent study published in the Journal for Online Doctoral Education.
“Due to the growth of online courses and universities, the quality and benefits of distance education warrant
scholarly attention. Previous researchers have focused on students’, employers’, and traditional professors’
perspectives of online courses. Although adjunct professors teach the majority of online courses, few
researchers have explored their opinions of online education compared to traditional, face-to-face education.
Also lacking is information about online instructors’ perceptions of the online teaching position. The purpose
of this report was to present online adjunct faculty members’ perceptions of online education in relation to
traditional education. Sixty-eight adjunct faculty members who were recruited through LinkedIn voluntarily
completed an instrument that was developed for this purpose. Given that this report represents an initial
attempt to understand this phenomenon, preliminary results are reported as descriptive statistics. Overall,
the online adjunct faculty members held favorable opinions of online education and believed that others did
as well. Although they reported grading similarly in online courses as in traditional courses, the online
adjunct faculty members reported that students thought that online professors graded more easily.
Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.”
Students often struggle with writing essays. Some have difficulty with structure. Others dread dealing with APA formatting. I teach everything from bachelor-level to doctoral-level courses. The following contains some helpful writing tips that I have found may make writing essays a little easier.
Citations and References:
Many of the courses I teach require that students master the use of citations and references. I have found that students often become confused about how to include these. One common mistake that students make is to include a reference page without including any citations. That is not correct. The problem with that is there is no way to determine what part, if any, of the paper was paraphrased or cited from that source. Students sometimes think that listing a reference is a way to show that they used that information for the paper. However, there is more that must be done than simply including the source on the reference page. There must also be citations. Citations may be paraphrased or directly quoted. If there is a reference, there must be at least one corresponding citation.
A paraphrased citation looks something like this: Hamilton (2014) explained the importance of citations.
Students may also want to include directly quoted material. I teach some courses where I allow this and other courses where I only allow paraphrased citations.
If directly quoted citations are allowed, they look something like this: “Citations may be paraphrased or directly quoted” (Hamilton, 2014, p. 1).
I prefer that my students paraphrase their citations. This may help demonstrate that they understand the content. However, it is important that if any information is paraphrased or quoted directly from a source, the author and year information must be included (list n.d. if no date is listed). There may be specific guidelines listed in the APA manual for listing page numbers and other identifying information. Students should be aware of the following:
Do not list citations without references.
Do not list references without citations.
Do not list the author and year information at the end of the paragraph and assume it covers the entire paragraph of content. Author and year information must be included for any paraphrased sentence or directly quoted block of content.
Citations and references must be in APA format (for most courses). Do not include footnotes if APA is required.
Do not number the references; list them in APA format.
Be sure the alignment of references is correct on the reference page. The first line of each source should be at the left margin and every line after that indented ½ inch. See APA guidelines for help.
It may be a challenge for students to get into the habit of citing correctly. There are some sources like Perrla that may help.
Use of Appropriate Sources:
Another common citing mistake is to use less-than-scholarly sources. Although I enjoy writing blogs and doing research, I do not recommend that students use this or any other similar site as a source in their research papers. Blogs may sometimes contain news-worthy information. However, usually they contain opinion and other information that has not been peer-reviewed.
There are many sites that students use that are not considered appropriate sources for research. Blogs are just one of them. The following list contains some sources that students should not use:
Blogs – Blogs are meant for things other than research. They may be helpful in giving insight into how to do things. They may be fun to read in terms of content. However, students need to realize that some blogs may not contain accurate information.
Wikipedia – Wikipedia is a common student favorite. It contains some very good information. However, the content is written on a wiki. A wiki allows more than one person to add or change information. Any wiki should not be used as a source for citing. Wikipedia may have some very good sources listed at the bottom of the page. If students start at Wikipedia to research a topic, they could look at the bottom to find the original source of information. At that point, students can search their school’s library for that source to see if it comes up under peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
eHow, Quora, or other Q&A Sites – There are plenty of Q&A sites that allow people to answer questions on the Internet. Just because there is an answer on these sites, does not mean that the answer is correct or has been reviewed by anyone. Think of these sites as you would a blog. They may or may not contain accurate information. Therefore, they should not be used to cite.
Dictionary – This is a source students tend to like to cite. Although it is accurate and will give a good definition, some professors look at this as a kind of “cop out” source. It is easy to look up a definition in the dictionary. It is better to show scholarly research that explains the subject in more detail.
Books – Some books should not be used as sources. If there is a textbook assigned to the course, it is usually a good source to cite. However, not all books are considered “scholarly”. It is best to stick to peer-reviewed journals if there is any doubt.
Some professors will allow just about any source for citations. Others are extremely picky. To be safe, it is a good idea to get in the habit of using only peer-reviewed scholarly sources. For more information, check out: What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal.
