Paper Guide Template Guidelines 2013

Paper Guide Template Guidelines 2013

Please note: Changes are being introduced for the 2013 delivery method for papers and Administration Guides will now be called Paper Guides.

What is a Paper Guide?

The Paper Guide gives students a comprehensive overview of the paper and tells them what study resources and types of interaction they can expect. It covers all the administrative aspects of the paper, including the study schedule, assessment activities and how the paper will be taught.

Suggestions for using the Paper Guide template

These guidelines provides you with example content and suggestions for inclusion in your paper’s Paper Guide. The template and related guidelines can be adapted for online delivery and we expect to have an online version of the Paper Guide available in time for Semester 2 2013. The Learning and Support Guide will be pre-populated in Stream, which you can then customise,but in the meantime please consider including relevant information in your online environment.

While all content can be amended to suit your purpose, there are points within the template where italicised ideas and suggestions are made that will require your input – either to tailor them for your student audience or to delete. These points are marked by the STOP icon, which has been inserted so that the suggestions are not accidentally left in. The icon should also be deleted (click on the icon then press delete).

These suggestions align with and elaborate on the “Expectations for Paper Guides” listed in Appendix 2 of the Policy relating to Paper Information and Study Resources available at…

Automatic Format

This template has been formatted using the automatic Table of Contents feature in Word version 97-2003. To make the contents page reformat and repaginate automatically to suit your amendments, follow these instructions:

Highlight the existing Table of Contents listings.

Click on “Update Field” tab on your toolbar. If you don’t have it on your toolbar you can add it by doing the following:

Go to “Customize” in “Tools” on the menu bar.

Under “Categories” go to “All Commands”.

On the right under “Commands” look for “UpdateFields”.

Drag the icon up to your toolbar and close the “Customize” box.

If all else fails, the changes can be made manually!

Teaching Consultants from the Centres for Teaching and Learning are available to assist you with the compilation of your Paper Guide.

We also provide guidance on writing Study Guides for Stream and for print, give feedback on drafts, and advice on the integration of print with Stream.

2013 Version

Acknowledgement

This template is based on Writing your administration guide: A handbook for extramural teachers, compiled by Claire McLachlan-Smith, Centre for Extramural Studies, 1998, revised by Teaching Consultants Manawatu Campus.

[Paper number]

[Paper name]

Paper Guide

[Author name]

[Department]

[Year]

Acknowledgement

Include any acknowledgements you’d like to make. (Remember to acknowledge the original designer/writer of the paper if this is relevant)

This material is protected by copyright and has been copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under licence. You may not sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of this course pack/material to any other person. Where provided to you in electronic format, you may only print from it for your own private study and research. Failure to comply with the terms of this warning may expose you to legal action for copyright infringement and/or disciplinary action by the University.

Contents

Page

Welcome

Paper coordinator

Staff

The paper

Prescription

Pre/co requisites

Learning outcomes

Topics

Study resources

Paper guide

Study guide

Textbooks

Stream: Your online learning environment

Contact course

Block course

How to approach your study

Suggested study schedule

Assessment

Requirements for completing the paper

Extensions and late assignments

Assignment submission

Academic integrity

Assignments

Assignment one: (Title)

Assignment two: (Title)

Assignment marking guide and feedback

References

Presentation of written work

Final examination

Conditions for aegrotat pass and impaired performance

Grievance procedures

Appendix 1: Student profile

Appendix 2: How to access Stream

Appendix 3: Massey University Library

Appendix 4: The writing process

Writing essays

Writing reports

Appendix 5: Supporting your learning at Massey University

Appendix 6: Feeling overwhelmed?

Paper Guide1

Welcome

Include a welcome to the paper statement (include the paper number). You may prefer to title this section “Introduction”. The use of the first person will assist you to make your statements appear welcoming and will connect directly with individual students.

Give a general overview of the paper, its position in the programme and components in general terms.

If you are intending to obtain student feedback via MOST (Massey Online Survey Tool) let the students know that you value their feedback and when the survey will be available in Stream.

Suggested length: ¼ – ½ page.

You should begin your study by reading through the administrative and assessment details in this guide to get an overview of the paper content and deadlines.

Paper coordinator

Include an introduction to yourself here. Students are likely to be interested in both your professional and personal interests. Keep it brief and general. Use a conversational style with reference to the writer as “I” and the student as “you” for instant student engagement.

Include something about what they can expect from you during the semester – in terms of assistance – when you are available etc.

Suggested length: ¼ – ½ page.

Teaching staff

Remember to introduce others teaching in the paper and indicate which parts of the paper each staff member has written and is responsible for.

