Accessing Your Courses

From your“My Workspace” page, you can access your courses in two ways.

If the course you wish to access is shown in the “Quicklinks” list of

courses at the top of the screen, you can simply click on the course

title.

OR

Click on the “My Sites” drop-down menu.

Figure 1-4: Accessing Your Workspace

You will see a listing of all courses that you have access to. Click on

the course that you would like to access.

Figure 1-5: List of Your Courses

To close the list of courses, click on the “My Sites” drop-down button

again.

Assessments

Downloading Assignments

To download your assignments, login to your student account and access the

“Assignments” tab. Begin by clicking on the selected Assignment Title.

Figure 1-11: Assignment Titles

For some assignments, the questions will be visible on the “viewing

assignment” screen.

Figure 1-12: Assignment Question on Screen

For others you must open a document file to view the assignment.

Locate the link to the assignment document.

Click on the link to open the assignment as an MS Word document.

Figure 1-13: Assignment Question as Document Link

You will be asked if you wish to open or save the file.

Figure 1-14: Assignment Document Download

You may choose to save the document to your computer at this time.

Uploading Assignments for Grading

To upload your assignments to be graded, log in to your student account

and access the “Assignments” tab.

Click on the selected Assignment Title (see Figure 1-11).

Scroll down to the section entitled “Submissions” (see Figure 1-15

below).

Figure 1-15: Submitting and Assignment

You may submit an assignment as text using the “Assignment Text” box.

This area is also used to include a message when submitting an

assignment as an attachment (See Figure 16 below).

To submit an assignment as an attachment (MS Word document, PowerPoint

presentation, or Excel spreadsheet), place the cursor in the box in

front of “Browse” and click on the “Browse” button. Search and select

the file to upload. Click the “Submit” button (See Figure 16 below).

Figure 1-16: Assignment Text or Document Submission

Exams & Quizzes

Exams are located under the “Exams & Quizzes” tab. Students are able to

access, submit, receive feedback, and view grades on exams in this area.

If there is no link to “Exams & Quizzes” showing on the navigation bar on

the left of the screen, that means that there are no online exams required

for the course you are in.

Gradebook

Students can view their grades on all graded items in the Gradebook.

Navigating Through a Course

Navigation Bar

Once you are in a course, use the navigation bar on the left of the screen

to access the different areas of the course.

Figure 1-6: Course Home

Course Home

The information under the Course Home tab provides general instructions

and information on completing the course. Included will be the Syllabus, a

Note from Your Professor, the Lesson Plan, the Course Guide, and

Supplemental Materials. The Student Handbook is also located here.

Figure 1-7: Course Information

Course Guide

Under the Course Guide tab you will find a vast array of information,

focused on how to complete each course requirement. The following is an

example:

Figure 1-8: Course Guide

Lesson Tabs

The lesson tabs contain the learning objectives, reading assignments, and

review exercises. To view the lesson contents:

Click on the lesson tab that you would like to open.

Click on the link to the item that you would like to view.

Figure 1-9: Lesson Tabs

Assignments

Written assignments are located under the “Assignments” tab. Students are

able to access, submit, receive feedback, and view grades on assignments

in this area. If the message “There are currently no assignments at this

location.” is displayed when you click on the “Assignments” tab, that

means that there are no assignments required in the course you are in.

Figure 1-10: Assignments

Plagiarism

Using others’ work without attribution, even though unintentional, could

very well be interpreted as cheating. It can result in charges of

plagiarism, copyright infringement, and loss of your credibility. As a

graduate student you will often need to present the ideas and opinions of

professionals in your own responses. Sometimes you will be directly

instructed to conduct ProQuest research that will need to be cited, and,

at other times, without being instructed to do so, you will turn to the

textbook or the Lecture Notes to review ideas to present. It is imperative

in either case that you cite your sources correctly and consistently.

The Penalty for Plagiarism

Ashworth College’s policy on plagiarism and cheating is as follows:

Students are not permitted to receive, attempt to receive, knowingly

give, or attempt to give any unauthorized assistance in the preparation

of any work required to be submitted for credit as part of a course

(including examinations, Discussion Question answers, projects, reports,

essays, themes, term papers, etc.). When students use direct quotations,

they should use quotation marks and properly cite the relevant

source(s). Students must also cite sources for any use of others’

language, ideas, theories, data, figures, graphs, programs, and

electronic information or illustrations.

