Research Seminar for

Educational Sciences

Prof. Dr. Chang Zhu

Department of Educational Sciences

Céline Cocquyt

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Introduction

• Céline Cocquyt

– Master Educational Sciences UGhent

– PhD-student VUB

• Socially inclusive ICT-based adult education

On the menu today…

• Introduction

• APA Style

• Research proposal

• Research methods

APA Formatting and Writing Style

What is APA?

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The American Psychological Association (APA) citation

style is the most commonly used format for manuscripts

in the social sciences.

APA regulates:

• Stylistics

• In-text citations

• References

APA Style: Language

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• clear: be specific in descriptions and explanations

• concise: condense information when you can

• plain: use simple, descriptive adjectives and

minimize figurative language

Language in an APA paper should be:

APA style: Basics

the third person point of view rather than

using the first person point of view

The study showed that…,

NOT I found out that….

the active voice rather than passive voice

The participants responded…,

NOT The participants have been asked…

Use:

General Format

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Title page

Your research paper/article should at

least include four major sections:

Abstract

Main Body

References

Title page: example

Group work

General Format

An empirical research paper/article:

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Method

• Results

• Discussions

• List of references

• Appendices, tables, and figures

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Ground rules

In-text Citations: Basics

The author’s name and the year of publication

Scott (2006) stressed that HEIs will not be able to bring

about the substantial improvements that are needed

unless changes are made.

For quotations and close paraphrases, provide a

page number as well

(Author, year, page)

In-text citations help readers locate the cited source in the

References section of the paper.

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In-text Citations

Caruth (1996) states that a traumatic response frequently entails a “delayed, uncontrolled repetitive appearance of hallucinations and other intrusive phenomena” (p.11).

Blended learning has been referred to as the ‘‘third generation’’ (Phipps & Merisotis, 1999, p. 26) of distance education systems.

When quoting, introduce the quotation with a signal phrase. Make sure

to include the author’s name, the year of publication, the page number,

but keep the citation brief—do not repeat the whole information.

In-text Citations

Provide the author’s last name and the year of

publication in parenthesis after a summary or

a paraphrase:

Scott (2006) claims that the persistence of the underperformance in

achieving social inclusion targets in HEIs is due to the traditional

educational structures and approaches that still prevail in the sector.

A simple combination of hardware and software will not make

integration naturally follow (Earle, 2002).

In-text Citations: A work with two authors

When citing a work with two authors, use “and”

in between authors’ name in the signal phrase

yet “&” between their names in parenthesis:

The interface design of a computer program ought to focus on

ease of learning, ease of use and aesthetics (Wang & Cheung,

2003).

Vrasidas and McIsaac (2009), however, argued that an

increased structure for collaborative tasks led to active

dialogue and interaction among learners.

In-text Citations: A work with 3 to 5 authors

When citing a work with three to five authors

First citation:

An educational system is a unique combination of

pedagogical, social, and technological components

(Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns, & Beers, 2004).

Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns and Beers (2004) argued that….

In-text Citations: A work with 3 to 5 authors

Subsequent citations:

It should also involve using various learning resources

and activities that support students’ learning, and allow

teachers to facilitate learning (Kirschner et al., 2004).

Kirschner et al. (2004) argued that a useful system

should meet two primary conditions: necessary utility

and high usability.

In-text Citations: a work with 6 and more authors

When citing a work with six and more authors,

identify the first author’s name followed

by “et al.”:

Smith et al. (2006) argued that….

(Smith et al., 2006)

Summary: in-text citations

References: Basics

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References

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C.

C. (Year). Title of article. Title of

Periodical, volume number(issue

number), pages.

Example: List of references

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Angeli, C., N. Valanides, & C. Bonk. (2003). Communication in a Web-based

conferencing system: The quality of computer-mediated interactions.

British Journal of Educational Technology, 34 (1), 31–43.

Beatty, K., & Nunan, D. (2004). Computer-mediated collaborative learning.

System, 32(2), 165-183.

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Segall, M. H., & Dasen, P. R. (2002). Cross-

cultural psychology: Research and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Jonassen, D.H., & Kwon, H.I. (2001). Communication patterns in computer

mediated and face-to-face group problem solving. Educational Technology

Research & Development, 49 (1), 35-51.

Kirschner, P., Strijbos, J.W., Kreijns, K., & Beers, P.J. (2004). Designing

electronic collaborative learning environments. Educational Technology:

Research and Development, 52(3), 47–66.

More online resources

Online video

http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basi

cs-tutorial.aspx

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More online resources

• http://www.easybib.com/

• http://research.easybib.com/

More online resources

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APA Style Basics Tutorial:

http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm

APA Reference list:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/

APA General Format:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

More online resources

• http://content.easybib.com/citation-guides/apa-

format/

• APA Style guides for citations.

• Links to the most popular and helpful guides

so that you can get started on citing your

research