Contact details

Include contact information.

Phone:

Fax:

Email:

Number to leave messages:

Postal address:

Paper description

Prescription

Include the prescription.

Pre/co requisites

Include this if this is relevant to your paper.

Learning outcomes

List the general learning outcomes for the paper. These are the learning objectives for the paper, expressed as learning outcomes to indicate what students will have learned on successful completion of the paper.

(E.g. On successful completion of the paper you should be able to:

• Demonstrate skills and knowledge of the investigative interview process, including analysing leads, designing questions, and gathering and organising information
• Analyse ethical and legal issues in investigations and in publications
• Compile, justify and present a story for publication).

It is recommended that you include the specific learning outcomes for each topic/module within the relevant sections of the study guide.

Course topics

Give a brief overview of the topics in the study guide here.

You might organise material in key themes (manageable chunks) and then use the suggested timetable, to detail a weekly or topic by topic approach.

Online learning category

State the online learning category as listed in IPP and establish the expectations you have for online interaction (e.g. Paper Guide and Administration, Partially Taught Online and Fully Taught Online).

Study resources

There are a range of study resources for this paper which are explained in the information below. The textbook is supplemented by the study guide and book of readings in hardcopy. There is an online learning environment where you will access additional study resources and interact with the class.

Include all or some of the following sections here.

Textbooks

Remember to list all required and recommended texts.

Note that required and recommended texts should be ordered for both the library and Bennetts.

Order your textbook from:

Bennetts Book Stores Ltd 2011

Massey University

Private Bag 11004

Manawatu Box Lobby

Palmerston North 4442

Telephone: (06) 354 6020

Include a hyperlink to the website

Core and supplementary study resources

Include information about what is core study resources (i.e. essenntial to the paper) and other supplementary material (extra but not essential). You may wish to refer to the nature of the study guide and related materials. Indicate how students should use the core study resources – what sequence of study do you recommend? What expectations do you have? Include a reading list somewhere in the guide, either here or within the topics of the study guide. Remember to check that books in reading lists are available in the library. If not, send a book order to the library. (This is particularly important for under graduate students who are not expected to make use of interloan services).

In the online Guide please try to include hyperlinks to these books and any other internet links to related study resources. Include useful links to web sites with a short description of why you have recommended them. The date you last accessed them is also helpful as they change regularly.

Requesting printed study resources

Provide information about how students can request printed study resources. You might also like to include the following statement…

Massey University is committed to providing distance students with a rich, digitally mediated learning experience in keeping with global developments in learning technology. It is rapidly becoming the norm for study resources to be online and for learning to be interactive and dynamic, displacing static print materials. The benefits of a well-integrated, convenient and portable digital study medium are now widely recognised. In certain circumstances, however, some students find printed materials preferable. Wherever possible, Massey University will continue to provide a print version of core study resources on request. There is no charge for this service but we ask students to be mindful of what they request as Massey University is committed to sustainability. You can request core printed study resources for your paper(s) by completing theonline request form available through Stream.

Course Interaction

This section of the Guide is intended to inform students how they will interact with staff and fellow students.

Class timetable

Give information about when students will meet or where they can access this information in the University timetable.

Lectures

Give information about your expectations in terms of lecture including whether these are compulsory.

Tutorials/Labs

Give information about your expectations in terms of tutorials and/or labs including whether these are compulsory.

Stream: Your online learning environment

Be explicit about your expectations of what and how students should be making use of Stream. Indicate how students will need to interact with the online environment. Mention if you are providing quizzes or weekly forum postings where students can get valuable formative feedback.

For example:

This paper makes use of Stream to help create a vibrant “online learning community”. Stream will normally be available 2 weeks before the beginning of semester for administrative information. Other resources such as lecture notes and Powerpoint presentations will become available from the beginning of the semester. Some study resources will be selectively released to students after specific activities have been completed.

Accessing Stream helps you do well in the paper in three ways:

1.Lecturer-to-Student Communication: I will post any important notices, instructions and additional readings that arise on Stream. By checking Stream often you will always know ‘what’s going on’. You will also find I have provided self-assessment exercises to give you feedback on your progress. We highly recommend you make use of these tools.

2.Student-to-Lecturer Communication: I encourage you to communicate with me via Stream if you have any questions. Often these questions alert me to potential areas of confusion that the whole class can benefit from. I aim to respond to your inquiries in a timely manner.

3.Student-to-Student Communication: Stream allows you to communicate with other students via a forum. Post a message introducing yourself to the class.

In the appendices you will find information on how to access Stream.

