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If you are a PSYCH 424 student you will need to get started by learning about blogs.  Please visit the Sites At Penn State webpage and familiarize yourself with blogging. Feel free to ask any questions you have once you have done that. Once you follow that process, you can start creating your blog entries and comments in the blog here.

While the blog is less formal than term papers or other similar assignments, remember that you are writing for an audience (classmates, instructor, visitors, etc.) so you will want to have strong logic, grammar, spelling, formatting, etc. in addition to strong ideas/content. You are highly encouraged to bring in graphics and outside links so that your readers can learn more about the ideas that you are presenting.

Again, while the blog is less formal, remember to properly cite, quote, paraphrase and reference. Here are a few good resources to make sure that you have the right tools to do so:

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) APA website. It has a lot of good information on how to cite and reference properly in addition to general APA format. In particular click on the “Reference List” and “In-text Citations” links. The Penn State Libraries Plagiarism and You website which offers a lot of great how-to-avoid plagiarism information as well as tips on how to paraphrase and cite properly. Remember, it is not enough to cite or reference alone – you also need to paraphrase or quote. Another good resource is Grinnell College’s tutorial on The Importance of Citation regarding proper quoting, citing, paraphrasing, and referencing are important.

Indiana University’s Writing Tutorial Services pamphlet for creating a good thesis for written assignments.

Once you have your blog space and have reviewed the above information, you can start posting in the blog by clicking the link at the top of the page. Once you are there, click on “+ New” on the top middle of the page. It is recommended that you write your post in a word processing program first and copy and paste it over (there can be some nuances with that, so make sure to proof your entry with the preview function before publishing). Don’t forget to choose a category (i.e. a lesson topic such as “Media”) when you post as that helps organize the blog for people who are interested in learning more about a topic. Also, don’t forget to add some tags and keywords (typically the theories or concepts you are discussing) to help people search on more specific topics.

If you are a visitor, you can participate in the blog as well. In order to comment though you will need a Friends of Penn State account and if you want to post a full entry you will also need to go to the blogs at Penn State website and create your space as well.

Everyone is required to behave in a professional and friendly manner. The blog administrator reserves the right to remove spam and/or derogatory comments. Everyone is also encouraged to put social media buttons in their posts (such as a Twitter button) to help share your information. Please use the hashtag #PSYCH424 if you do.

If you are having technical trouble, please contact the World Campus Helpdesk.

 


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