A.P.A. DOESN’T MEAN

“AGGRAVATING PAPER APPLICATIONS”

APA Style, Writing and You

Presenter: Nichole Hertel, M.Ed. Doctoral Resident and Teaching Fellow University of Houston

Tonight’s Agenda

Jokes

Some Questions about APA

What is APA Style?

Define “education”

Helpful Advice to Survive Writing

Brief Overview of the Dissertation Chapters

APA Formatting of Your Paper

Any Questions?

Jokes – In Honor of Halloween

What is a Mummy's favorite type of music?

Wrap!!!!!

Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?

Because demons are a ghouls best friend!

What's a monster's favorite bean?

A human bean.

Why can't the boy ghost have babies?

Because he has a Hallo-weenie.

About Me

3rd year doctoral student – C&I

graduate in summer (hopefully!)

Bachelor of Journalism (UH )

Master in Education, Secondary Instruction (HBU)

Taught secondary and elementary grades

Currently teach Class Mgmt to pre-service teachers at Sugar Land and Main campuses

Mom of two

So, Why Am I here?

And Because…

Before We Begin, Let’s Answer Some Questions about APA…

What is APA?

Why is it so important?

What does it do and do I benefit from it?

Why do we use it in the field of education?

What is the APA?

APA = The American Psychological Association a professional organization representing psychologists in the U.S.

around 150,000 members

an annual budget of around $70M

Founded in July 1892 at Clark University by a group of 26 men First president was G. Stanley Hall

There are currently 54 divisions and it is affiliated with 60 state, territorial, and Canadian provincial associations

(Note: Occasionally confused with the America Psychiatric Association)

APA Organization Mission Statement

To advance psychology: as a science and profession and as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare by the

encouragement of psychology in all its branches in the broadest and most liberal manner;

by the promotion of research in psychology and the improvement of research methods and conditions;

by the improvement of the qualifications and usefulness of psychologists through high standards of ethics, conduct, education, and achievement;

by the establishment and maintenance of the highest standards of professional ethics and conduct of the members of the Association;

by the increase and diffusion of psychological knowledge through meetings, professional contacts, reports, papers, discussions, and publications;

thereby to advance scientific interests and inquiry, and the application of research findings to the promotion of health, education, and the public welfare

What is APA Style?

A widely accepted style of documentation particularly in the social sciences area

Specifies multiple items within your paper:

the names and order of headings

paragraph formatting

organization of citations and references,

arrangement of tables, figures and appendices

What is APA Style? Cont.

And it uses Harvard referencing keyed to a subsequent list of References

Harvard referencing is also referred to as the author-date system of citations and parenthetical referencing

The APA Publication Manual provides basic guidelines for documenting both print and electronic resources.

Why is APA Style So Important?

For You…

Can make organizing your paper MUCH easier

For Your Reader…

Can make your paper easier to read for your intended audience

What Does it Do & Do I Benefit From It? -YES!

If you wish to publish in a psychological or educational journal, then this is the style you will need to follow

It allows for protection in your writing through the use of references

Protects sources/authors you are quoting from being plagiarized

Protects you, the writer, from accusations of plagiarism

Why Do We Use It In the Education Field?

Education is found under the social sciences umbrella

The social sciences are comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals

A few examples: Anthropology, communications studies, criminology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, social studies and sociology

What is “Education” Anyway?

Education encompasses teaching others (outward) and learning specific skills (inward)

It is the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom from the inward self to and outward source

What is “Education” Anyway? Cont.

“To educate” = to draw out

From the Latin “educare”

to facilitate the realization of an individual's potential and talents.

It is an application of pedagogy

a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning

specifically draws on disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology

Why, again, is APA Style Used?

Main reason: To give writers a standard format to follow when preparing their manuscripts for publication

Makes the editorial process go smoother

Provides editors with benchmarks against which to measure the quality of writing

Rules make converting writte work into published pages a more consistent process

A Few Helpful Resources in Your Journey…

Let’s take a look together

Now It’s Your Turn

You will need these things for the next part:

Something to write with

This handout

The second handout titled “Sample APA Style Used in A Candidacy Paper”

The third titled “Levels of Heading”

The fourth titled APA Sample Paper

The dissertation in front of you (to share)

Your brains

INHALE DEEPLY AND

LET’S BEGIN

General Formatting for Education Papers

First, the words “papers,” “proposal,” “candidacy paper,” “dissertation,” and “article” are going to mean the same thing in terms of this discussion

The Real Dissertations

Thumb through the dissertation in front of you

What do you see?

How Are the Papers Set Up?