While students accused of academic dishonesty will have access to due

process procedures, any student found guilty of academic dishonesty will

be permanently dismissed from the college.

Failure to cite sources is plagiarism, whether or not it is intentional.

Failure to either cite sources or to cite them correctly, when considered

infrequent or an oversight, could result in a deduction of up to 10% of

your grade on an individual assignment; blatant, repetitive, or excessive

violations will result in dismissal from the program. Your grader will

assess your work for correct APA format and will report plagiarism.

Plagiarism Defined

Plagiarism is using another person’s ideas, opinions, words, or work

without properly crediting/citing that person. The following are examples

of plagiarism (iParadigms, 2004):

Passing off another’s work as one’s own in any fashion

Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks

Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without

giving credit

Copying or paraphrasing words or ideas from someone else without giving

credit

Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation or making

up sources for information

Using facts that are derived from the original research without

crediting the source

Copying so many words/ideas that it makes up the majority of the work,

whether credit is given or not

The information below must always be properly cited (ISS, 2004; Purdue

2004):

Another person’s idea, opinion, or theory regardless of the medium

(magazine, book, newspaper, journal, song, e-mail, lecture, TV program,

movie, Web page, letter, advertisement, interview)

Any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that

are not common knowledge

Quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words

The following information does NOT have to be cited (Purdue, 2004):

Generally accepted facts

One’s own experimental results

One’s own experiences, observations, insights, thoughts, or conclusions

about a subject

Common knowledge, including folklore, common-sense observations, and

shared information within your field of study or cultural group

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Your grader expects you to use the work of others in your responses; there

is no way to avoid this. To avoid plagiarism, however, simply cite the

work of others correctly in APA format every time. You should refer often

to the APA Guidelines as well as to a printed or online APA style manual.

You may also find the following suggestions helpful in preparing your

responses (Purdue, 2004):

As you take notes, mark the material that is directly copied,

summarized, or paraphrased in a significant way, perhaps by using a

different-colored font or by changing the background color of the

information (highlighting the information). When you finalize your

paper, you can easily check to be sure that you have cited this

information.

When you are paraphrasing or summarizing information, read the

information and then write it down from memory. This will help you to

avoid using the sentence structure and words of others. Remember that a

paraphrase must still be cited.

When quoting directly, write down the exact words into your notes, and

write the name of the person whom you are quoting next to the quote, and

put quotation marks around the exact words that you copied. Use very few

quotes in your papers, quoting only when the exact phrasing of the

information is as important as the information itself.

Preparing Your Assignments for Grading

When you prepare a response for submission (discussion questions,

activities, and stand-alone projects), it is important that you format and

name the document correctly, in accordance with the standards described

below. Not following these instructions could cause you to lose points on

your responses. Note: If you are required to use industry or

document-specific formats, these will be identified in the instructions

for each assignment.

Format Requirements

Use the following format requirements on all submissions (discussion

questions, activities, and stand-alone projects). If you do not use these

format requirements, your submission may be returned to you or you may

have points deducted from your grade.

Writing StyleAPA (American Psychological Association)

To find detailed information on APA manuscript style guidelines on

the Internet, go to or for a printable guide,

click here.

Margins1” all sides

ParagraphsSingle-space within paragraph (Discussion Questions and

Activities)

Double-space within paragraph (Stand-Alone Project)

Double-space between paragraphs

Indent first line of each paragraph

HeadingsBold

Type Style and SizeTimes New Roman, 12 point

SoftwareMS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or software provided with

textbook

Assignment Cover SheetThe Assignment Cover Sheet should be the first

page of each posted file (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and must

include the following information in the format provided below.

Student Name

Student Identification Number

Student Mailing Address

Student E-mail Address

Student Phone Numbers

Day

Evening

Cell

Fax

Course Number and Title

Assignment Number and Title

Date of Submission

Grammar and MechanicsAll submissions should be written in a clear

and concise manner utilizing proper grammar, spelling, and

punctuation.

Response FormatFormat all submissions in the same fashion as the

discussion questions, activities, and stand-alone project. If there

is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc.

NOTE: Unless the assignment specifically instructs you to use software

that is provided with your course or textbook, you MUST use MS Word,

Excel, or PowerPoint software.

Naming and Saving the Document

Name Your File Correctly: Your file name should be your student number,

course number, assignment number, and task type as shown below.

