Harvard so far

APA is like any skill; the more you do it, the better you get and the easier it gets. One of my professors at UML was a fanatic about APA citation and formatting, but it definitely made me a better writer.

 

Considering the amount Harvard is charging you per class, I don't think "free-free-free" is the correct term; "included with high tuition" would be more accurate.

 

>>


LOL yes, I stand corrected!

 

Well, you might, when you are ready to fulfill your residency requirements at Ahvahd, look into securing a one- or one-and-a-half year job transfer within your current company. Quite often, a company putting an employee on a temporary job transfer will offer a special housing allowance above and beyond the regular salary. Another possibility would be to rent out your principal home while you are in Cambridge and that should generate the income to pay the mortgage plus a little margin. Just a couple of thoughts.

 

I pulled my hair out doing APA throughout my Masters degree. That's when I decided to research the APA formatting software out there.

Only two I recommend are Reference Point Software or Stylease.

Professors can get a free fully functioning copy of Stylease by simply writing a short evaluation.

I used Ref. Point and I always had perfect papers and it also got me through the dissertation. Using the software was like cruising in comparison to doing it from memory or with the cheat sheet out.

 

>>

Oh good! THANKS! I had thought about it a bit, but then didn't really know of any good ones out there (there are so many!). I'll check it out as soon as this class is done.

 

Stay away from the APA's own software. Consistently, I get from my colleagues that is it pure trash.

 

I agree with this, I bought it and did nothing, no support, no refund ( I should had fight it and probably would have gotten my money back). In any event, it was a terrible investment, worse of all. I have Perrla and Stylease and they both work great. Anyway, what can you expect from APA they have not updated their book since 2001.

 

>>


On that note, I have a couple questions about using APA software for you guys who have it. I mainly want to know exactly how it's going to help me.

Let me preface this by saying that I have not gotten a grade, so I have no idea if these errors are considered a big deal or a minor deal. My TA seemed to think that I was "highly attentive to details" when I emailed him....so I'm not sure how to take that.

Here was my experience:
I wrote out the references I used into a document using an APA guide sheet. I have since found a few annoying errors that I missed.
Examples:
when I typed "pp. 345-470" my computer automatically changed it to Pp. 345-470 because of the period that preceded the pp! Three of those slipped by me.

I also missed the use of italics on 2 journal titles, and an upper-case "A" slipped into an article title instead of a lower case "a" in my references.

Other trouble- Our teacher wanted double spaces, but I didn't know how many spaces to use after various headings (1 is 2, 2 is 4 and 4 looks like a lot)- I emailed my TA about how many spaces to use after a level 4 header- he told me "whatever looks right" (that's a quote). In the same level 4 header, would I capitalize a proper noun? He told me there wasn't a firm rule, and I couldn't find an answer online- what's trump???

So, would these errors be caught, and would my questions about headers be addressed automatically? Does it format the document automatically using any kind of user-defined preferences (choosing underlined instead of italics or vise-versa)? Will it use lower case automatically in headings too?

These are the things I had to constantly look up- and at this stage of my writing- a lot of this is still counterintuitive to how I would normally write.

 

Nothing like getting a free Havard education!

 

Maybe I'm just old fashioned - but I have heard too many horror stories about APA software - I have done all of my papers, comps, and my dissertation proposal --- manually.

Shawn

 

Cook,

Do the demos on the web sites. The Reference Point Software version is just 28 dollars. The Stylease is 35 dollars. This last one has more fill-in menus than the REF. Point stuff. Both try to make it very easy for you. Once I got the software I hardly had to keep track of all the details. When I did it manually, I inevitably would miss a period, a capitalization, on and on. I'm slightly A.D.D. so I'm not like the gentleman who reported he does it manually. He would probably be a good pilot. I would crash the plane. It was worth the comparably little money to save a massive amount of frustration and mind burnout. This becomes very obvious when you do long papers and especially a dissertation.

Hope this helps a little.

 

Blackbird

Since my vision prohibits me from flying...now I know where I take out all those frustrations...APA in-text citations and reference pages Thanks for a good laugh!

Shawn

 

>>

LOL!
I'll look at the demos, but I am a little weird about using things that are supposedly "help." (read: I'm OCPD squared and most "helpful tools" I come across in my lifetime are useless to me, I like to do things my own way) so if it does it all- great- but if I have to micro manage the program, then it's more trouble than it's worth and I would rather do it myself.
I'm of the belief that you should control what you can- because there will be plenty of other things out of your control that will bite you. In this instance, that means I want perfect format so that my point deductions come from flaws in my content. I already know I had a few format dings, and there are probably a few more that I didn't know were errors...so that leaves me feeling pretty uncomfortable with my project as a whole.

 

Well....my first class is over! I just got back from my proctored final.

I don't plan on doing a class-by-class update anymore, but if you have questions please feel free to pm me.

My only complaints out of the entire course (6 months) is that the grading system left me "hanging" up until yesterday. My term paper (25%) wasn't graded until the day before my final exam (30%) so you can see there was a lot riding on those scores, and a lot of stress until yesterday. Anyway, my term paper had a really nice long critique from my professor- I liked her feedback. Earlier in the thread, I complained about learning APA style, but I pulled a 98, so I'll shut up. It's like anything- the more you do it, the easier it gets. I took my final exam today- easier than it could have been (!) but at the same time, it really covered the whole semester and all the reading. It also had a nice even distribution (missing one question wouldn't kill you).

Overall, good experience. I enjoy the lecture split screen format a LOT and look forward to more like it. I really would say that lecture is a very important component of class, and I missed it at TESC. This is a really great aspect of the course, and I don't know how other colleges are doing their online, but this really makes for a nice learning experience. Thumbs up.

My next class (a degree requirement) is Statistics. Some of you may remember I said I didn't have the funds to register this term, but we had a bit of a blessing come our way, so I'm registered. Also, another big announcement for me is that I'm planning on going to campus THIS summer for my first residency, and the final pre-admission requirement: Proseminar.

Initially, my first residency class was slated for next year, but we had a generous offer of child care (remember I have 4 kids!) and I want to do it before they change their minds LOL! So, it looks like I'll be a full time student starting this summer (and finishing a year earlier). I'll be taking 8 credits per term, and on that schedule my last courses will be next summer (2010) with the thesis taking up the duration of my time before graduation...maybe 9-12 months.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and for being interested in my journey!!

 

That's awesome Jennifer! Couldn't be happier for you! I wish you the best.

 

Jen,

I am just all smiles right now - my sincere very best

Shawn

 

Jennifer,

Great news! Best of luck and if I were you I would hit Bruce up for a beer at Cheers.

Best wishes,

 

>>

LOL I just might do that!!

Adam, Kevin, and Shawn- thanks guys- really!

 

wonderful news!

Sidney