Cover Page Table of Contents Abstract Body of Paper

Chapters Headings Sections and Subsections Tables and Figures Citations

References Appendices Tables Figures

Body Chapters Briefly

5 main dissertation chapters:

The introductory part

The literature review

The methodology

The results

The discussion

All dissertation chapters have their specific characteristics

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

Presents the main problems which will be discussed in your dissertation

Important to demonstrate that your work is significant

Ending of this chapter is a statement of your research question

Think: How you came to this topic

Chapter 2: LITERARY REVIEW

Main points which were presented in other researches on this topic

Qualitative studies "talk to" the literature can be integrated throughout the paper, with advisor's approval

Quantitive studies present the literature

Relatively small compared to the rest of the chapters 4-5 concepts/key terms presented (develop completely)

Think: History of my topic

Chapter 3: METHOLOGY

Describes the methods and investigation

Try to prove your ideas by different references

Present your own ideas and viewpoints include strong rationales

Will lead-in to your conclusion in the next chapter AKA persuasive argument paper

Think: Turn your reader into an agreer

Chapter 4: RESULTS

Sum up all of your research

Show that all the necessary questions have been answered

Be crystal clear and laconic Series of chapters/subchapters divided by logical and

natural layout of the inquiry Think: Scientific Method Syntax (not actual scientific

method used)

Chapter 5: DISCUSSION

Compare your results with the results made by others

Demonstrate your knowledge and skills in theory and practice

End with the new knowledge you are bringing to the field (leads to Chapter 6)

Think: The reason I should get an "A" on this assignment is because…

Chapter 6: REFLECTION

Optional Chapter

but push in Education now is on the self-reflective practitioner

I call it the “I.E.S.” Chapter

Think: What impact did my learning have directly on me?

Last Words on Dissertation Chapters

Very important to create a logical connection

often happens slowly

The more interesting your info is presented, the more captivated your reader becomes in your paper

Good for us because advisor/editors will read to enjoy and learn rather than to critique

APA Within Your Paper

Covers mainly Chapters 2-5

Specific Parts Are:

Sections and Subsections

Headings

Tables and Figures

Citations

References

Sections and Subsections

Typically include the following 7 sections Title Page

Abstract

Body

References

Tables (new page for each table)

Figure captions

Figures (new page for each figure)

Also, avoid having one sub-section heading in a paper.

Let’s look at Handout #2

Headings

Aid in establishing the hierarchy of the sections of a paper to help orient the reader

Topics within a paper that have equal importance will have the same level of headings throughout the paper

Can also function as an outline to reveal the papers organization

Levels of Headings

Consists of five possible formatting arrangements, each according to the levels of subordination. The headings are numbered Level 1, Level 2, and so forth to Level 5 Level 1: Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings

Level 2: Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

Level 3: Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with period.

Level 4: Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with period.

Level 5: Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with period

Let’s Look at Handout 3

Tables and Figures

“table” = data that is entered in columns and rows

“figure” = all other kinds of illustration or representation of data

Integrated throughout the paper where needed AND attached at the end of the document

Data should not be just left as a narrative

Put into SOME kind of graphic or chart form -- either as a table or as a figure (such as a bar graph or a pie chart)

Tables and Figures Cont.

In the paper body, center table/figure and label all information Describe table (pretend the table is not there and your are telling the

reader about it)

At the end of the document after Appendices, one table/ figure per page

What you should use depends on what facts you are trying to display

Think: What is the most informative way to display the information?

Hints About Tables and Figures

Figures should not have tick marks for the measures should have titles for the x and y axis should not have outline around the graph should not have minor lines on the chart the legend should either not exist if the graph is simple or should be

inside the chart need to be on a figure captions page, with an explanation of the

data represented do not have page numbers, and should have penciled in, on the back

the top and the figure caption that corresponds to it.

Tables do have page numbers do not have vertical lines

Citations

Reference citations in text are done using parenthetical referencing

Involves enclosing the author's surname and the date of publication within parentheses, separated by a comma, generally placed immediately after the reference or at the end of the sentence in which the reference is made.

Also common for the authors to be the subject or object of a sentence.

In the case of a quotation, the page number is also included in the citation.

Citation Examples

Example 1 – Pauling (2005) writes that “after a successful experiment, I

discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism” (p. 123).

Example 2 – Pauling (2005) discovered a possible genetic cause of

alcoholism.

Example 3 - A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism

(Pauling, 2005).

Direct vs. Indirect Quotes

Direct Quotation = exactly what the author wrote

Indirect Quotation = a paraphrasing of what the author wrote

The same rules apply, the format being (Author, Year, Page Number).

Direct vs. Indirect Quote Examples

Example #1 –

When asked why his behavior had changed so dramatically, Max simply said he believed it was because of the reinforcement (Pauling, 2004, p. 69).

Example #2 –

When asked why his behavior had changed so dramatically, Max simply said, "I think it's the reinforcement" (Pauling, 2004, p. 69).

Statistical Expressions in APA

There are certain ways to do this as well

Don’t be concerned about it yet

If needed, ask Dr. Ruban for assistance

Take EDRS 8382

References

Full bibliographic information

Found at the end of the paper

Can only include articles that are cited within the body of an paper

This is the distinction between a document having a Reference section and a bibliography, which may incorporate sources which may have been read by the authors as background, but not referred to or included in the body of a document

Types of References

Print sources

Electronic sources

Handout #4 – The Complete Sample Paper

Use this paper as a future reference

What Questions Can I Help

Answer for You?