Intellectual Indebtedness and Academic Integrity | Assignments | Assignment Marking Criteria | Assignment 1 | Assignments 2 & 3| Assignments Expectations
Students enrolled in Athabasca University courses are considered to be responsible scholars and are therefore expected to adhere rigorously to the principles of academic integrity both in assignments and tests. In order to maintain test question security, duplication or sharing of quiz and test questions is not permitted. Please read the Athabasca University Student Academic Misconduct Policy.
Plagiarism is a form of intellectual dishonesty in which another person's work is presented as one's own. Be certain that whenever you use a secondary source in your course work and assignments you reference your source in a consistent and logical manner. All direct quotes (quotations of any number of words from the original) and indirect quotes (paraphrased ideas) must be acknowledged. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism, and as with any form of academic misconduct, it will be penalized. Penalties may take the form of rejection of the submitted work; expulsion from the examination, the course or the program; or legal action, depending on the specific nature of the infraction.
Dutiful citation of quotes and paraphrased materials does not mean that you can write an essay assignment by stringing together a series of quotes. You should always try to summarize or describe someone else's ideas in your own words. When you present your own ideas or opinions in a paper, provide evidence or arguments to substantiate your position. For information about the reference and citation styles of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA current edition), and how to write scholarly papers, visit Athabasca University's Library Help Centre.
All written assignments in this course must:
To receive credit for Nursing 438 you must complete all of the required assignments and achieve an overall composite grade of 64% (C). All papers submitted must follow APA Publication Manual, current edition. The assignments and weighting of the composite grade is:
| Assignments |
Due Date |
Weighting |
|
|
20% |
|
|
|
40% |
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40% |
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Total |
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100% |
All assignments in Nursing 438 are marked according to the following criteria:
Critical thinking, scholarly writing and APA scholarly format, good writing, and critical thinking are the three most important criteria by which you will be judged in your papers. Each criterion carries equal weight in assigning marks.
Refer to the Student guide Student guide for more information on scholarly writing expectations and resources related to intellectual indebtedness.
Value: 20% of final grade
Submit assignment via the drop boxes on the course home
page
Due Date: Negotiable (suggested completion after Unit
3)
The purpose of this assignment is to:
To complete this assignment:
Issues are often value laden; issues in health care and in nursing are no different. Concerns about the state of our health care system and the state of nursing in Canada have been discussed at length within the media, government, and nursing organizations. While it is often difficult to differentiate fact from fiction and opinion, public opinion is often influenced by what is written in the popular press or on the Internet.
Value: 40% each
Submit assignment via link in the Assessment section of the course home
page
Due Date : Negotiable (suggested
completion after Units 4 and 8)
It is becoming increasingly important for registered nurses to
assume a leadership role in a changing health care system. Hence,
registered nurses must be able to assess and act to fulfill their own
learning needs in order to work to their full scope of practice. To complete this assignment, consider an issue or trend in nursing or health care and choose one of the options from the bulleted list below. Your
papers must be scholarly in presentation, reflective of course content,
and although they may be related to one another, they must not be
duplications.
Note: There is a 10 page limit for all
written papers excluding title and reference pages. (with the exception of the professional portfolio):
A position paper presents an arguable opinion about an issue. The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and worth listening to. Ideas that you are considering need to be carefully examined in choosing a topic, developing your argument, and organizing your paper. It is very important to ensure that you are addressing all sides of the issue and presenting it in a manner that is easy for your audience to understand. Your job is to take one side of the argument and persuade your audience that you have well-founded knowledge of the topic being presented. It is important to support your argument with evidence to ensure the validity of your claims, as well as to address the counterclaims to show that you are well informed about both sides.
To take a side on a subject, you should first establish the arguability of a topic that interests you. Ask yourself the following questions to ensure that you will be able to present a strong argument:
Once your topic is selected, you should do some research on the subject matter. While you may already have an opinion on your topic and an idea about which side of the argument you want to take, you need to ensure that your position is well supported. Listing out the pro and con sides of the topic will help you examine your ability to support your counterclaims, along with a list of supporting evidence for both sides. Supporting evidence includes the following:
In considering your audience, ask yourself the following questions:
Your introduction should lead up to a thesis that organizes the rest of your paper. There are three advantages to leading with the thesis:
Introduction
Counter Argument
Your Argument
Conclusion
A discussion paper is a formal discourse or exposition on a topic in which there is an exchange of views culled from the literature. A discussion paper differs from a position paper in that a discussion paper consists of the reasoned defense of your recommendations. In order to offer your own recommendations on an issue, you must present a variety of opinions or recommendations based on the literature. Your goal in writing a discussion paper is to formulate and share your own opinions so that your recommendations are a natural extension of your paper.
There are a variety of things a discussion paper can aim to accomplish. Many features of good discussion writing invite comparison and contrast of specific authors, clinical practice, or different interpretations of a nursing issue, such as telehealth. Discussing the significance of both what is common and what is different will prompt you and the reader to new insights.
A good discussion paper is modest, and makes a small point, but it makes that point clearly and succinctly, and it offers good reasons in support of it. In other words, your paper must offer recommendations. It can't consist in the mere report of your opinions, nor in a mere report of the opinions of the authors you discuss.