Contact course

Include information on contact course details (city, campus, dates, times) and the nature of attendance. Let students know what they need to have prepared/completed before attending and what to expect, e.g. outline of programme. Answer these questions for them: Why should I attend? (For many, it is a considerable financial outlay.) What will I get out of it?

Note: The contact course categories are changing for 2013 (check with College DTL). The categories assume contact is synchronous whether it is face to face or online. The categories are:

None

In Person – Recommended

In Person – Compulsory

Online – Recommended

Online – Compulsory

Block course

Include details of block courses (city, campus, dates, times) and nature of attendance (normally compulsory face to face, although it might be a combination of face to face and online). Describe for students what to expect. As this is a comprehensive contact period include a programme and indicate what students are required to have completed prior to attending and bring with them. Indicate if an assessment is to take place during the block course.

How to approach your study

Provide an indication of how the students should use the study materials; what to read first, or ‘pick and mix’ the readings whether from textbook, online and hardcopy; any particular teaching philosophy that is important to the way students tackle the paper. Cover what your expectations for the paper are – this is very important.

For example

Each week I suggest you read the study guide then the textbook, followed by additional readings on Stream. The self-assessment exercises will help you see how you are progressing and are an important part of your self-directed study. Post a message or respond to a message for each topic forum.

Suggested study schedule

Include a statement about how you expect students to use their study time. You could include a note re 15 credits in a single semester = 10 hours per week in study related to the paper. A 30 credit single semester paper will require 20 hours of study per week.

Example 1

The schedule below, which follows the internal timetable is only a suggested one. You may prefer to work out your own schedule, one that suits your personal requirements. The main point is to work to some schedule so that you don’t fall behind.

Example 2

This is a 15 credit paper. The following table gives a breakdown of how I envisage you allocating your study time. Although the workload varies a little from week to week, you should allocate about 10 hours a week over the semester. If you are aiming for an A pass you may need to spend more time.

Set reading from textbook, and study guide / 78 hours
Self-directed study exercise and quizzes and supplementary resources / 20 hours
Online discussion / 15 hours
Contact course / 7 hours
Assessment / 30 hours
TOTAL / 150 hours

Semester 1, 2013

Include study weeks, exams weeks, contact or block course dates etc. (Remove Text/Readings column if you don’t wish to use it).

Date / Weeks / Topic / Text/Readings / Assignments
25 February / 1
4 March / 2
11 March / 3
18 March / 4
25 March / 5
1 April / EASTER, MID SEMESTER BREAK
8 April
15 April / 6
22 April / 7
29 April / 8
6 May / 9
13 May / 10
20 May / 11
27 May / 12
3 June / STUDY BREAK
FINAL EXAMINATION – ??

Semester 2, 2013

Include study weeks, exams weeks, contact or block course dates etc. (Remove Text/Readings column if you don’t wish to use it).

Date / Weeks / Topic / Text/Readings / Assignments
15 July / 1
22 July / 2
29 July / 3
5 August / 4
12 August / 5
19 August / 6
26 August / STUDY BREAK
2 September
6 September / 7
16 September / 8
23 September / 9
30 September / 10
7 October / 11
14 October / 12
21 October / Study Break
FINAL EXAMINATION – ??

Summer School, 2013/14

Include exam week and contact or block course dates. You may wish to remind students Summer School covers a compressed timeframe and that the University will be closed between Christmas and New Year. (Remove Text/Readings column if you don’t wish to use it).

Date / Topic / Text/Readings / Assignments
18 November
25 November
2 December
9 December
16 December
UNIVERSITY CLOSED 22 December – 2 January
Thursday 2 January
6 January
13 January
20 January
27 January
3 February / STUDY WEEK
FINAL EXAMINATION?

Assessment Guide

Paper assessment

Thought should be given to the scheduling of assessments and the workload implications for students. This is especially important as students often find they have assignments due in the same week for all their papers.

Summarise assessment requirements in an “at a glance” format.

Assignment / Due Date / Word Limit / Weighting
Final Examination
(If appropriate)

Include all assignments.

Ensure your assignments align with your learning outcomes/objectives for the paper.

Outline details, writing instructions and marking criteria for each assignment. This information will guide students as to the range and scope expected; presentation details (see later section), and marking schedule (see example later). This will encourage students to focus time and attention on the important dimensions of assessment tasks.

Assignment one: (Title)

Due date:

Purpose:

Learning outcome/s being assessed: (as per those stated for the paper)

Task:

Instructions:

Marking criteria:

Assignment two: (Title)

Due date:

Purpose:

Learning outcome/s being assessed: (as per those stated for the paper)

Task:

Instructions:

Marking criteria:

Final examination