ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION

This presentation provides some advice to help you as you start

your studies here at College of the Rockies.

Many of these suggestions come from resources created by the

Simon Fraser University Student Learning Commons.

http://learningcommons.sfu.ca/strategies/

COLLEGE SERVICES

Library: Visit the Reference Desk in the Library for help in carrying

out your research.

Writing Lab: Book an appointment with a writing advisor at the

Circulation Desk in Library.

Student Services Department: (located across the hall from the

International Office) Their services include:

• Individual Study Skills Counseling

• Arranging Peer Tutoring

WRITING HELP

In-Person Help

• Receive help with writing a thesis statement, organizing your paper, grammar and more!

• Appointments are 20 minutes in length

• Book early because appointments are limited

• Times are:

• Tuesday 1-5pm

• Thursday 1-5pm

• Friday 9-5

WriteAway Service (Online Service)

• Starting in late Fall 2012

SOME BASIC ADVICE

By Attending Class You:

• Show respect your instructor and classmates

• Don’t miss out on tips for exams and assignments

• Avoid having to ask for information that has already been given to

the class which can be embarrasing

Class Participation

• Asking questions and speaking in class will often earn you marks

• Posting comments within Moodle is often a requirement for

online classes, not something optional.

YOUR CHECKLIST FOR BEFORE CLASS

o Sleep

o Eat something

o Have you read the assigned readings?

o Reviewed past class notes?

IN-CLASS: LISTENING & NOTE-TAKING

Record the lecture if it isn’t already recorded (it is a good idea to ask

permission beforehand)

Remove distractions (turn off your phone, etc)

Choose a seat where you can easily pay attention to your teacher

and participate in class discussions

Focus on what your instructor repeats, what they write on the

board and what they emphasize by using their tone of voice

AFTER CLASS

Take 5 - 10 minutes to review your notes (within 24 hours)

Reviewing your notes gives you the opportunity to fill in any gaps

where you missed some information before you forget.

TIME MANAGEMENT: ASSIGNMENTS

For the best results, start early and do a little work each day.

Phase 1:

• Review the instructions and select a topic / research question

• Visit the Reference Desk in the Library to receive help with finding resources

Phase 2:

• Review resources and begin writing your paper. Visit the Writing Lab if you are stuck

Phase 3:

• Have your draft reviewed by the Writing Advisor

• Continue work on your final draft

• Visit the Library for review of your citations

TIME MANAGEMENT: EXAMS PREPARATION

Review past exam experiences:

• What went well?

• What mistakes do you need to avoid repeating?

• Student Services Department offers help with exam preparation strategies

Write down everything your instructor says about the exam

Organize your notes and start reviewing them early

Look for questions in your textbook that you can use for practice

KEYS TO GROUP SUCCESS

Meet Early and Regularly

Discuss the best way to communicate with your group

• Email

• Phone

• Regular meetings

• Facebook

Discuss problems as they occur, don’t let problems grow worse!

KEY POINTS

Help is provide by:

• The Library

• Writing Lab

• Student Services

Simon Fraser University has published many study tips:

http://learningcommons.sfu.ca/strategies/

Starting early and doing a little work everyday is important

ROLE OF OUR LIBRARY

Support the research and learning needs of our students and instructors!

• Provides access print and electronic resources

• Offers help with doing research

• Provides a space for students to study

• Hosts the Writing Lab

• Library’s website features plenty of resources for students!

LIBRARY SPACE

Computer Labs

Group Study Areas

Writing Lab

Individual Study Carrels

COMPUTER LABS

Larger lab is open longer!

Smaller lab is a quieter place to work.

Graphics lab computers connect to a scanner, colour printer and

feature graphics software.

Student print account is $30 per term

• Questions? Visit the IT Help Desk or the Circulation Desk.

CIRCULATION SERVICES

Sign-out Resources

To renew items, email:

circdesk@cotr.bc.ca

Sign-out Circulation Reserves

AV Equipment Bookings

WE LOAN AUDIO-VISUAL EQUIPMENT!

