Author: Tierra Thomas

APA Style

Even though I’ve used APA (American Psychological Association) style previously, it can be difficult to remember all of the rules. I mostly rely on Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) when I’m not sure how to format in-text citations or sources for the reference list. This website is very helpful and easy to use. It is pretty simple to find the answers you are looking for in the sidebar on the left.

Interesting…

The one thing I find surprising about APA style is that it does not require you to mention the article title within the text. I figured, the more information about the source, the better. In this case, I guess less is more. Come to think of it, and article can be found in database using only the author and year of publication (hence the previous Scavenger Hunt assignment).

Questions

After using Purdue OWL and refreshing my memory during the first few weeks of this course, I still get confused about citing electronic sources:

  • The “retrieved from” line should always be included when adding a database source to the works cited page, correct?
  • When should a source doi be included, and where can I find it?

Things to Remember

Some of the small formatting things I will need to remind myself of are:

  • Title page
  • Page header
  • Abstract

These are all important pieces of the APA format, and I will tackle them first when starting my final draft so that I don’t forget!

Scavenger Hunt

Please take a look at my very first vlog for this course! I used to vlog a few years back, so I enjoyed this assignment and getting a chance to use a new tool – Screencast-o-matic. Forgive me for the constant “ums” and pauses; I wanted to appear on-screen and unscripted to get used to being out of my comfort zone, and to provide a more natural dialogue.

Feel free to share any feedback you may have!

 

Creating Accounts

This is not my first time creating a WordPress account. I actually created a blog via WordPress called CHAMP, which is an acronym for Changing Hearts and Minds Permanently. My passion for women’s body image and confidence sparked my desire to develop a page for this purpose. I wanted a space where women could come when they needed a pep talk when/if their confidence is low. If you decide to venture over to my previous blog, please excuse the lack of consistency with my posts. I am still working on the overall goal of the site before continuing.

I have found that WordPress is a helpful (semi-intuitive) tool to use when launching a blog. The platform is simple to sign up for, but takes a lot more engagement after domain creation. The thing that I find most challenging about creating the account is selecting a theme for the site. My anxiety about this feature mostly stems from my inability to make decisions and stick with them. WordPress does a great job of providing layout options, so sorry WordPress, it’s me… not you.

It’s exciting to get the opportunity to use digital media for this online class because it will provide a more creative outlet to communicate my thoughts in regards to each week’s reading and discussion. I love being able to write in an atmosphere that is a little less formal as it gives my brain a chance to tap into new ideas that I may have had trouble developing previously.

Looking forward to not only utilizing WordPress for this course, but Skype and Youtube as well!