Internet research skills and academic honesty standards

¶ … Successful Library and Internet Searches

The Internet is a marvelous tool for research; it provides a veritable wealth of information on any topic under the sun, and expert and proficient persons who belong to any part of the world contribute most of the information. It is an accepted fact that it is on the Internet and the World Wide Web that an individual can access a wide range of information and services, like for example, electronic mail, file transfers, group membership in anything that catches one's interest, interaction with other members of the group, access to multimedia displays, and many other similar activities. Some of the access protocols that are possible with the Internet are e-mail, FTP, HTTP, Telnet, and Usenet news, and most of these do feature certain programs that allow users to search for and to retrieve material that has been made available by the protocol. (Conducting Research on the Internet)

Conducting research on the Internet would be able to help the individual to, among other things, search for a new job, and also get recruited, online. (McDonnell, 1999) Students, say, at a nursing school, are today helped in conducting research, by providing them with hands-on training and the relevant information that they can use to access and to secure material through extensive databases, government archives, electronic libraries, and so on and so forth. (Montgomery; Fitzpatrick, 2002) Navigating the University Library is also easy today, as seen in the example of the University Library of Utrecht in the Netherlands, which uses 'autonomy' to power its digital online library. Students and staff of the university find it easy to gain access to the vast information available to them, through the Internet and the digital library. (Utrecht University, Library Sources)

It must be remembered that almost all the various criteria used to assess and evaluate the established educational media such as textbooks and films can also be applied to the Internet. The accuracy of the information, the relevance, the bias, and the timeliness, the validity, the authenticity of the writer, etc. would apply to Internet sources as well, and the user has to therefore use his discretion when handling this type of material. (Gorski, 1999)

2) Upholding Academic Honesty

When one is a member of any University, then one is expected to maintain the highest academic honesty standards possible, and this would mean that a student would not receive credit for any work that he has done, but rather, has plagiarized from one source, or a combination of various sources. It must be noted that when a student violates the academic honesty policy, then he must be prepared to face the serious consequences that will arise, including failure, or exemption from the course, and the student must be aware of the fact that his lack of understanding of the procedures and rules will not be considered a valid defense. (University Policy regarding Academic Honesty and Plagiarism)

Plagiarism is the academic and literary equivalent of robbery, taking somebody else's property," and this must be avoided at any cost. To avoid plagiarism, therefore, one would have to "acknowledge indebtedness," and this would include acknowledging the person's words whenever one uses them, or whenever and wherever one uses another person's ideas or concepts for his own work, even if it has been rephrased completely. Acknowledgements must also be given when one borrows facts and statistics and figures from another source, unless one can prove that the material is common knowledge. (What is Plagiarism?) The student must follow citing references, therefore, and acknowledge them, strictly, whenever he uses material form the Internet or elsewhere. The site 'Professor McAfee's Class Notes' provide valuable information on how to go about using reference quotes, acknowledged and cite references wherever needed. (Writing, citing and using the Internet)

3) Developing Effective Study Skills

Today, distance learning has gained in popularity, and distance-learning technologies are also expanding rapidly. Much too often, however, educators and even instructional designers concentrate more on developing technologies, rather than on the basic needs of the distance learner. A distance learner must, it must be understood, be able to, at the very outset, form a set of study skills, with the help of the educator. The mode of learning can be cooperative, individualized, or competitive, and the student can choose either one or a combination of these accepted methods to form his study skills. Today, all distance-learning projects do follow an integrated system of cooperative learning, collaborative projects, and interactivity within groups of students as well as between sites. (Sherry, 1996) long distance learning program would in other words allow a student, who may be older than twenty five years, earn a degree or a diploma, without ever having to enter the campus, with the help of the educator, and of course, with an awareness of the rules and regulations regarding distance education. (Peterson's Guides, 2003) For a student, it is not enough to study long hours; effective study habits are more important. For a start, he must create a quiet study area, and if he lacks a private space for study, then he can chose a public library as his 'study haven'. He can use any free time to study, within a fixed 'time schedule', so that he does not waste time, and he must only use his 'good notes' to study. He must also be able to choose his' peak energy' time, when he tens to have the most energy. He could create a sort of study group, and study with a group of his friends; study becomes fun this way. (Managing Test Anxiety, ideas for Students)

He could recite information out aloud, or he could try to teach another person: this is a time-tested yardstick to measure exactly how much one has assimilated. Another time-tested method, but to remember information, is to use the SQ3R approach, a structured, thorough method for learning. S refers to 'survey', Q to 'questions' that may be based on the material studied, R refers to 'read' the chapter, in order to answer the questions, R is also a 'recitation' of the questions, and the third R. refers to 'review' of the answers to the questions asked. Making up flashcards is yet another effective study method. (Managing Test Anxiety, ideas for Students) The Axia format allows the student to earn one's degree while working full time and perusing a career, and by just attending two classes per week, it would be possible to earn a degree in four years' time. (Axia College, about us)

5) Setting and Achieving Goals

Goal Setting is a very important part of the study, as well as the career development process, and the student must remember that it is a goal, either short-term or long-term that would give him a direction and a purpose. It is also a method that he can use to track his progress from one step to the next, and he would also be quite clear about what exactly he wants to accomplish, over a short-term and a long-term. Reaching the goal despite hindrances is something that the student would have to devote time to learning, and he must be aware of the fact that he can achieve his long-term goals only if he can achieve his short-term ones. Short-term goals are in general a step-by-step action plan, and these can keep him completely motivated towards the attainment of the long-term goals. Short-term goals must, in general be: specific, measurable, attainable for the student who has set them, realistic, so that he can avoid disappointments, and also time-specific. The career goal oriented student must take some time off every once in a while, in order to assess his goals, and whether or not he has done anything, and what, towards attaining them. (Career Planning, goal setting)

At the Axia College, where almost all the students are adult learners and who work full time, and are completely busy with their careers and their homes, goal setting is indeed encouraged, and people who do not give up their ambitions and goals on account of pressures as a grown up and a responsible adult are felicitated at this University. Students are encouraged by the staff to find their own goals for leaning, and this keeps them intensely motivated until the time when they complete the courses that they have undertaken to study. (Stephanie De Pinto, Axia Instructor)