Lap tops

Headphones

Digital Cameras

Video Cameras

And More…

RESEARCH HELP: IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

R E F E R E N C E D E S K

M O N D A Y – F R I D A Y 9 - 5

A S K A W A Y O N L I N E S E R V I C E

S E V E N D A Y S - A - W E E K

LIBRARY COLLECTION

Find Books and Videos in the Library

The Library’s website provides access to:

• E-Books

• Streaming Videos

• Databases (contain online resources for every subject)

*Use your student # and computer sign-in password to access these

online resources.

In-Person (begins Sept 18)

Tuesday 1 – 5pm

Thursday 1 – 5pm

Friday 9 – 5 pm

Online (Coming Soon)

WRITING HELP

KEY POINTS

The Library offers:

• Help with your research projects

• Books and Videos that you can borrow for free!

• Access to many online resources through its website

• Audio-Visual equipment you can borrow for free!

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

College Expectations

Definition of plagiarism

Consequences of Plagiarism

Ways to Avoid Plagiarism

COLLEGE EXPECTATIONS

You are expected to consult other peoples’ work as part of your

research.

When you borrow (either summarize or quote from) another’s person

work, you must communicate that the information or ideas are not

your own. This is called citing a source.

The appropriate citation style for anthropology is APA.

The Library offers citation style guides that you can use.

PLAGIARISM EXPLAINED

Plagiarism is using another person’s work (ideas, graphs, images, etc.)

without giving them credit.

Not providing credit = saying that the information or work is your own

and is considered cheating.

To better understand plagiarism, watch the Student Guide to

Plagiarism video from the BC Institute of Technology

http://urls.bccampus.ca/27

PLAGIARISM: CAN BE BIG OR SMALL

Submitting an entire assignment that is not your work.

Copying one sentence that is not your own without giving credit to

the author.

CONSEQUENCES OF PLAGIARISM

There are different penalties depending on the situation.

Penalties may include:

• Lower mark on the assignment.

• Assignment may have to be redone.

• Mark of zero on the assignment.

• For repeated cases, the student will be suspended from the

College.

APA STYLE

APA (6th edition) published in 2010 is the most current

version

DIRECT QUOTATIONS

Any time you copy word for word from a source, you are using a

direct quotation.

A direct quotation always requires a page number as part of your

citation.

As your paper has to be more than just quotation followed by

quotation, you will need to summarize / paraphrase.

PARAPHRASING IS…

Summarizing information from another resource and writing it in

your own words.

Ex)

Original sentence: The research shows that students do better in

school by drinking two cups of coffee per day.

A paraphrase using the APA Citation Style:

Recent research finds that students who drink two cups of coffee

per day succeed in school (author, date).

IN TEXT CITATIONS

Are used whenever information is taken from another source.

In all cases, include the author’s last name and publication date of

the source.

Page number(s) are required for quotations.

(author, date) or (author, date, p. #)

The format for in text citations depends on whether you mention the

source within your writing.

Direct Quotation

…and “……………………….” (Smith, 1990, p. 5).

…and Smith (1990) writes “……………………….” (p. 5).

Paraphrase

…and the 1950 study was the most important (Smith, 1990).

… and Smith (1990) states that the 1950 study was the most

important.

REFERENCE LIST (BASIC RULES)

• Provides more detailed information about your sources.

• Order the items alphabetically by authors’ last names.

• Write out the last name of authors but use initials for first names.

ex) Jim Smith becomes Smith, J.

• Capitalize the first word in the title, subtitle and any proper

names within the title.

ex) Anthropology in Canada: Researchers and their work.

REFERENCE LIST (BASIC RULES CONT’D)

• First line begins at left margin with subsequent lines indented 5-

7 spaces (just like this line)!

• Italics are also now used for titles of books and journals.

ex) Anthropology in Canada: Researchers and their work.

These instructions were taken from the APA Citation Style guide by Cornell University Library:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/apa

RECOMMENDED CITATION GUIDES

Writing Your Paper section on the Library’s website

• Links to citation guides (+ writing guides)

Circulation Desk has a print copy of the APA guidelines

available for two-hour loan.

CLOSING

Research and Citation Questions?

Visit the Library in person or send contact us by email:

Reference Desk: library@cotr.bc.ca

Ben Harrison: bharrison@cotr.bc.ca