Schools usually have an online library where students can find appropriate sources. Near the search bar, there may be a box that can be checked to ensure that the search only delivers peer-reviewed scholarly sources. The wise students stick to the school’s library for research. It is as easy to search as Google and the chances of coming up with proper research are enhanced.
Other Common Mistakes:
I notice that many students make similar mistakes. I make comments on their papers to address these issues. Many of them disregard my comments and continue to submit the papers with the same mistakes. I thought it might be helpful to create a checklist of some of the most common mistakes that I see and give some guidelines as how to correct them.
Tense – Students should stick to third person rather than first or second person unless the paper is specifically about them. In this blog, I write in first person. I use words like I, me, us, and we. Those are fine in this type of setting. In undergraduate and graduate courses, students must be able to write as if they are an observer. It is also incorrect to write in second person. Second person includes words like you and your. Students must learn how to write in third person. Do not write a paper that begins with something like: I chose to write about this because blah blah blah. There is no need to mention the author (aka the student). Just write about the topic.
Paragraph/Overall Structure – I often include a link in class that directs student to this Youtube Video that explains how to write a well-constructed paper. It is important not to have an overly long or overly short paragraph. I have seen students submit entire papers that included only one paragraph. I prefer to see paragraphs include around 4-8 sentences. If citing is required, it is better to begin a paragraph with a statement and then follow it with citations. The citations are there to support any points. Students must make their points before they can support them. Students often forget to set up their papers to include an introduction, body and conclusion. I recommend watching the Youtube video for help with this and many other structural and writing issues.
Using Scholarly Sources – Students may have difficulty distinguishing between the kinds of sources that are allowed for citations. If students’ first inclination is to search for answers on Google or if Wikipedia is their best friend, I recommend that they check out their school’s library search engine instead.
Font Issues – Students must be sure that their papers meet APA guidelines. The font needs to be set at 12 point. There should not be any special bold, ALL CAPS, or underlined information that does not meet these guidelines.
Amount of Citations – Students often do not include enough citations. They must be able to demonstrate their research and back up any points. I find that many students like to write in a story-telling fashion. Others may already know information about a topic and write based on experience. It is important to cite even if you are a subject expert. Some may be tempted to cite too often. Every single sentence should not be a citation. That is called patchworking. It is important to make a point and then back it up with citations to demonstrate your research.
Follow Rubrics and Guidelines – If there are specific requirements for the assignment, it is important that students follow the guidelines. If five pages are required, then submit at least five complete pages. The title page and reference pages do not count toward page requirements. If the professor has posted any additional requirements in class, it is important to go through that checklist to determine that all requirements have been met.
Graduate-Level Expectations:
Graduate-level students may be required to have a higher level of writing expertise. These requirements may cause students to become frustrated. Some of my online students have not taken courses in a very long time. Many of them have not learned how to write properly in APA format. I have a surprisingly high number of students who have difficulty with sentence and paragraph structure. Graduate students should not use contractions. For example, words like cannot should not be written as can’t. Papers should be written in third person unless it specifically states that the assignment should be written in first person. Students should support all major points and information that is not common knowledge with peer-reviewed scholarly sources. The school’s library should be the main search source. Whenever information is not common knowledge or is paraphrased, it should be cited.
I have had some students who get annoyed when I take off points for these issues. I post my requirements on the first day of class, so that there are no excuses for not following my guidelines. However, there will always be some students who feel it is their right to write incorrectly. They may not truly understand the narrative mode issue or how to cite in APA format.
At the graduate level, it is up to students to learn these things. It is important to write in a scholarly tone. I think students should write as if their paper could be printed in a journal. It is important that students do not write in an informal tone. Some students like to insert personal anecdotes or other information that is not appropriate for the assignment or this level of work. Unless the instructor specifically states that papers may be written informally or in some other format, graduate-level students should stick to a scholarly third-person tone that is supported consistently throughout with peer-reviewed research.
There may come a time when an assigned essay involves something that the student has experienced or already has studied. For example, an assignment might be to write about a famous entrepreneur. I have many students that are fans of Steve Jobs or Oprah Winfrey. They may know everything there is to know about these people because they have followed their careers.
Many students make the mistake of writing in a storytelling-fashion, based on their own interpretation of what they think they already know. If it is a graduate-level assignment, usually citations and research are required. That means that students will need to find sources to support their writing.
I commonly I see students write something like this: I chose Oprah Winfrey because she makes me feel blah blah blah. There are several problems with this sentence. First of all, the paper should be about Oprah and not about the student. There is no need to write in first person. Unless the professor specifically stated that students should explain their feelings, the assignment should stick to what Oprah has accomplished.
Students often like to refer to their feelings in their writing. They also like to include personal anecdotes. For most of the classes that I teach, this is not appropriate.