Sample File Names:GA0600123 MX600 Asgn 1 DQ 1 (for Discussion

Question 1)

GA0600123 MX600 Asgn 1 DQ 2 (for Discussion Question 2)

GA0600123 MX600 Asgn 2 ACT (for an Activity)

GA0600123 MX620 Asgn 7 SAP (for a Stand Alone Project)

Save Your File before Uploading It: Always maintain an electronic file

and a hard copy of all of your submissions in the event of loss during

transmission. Saving your file can save you a great deal of time. For

example, if something happens while you are uploading the file and your

computer locks up, you will want to have saved the latest copy of your

work. It is very rare that anything would happen to your file once it is

on our Web site; however, in case there are any technical issues, you

will want to have a back-up copy of your work.

Responding to Discussion Questions, Activities, and Stand-Alone Projects

In your courses, you will be required to submit three (3) types of

responses: Discussion Questions, Activities, and Stand-Alone Projects. The

following guidelines will help you in formulating your responses.

That the Questions and Activities Are Quantified: For example, the

question may ask you to locate three (3) journal articles discussing a

particular topic and propose four (4) solutions for problems identified

in the articles. Thus, to receive full credit for your response, you

must ensure that your submission meets the quantified requirements.

Break the Question into Parts: Notice how the question is divided.

Sometimes the question will be divided into parts (such as a., b., c.,

etc., or Part A, Part B, Part C, etc.). Whether or not the division is

labeled specifically, most questions have more than one part. For

example, a question may ask you to “define the following terms, giving

an example of each and applying each term to a specific situation.” For

each of the terms, then, there are three (3) required parts (definition,

example, and application). Your grader will look for your response to

each of these parts for each term, and you will lose points for any

parts of the response that are missing. Carefully reading the

instructions will help to ensure that you have responded to all parts of

the instructions.

Organize the Response by Parts: If the question is divided specifically

into parts using labels (Part A, etc.), organize your response by

labeling it in the same manner as the question. If parts are not

specifically listed for you, you should still organize your response by

answering in the same order as the question is written. When you

organize your response in such a way that it matches the question, you

are more likely to include the required content in your response and

receive credit for it.

Submit Narrative (Discussion) Responses: All of your responses (unless

they are specifically required to be submitted in a chart, table, graph,

slideshow, etc.) should be in narrative form. As a graduate student,

your professors assume that you are prepared to discuss all answers. A

simple “yes” or “no” will NOT suffice as an answer to a Discussion

Question or an Activity.

Use APA Format: When a response requires documentation of sources or

other specialized formatting, always use APA format (more on APA later

in this assignment).

Proofread and Spell Check Your Document: All responses should be written

using standard English grammar and mechanics. Use the tools available to

you in Microsoft Word (spell check, grammar and style check, synonym

suggestions, dictionary, etc.) to proofread your work before submission.

The grader may reject a response or deduct points from work that is

substandard in grammar, punctuation, and organization.

NOTE: Remember, the response starts on the second page of your Word

document, following the cover sheet.

Setting Goals and Listing Tasks for Completion

This program is self-paced and does not have deadlines; however, you will

probably find that managing your time is a critical component in

completing each course and making progress toward your goal of earning an

advanced degree. There are many products on the market that make time

management easier, and you may want to take advantage of these. In fact,

you may already have a system that works for you. However, we will briefly

discuss a few basics that you should keep in mind as you manage your time

and work towards the completion of your program.

If you were not serious about getting a master’s degree, you would not

have enrolled in this program. Since we all tend to make time for the

things that are important to us, you just need to remind yourself

periodically that earning your degree is important to you. Because there

are no specific deadlines to meet, sometimes you may find it easy to put

off doing the coursework, and after a while, you may be surprised at how

long it has been since you last worked on your course. The following

suggestions may help you stay “on track.”

Set goals for progress and completion; put them on your calendar and

schedule time for studying.

Break the assignments into tasks and check them off as you complete

them.

Keep a calendar and/or task list of your progress. This will give you a

sense of accomplishment as you finish assignments. It will also give you

a sense of purpose in moving forward.

Be realistic in setting your progress goals. Take stock of your

responsibilities to determine how much time you can spend each week on

your courses.

Make it a habit to study for a certain amount of time each week.

If you get behind, don’t stress yourself trying to make up the time that

you lost; instead, readjust your schedule and move forward.

If you would like to review additional information on setting goals,