.
Course Resources
Blackboard
What is Blackboard?
Blackboard is a web-based course-management program used extensively in online courses, but it also is used in numerous ways in face-to-face courses. The University has purchased and maintains the program to facilitate the learning experience. Blackboard is accessible from computers on campus and any other location worldwide where there is access to the internet.
If I am a student at KPC can I use Blackboard?
Every student is automatically listed on the Blackboard student list for each class in which they are registered. This also means you automatically have a personal webpage site that will list the Blackboard webpage link for all your classes (even if your class does not use the Blackboard site). There are a lot of features on your webpage; you might want to take some time to personalize your site.
What type of things will be on the website?
Blackboard is often used to post information pertinent to the class such as the syllabus, class schedule and meeting times, instructor office hours and contact information. Instructors can also use the website to post assignments and readings, quizzes, feedback, or other class activities (including class-related chat rooms). Resources related to the class such as links to professional organizations in the field, library resources, etc. are also frequently found on the class website.
Resources available to you on your personal Blackboard website include things like news and weather links, a calendar, and a free email account, to just name a few.
Will Blackboard be used in all my classes?
Not all Faculty utilize Blackboard, and those who do use it to different degrees. Be sure and ask your instructor if Blackboard is being used in each class you are in, and whether you will need to check the website frequently. Even if an instructor does not use Blackboard, you will have access to your personal webpage.
I am a busy person; why would I want to bother with Blackboard?
This resource can be used to:
A. provide 24/7 access to course information—
It is ten o'clock at night the day before your class meets. You lost the schedule that tells you which chapter you need to read for class. What do you do? You could go online and get the information from your own computer at home, and be prepared for class.
You want to know your current grade status. Do you need to wait four days before your instructor has office hours again? You could check your grade in the online gradebook.
B. disseminate information outside the confines of the classroom—
You might have access to a study guide posted on a Saturday that would not be available to students in paper form until the class meets on Tuesday. You just got a four day jump on studying for an exam.
Your instructor gets stuck in Nome due to weather and won't make it your 8:30am Monday class but is able to post an announcement on the website and send an email on Sunday. You check the website regularly, see the message, and so get to sleep in on a cold and snowy Monday morning!
C. have access to resources that may increase your learning potential
You might have access to online quizzes developed by the author of your text. Frequently you can take these and get immediate feedback. You could learn how to identify material core to a chapter.
You might find working with the specific language of a discipline is difficult so activities provided on the website help you practice and understand the concepts better.
There are certainly many more advantages to using Blackboard than have been listed here. Psychology majors are strongly encouraged to use their classroom Blackboard sites as a resource.
If you need help using Blackboard, you can ask for help from the computer folks in the IT department (262-0350), fellow students, or your instructor.
UAA Blackboard Website
Writing in APA
Beyond the basic expectation of good writing in college classes (correct grammar, use of critical thinking, etc.), each academic discipline uses a specific writing style. In psychology, this is referred to as “APA style” which is the writing style required by the American Psychological Association.
The ‘style' ranges from how to do page numbers, to the appropriate language to use, to how to write a literature review or an experimental methods section. There is an actual APA manual on the expectations and rules for writing but you should be aware some people think this manual is notoriously hard to follow (but there are tricks to get through it!). To ease the way in learning how to write in APA many different authors have provided online resources to help students write in the field of psychology, and in the Social Sciences in general (a few other disciplines also use the APA style).
Although the most direct and correct source is always the APA Manual, a lot of work has gone into putting together short-cuts that may help you. These sites are just a few of them.
f
f