Sometimes a student will drop me a note that states something like this: “I already know everything about this subject, so I didn’t include citations.” I understand what they mean. However, even if the student knows everything about a topic, the point of the assignment is to show what they have learned through research.
Students must get into the habit of finding solid scholarly sources to back up what they have written. Without citations, they have written opinion and not research.
There are certain expectations of higher-level students. They should be able to write in complete paragraphs that include around four to eight sentences. Students should cite consistently throughout each of those paragraphs to support major points. A strong introduction and conclusion should be included.
When students cite, it is a good idea to paraphrase those citations whenever possible. Some students try to fill space by including many long direct quotations. I have corrected papers where students had about 10% of their own information and the rest was directly quoted from another source. This is not acceptable. Some schools do not allow more than 10% directly quoted material. It is easy to copy and paste what others have written. That does not really show that the student has learned anything. It is far better to paraphrase citations to show that the information has been processed and understood.
One of the hardest things I had to do when I moved was to get rid of some of my books. My house was starting to look like a Barnes & Noble. I kept the textbooks I use for my courses and a few others that I found especially useful or interesting. The following list is in no particular order. It contains some of my favorite books that I kept. I often recommend them to my students:
Emotional Intelligence: Why it can Matter More than IQ by Daniel Goleman – Goleman is one of the main thought-leaders in emotional intelligence. This book is easy to read and explains the importance of emotional intelligence.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This book is required reading in many courses. Although some students hesitate to pick up “self-help” books, this one is a classic for good reasons.
Emotional Intelligence in Action by Marcia Hughes, Bonita Patterson, James Terrell, and Reuven Bar-On. This book is a helpful tool to develop emotional intelligence in teams.
The Pig That Wants to be Eaten: 100 Experiments for the Armchair Philosopher by Julian Baggini. This strange little book was required reading for a course I taught about foresight. My technology students love it. It is filled with short stories. It is not for everyone. However, it is a book that will make you think.
In the book It’s Not You It’s Your Personality, there are a lot of celebrities listed as examples to explain personality types. Although that book covers most of the major personality assessments out there, one of the most important assessments it addresses is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
A new beta site CelebrityTypes.com is now available with information that identifies intellectuals, authors, and other public figures according to their psychological type based on the MBTI. I, Diane Hamilton, am an ESTJ. The example celebrity shown for that type on the celebrity types site was Dr. Phil. It would be interesting to see Dr. Phil’s actual results because he comes across as making decisions based on his values which may put him more toward an ESFJ.
Is this site completely accurate? Maybe not and they note that there as well. Without the person actually taking the MBTI, it can be a lot of guesswork. The authors noted, “a reported type must be regarded as a hypothesis and never as an exact, final depiction of that person.”
Whether completely accurate or not, it can be fun to speculate. On the left side of the site, there are links to each type where you can see other examples of celebrities within each type. Other examples of this author’s ESTJ type include: Condoleeza Rice, Michelle Obama, Judge Judy, and Ivanka Trump.
This site does a nice job of listing the percentages of people within each type, best romantic matches, and general information about what it means to be a certain type. For more information about this site click here. For more information about It’s Not You It’s Your Personality, click here.
For specific celebrity examples, click on the link below:
When considering a career move, people often find themselves paralyzed, worrying about making a mistake, causing career-suicide. Most of us have probably made some choices that may not have worked out the way we intended. However, looking back, much of what we learn through our mistakes actually may be excellent learning experiences that help us with our next job.
In Ross Hamilton’s 1951 book For Humans Only, he wrote the following line: We extract from life just what we give it . . . so with each mistake replace the divot. You don’t have to be a golfer to grasp his point. If we make mistakes in our life, we need to make amends and move forward. In case you hadn’t guessed, this line came from my father. He felt that we shouldn’t dwell too much on past mistakes.
You can’t change decisions you’ve made previously but you can do your best to take what you have learned and grow from those experiences. Even if you have a job that doesn’t last very long, you might make some excellent contacts that could help you with the next position. Those contacts may open doors that you may not have even considered.
If you over-analyze every decision you’ve ever made, you’ll drive yourself crazy. It may be best to look at disappointing career choices as learning experiences and realize that they may very well lead to something better down the road. Lamenting over the past or over things which you have no control, is a time waster.
Instead, look forward to the choices you have now. It can be helpful to write down the foreseeable pros and cons of any choice. This will help you visualize opportunities and threats associated with each alternative.
If you feel trapped in a career that you chose when you were young, it may be time to change. Perhaps the degree you were interested in when you were in your 20s no longer fits with your passion. You may need to consider going back to school to update your skills. It’s OK to admit that your interests have changed.
With the new year around the corner, many people are thinking about making a fresh start with their careers and their lives. What can you do differently to make this year better than last year? To truly be successful, having goals is important. I often recommend that people do a personal SWOT analysis to help them realize what they have to offer and what they need to work on. If you have never look at your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, I suggest doing so as part of your plan to improve your new year. To find out more about a personal SWOT, click here.
I have been reading your posts for a while now. This one resonates with me because I am in the process of delving into previously uncharted waters of a career change. While it is so exciting, past mistakes can be debilitating to progress. Your father is a smart guy.
New York, NY 11/19/2010 01:08 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)
DESCRIPTION: Industry changes, job loss and work dissatisfaction has forced people to reinvent their careers. Finding a job that encompasses what you love, and embarks on personality strengths, is the ultimate goal in Dr. Diane Hamilton’s newest book, HOW TO REINVENT YOUR CAREER: MAKE MONEY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE (October 2010; $16.95)
Dr. Hamilton remained in the same company for 20 years until she found the power to leave and reinvent her career. She now does what she loves as an author, guest speaker and professor. Reinventing herself 10 times during her career, Dr. Hamilton used her personality preferences and experience to seek the career of her dreams. Readers of this guide will learn to identify their own personalities, to reinvent their careers, using life lessons as practical solutions.
Many people, over age 40 who are seeking new careers find that they are in unfamiliar territory. Many are displaced after being in one career or role for a long time. The job market has changed and so has job-seeking. Dr. Hamilton urges readers to take advantage of self-promotion and social networking through sites like LinkedIn. Some job seekers have been in the same field for decades and can maximize their potential career skills by seeking continuing education with free university content through iTunes-U. Dr. Hamilton highly recommends mastering the guidelines for today’s interviewing styles at The Business School Edge. Guided by a passion for your dream career, these outlets can effectively leverage the advantage of experience by increasing visibility within the job market.
Admittedly loving typing and administrative work, Dr. Hamilton took what she truly enjoyed and applied that to her dream job possibilities. Personality tests like and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and DISC are effective tools for new career seekers to use to point out jobs that may be a good fit for their personality preferences. In many cases, new employment seekers are unhappy with their current position, may desire a better job, but are unsure where to look for new opportunities. Each person can facilitate their career search through career analysis and take advantage of their job preferences to land their dream job.
Many job seekers looking to reinvent their careers are in positions others may regard as the “perfect job.” How many times does someone start a job for reasons that are fleeting and wind-up in familiar unhappy, Sunday Night Blues territory? What people must realize is, “that perhaps a perfect job for someone else may not be a perfect job for them,” says Hamilton. Many fear leaving jobs they may not like because they may feel trapped or fear giving up certain benefits. This attempt at trying to escape the golden handcuffs is a courageous one. With effort, readers will tap into their personality strengths, leverage the availability of online resources and face the fear of success to ultimately reinvent their careers and make more money doing what they love.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Diane Hamilton has a doctorate in business management. She currently teaches bachelor-, master-, and doctoral-level courses for six online universities. She has written several books including The Online Student’s User Manual: Everything You Need to Know to be a Successful Online College Student, It’s Not You It’s Your Personality: Surviving and Thriving in the Modern Workplace and her latest HOW TO REINVENT YOUR CAREER: MAKE MONEY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE. To find out more about her writing, visit her website or blog.
She’s an accomplished businessperson with real-life experience working in real estate, finance, technology and pharmaceutical industries. Her experience also includes working as an organizational development consultant helping companies with training, time management, emotional intelligence and facilitating the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument.
For those of you that are either in golden handcuffs, got laid off, are in an industry you don’t like, or are just ready for a change. “How to Reinvent Your Career: Make Money Doing What You Love” by Dr. Diane Hamilton, helps you deal with the stresses, find the job best suited to your personality and interests, explains the education requirements and how to pay for them, teaches you how to network, gives you tips on how to face your fears, learn life balance, and improve your health to allow you to reinvent your career and your life.
Living Fully after 40 is a talk show created to build a community of women to address the spiritual, emotional and psychological dimensions of midlife transition for women. Living Fully after 40 provides an opportunity for women in midlife to embrace challenge and examine their lives, careers and relationships in a supportive community. Living Fully after 40 features conversations with experts who empower women in crafting a future overflowing with tremendous possibilities – and making midlife the richest, most insightful and rewarding years of all.
For those of you that are either in golden handcuffs, got laid off, are in an industry you don’t like, or are just ready for a change. “How to Reinvent Your Career: Make Money Doing What You Love” by Dr. Diane Hamilton, helps you deal with the stresses, find the job best suited to your personality and interests, explains the education requirements and how to pay for them, teaches you how to network, gives you tips on how to face your fears, learn life balance, and improve your health to allow you to reinvent your career and your life. To contact Dr. Diane visit her website: http://www.drdianehamiton.com and blog at http://www.drdianehamilton.wordpress.com
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