A discussion paper usually begins by putting some thesis or argument on the table for consideration. Then it goes on to do one or two of the following:
Your paper has to show some independent thinking. Try to come up with your own arguments, or your own way of elaborating or criticizing or defending some issue we looked at in this course. Merely summarizing what others have said won't be enough.
People very often attempt to accomplish too much in a discussion paper. The usual result of this is a paper that's hard to read, and which is full of inadequately defended and poorly explained claims. So don't be over-ambitious. Don't try to establish any earth-shattering conclusions in your paper.
[Reference: Pryor, J. (2004). Guidelines on writing a philosphy paper. Princeton University.]
An issue paper differs from a position paper or a discussion paper in that an issue paper consists of a balanced view of a situation or dilemma in which both sides of the situation are clearly articulated. Because authors will often disagree about the kinds of solutions that should be implemented in remedying the situation or dilemma, you are expected to provide an overview of the various points of view found in the literature regarding how this issue should be resolved. Based on your literature review, you will be expected to discuss how you believe this issue should be resolved and provide your own rationale.
In writing an issue paper you will be expected to search for a variety of literature resources. Relying on your course textbooks or the material in your study guide is not sufficient. You will be expected to search through the Athabasca University Online Library database (you may also use the online Library from another University if you have access), and you may also use the Internet to search through any of the online scholarly databases. In addition, there are many links to articles and online databases in this resources site which you may use.
Once you have a sound understanding of your topic, you will need to clearly define the issue. Recall that an issue has two sides so your definition of the issue should include a balanced view.
For example: The electronic patient record has many advantages such as a time saver, clarity, and accessibility, but it also comes with the challenges associated with security, increased financial costs, and implementation problems. Your issue statement might be: Even though there are significant benefits to an electronic record, not every health region has the financial resources to implement the proper security protocols necessary to ensure patient privacy.
[Reference: Pryor, J. (2004). Guidelines on writing a philosphy paper. Princeton University.]
A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers.
In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.
A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. It's usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher. Instead, organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material published, but to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your thesis or research question.
The aim of these papers is for you to show that you understand the material and that you're able to think critically about it. To do this, your paper does have to show some independent thinking.
But you should try to come up with your own arguments, or your own way of elaborating or criticizing or defending some issue we looked at in this course. Merely summarizing what the literature has said won't be enough.
A critique is a formalized, critical appraisal of a website. It is also a personal response to that site, but it is more than just saying you liked the site or you thought a site was great. Your goal in writing a critique is to turn your critical reading into a systematic evaluation in order to deepen your reader's (and your own) insight of that website.
When writing a critique of a website, you are expected to analyze and evaluate, not just summarize. A summary merely reports what is or is not in a website; that is, it answers only the question, "What did the website contain?" A critique, on the other hand, analyzes, interprets, and evaluates the website, answering the questions how, why, and how well?
A critique does not necessarily have to criticize the piece in a negative sense. Your reaction to the site may be largely positive, negative, or a combination of the two. It is important to explain why you respond to the site in a certain way. Therefore, you have an obligation, both to the reader and yourself, to clarify your opinions.
Defend your point of view/argument by raising specific issues or aspects of the argument. Explain how the section you might use from the site supports your argument. Your personal response to your assessment should not be the expression of an unsupported or irrelevant personal opinion. Your interpretations and your conclusions must be based on evidence from the site and follow from the ideas you have dealt with in the paper.
Introduces the nursing or health care issue or trend. Introduces the websites and presents a brief executive summaryof each web site. Clearly articulates the thesis.
Analyzes each web site according to the authorship of the site using the following guide from Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries.
Analyzes each web site according the verifiability or accuracy of the information found within the site using the following guide from Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries.
Compares and contrasts how the information is presented in each site using the following questions as a guide.
Now it is your turn to respond to the critique itself. In other words, what is your general interpretation of your findings? With which parts of the sites do you agree? With which do you disagree? Discuss your reasons for agreement and disagreement, and tie these reasons to your findings from your analysis. Discuss how the authors of the sites might improve their site and explain your reasons for these improvements.
State your conclusions about the overall validity of the information found, and your assessment of the choices you made in selecting the web sites. Remind the reader about the thesis and how well you believe your selections augmented or detracted from your thesis.
What is a Professional Portfolio?
A convenient system to tell the story of your career which includes:
This is a storehouse of historical information about the professional you. A portfolio is the perfect place to save and remember your career benchmarks, accomplishments and important events.
A template for a Professional Portfolio is provided here. This is a Microsoft Word document (.doc).
By utilizing this portfolio nurses will be able to demonstrate how they can contribute to positive health outcomes through the provision of safe and effective nursing care. In addition, the portfolio will identify the knowledge and skills the individual nurse has as well as a guideline to assist the nurse to reflect on the complex nature of nursing activities.
Each nurse's portfolio belongs to the individual and is therefore a personal document. It may be necessary at times to share components of the portfolio with others, for example as part of the peer review process. Like other forms of documentation related to professional activity it is the individual nurse's responsibility to ensure the ethical requirements of client and peer confidentiality are adhered to.
A professional portfolio folder creates a valuable resource that could also be used for promotion and/or future job applications. A curriculum vitae (or resume) containing personal, educational and professional qualifications, and information about the individual's professional practice as a registered nurse needs to be developed. Along with the curriculum vitae is a section (usually in an appendix) where certified copies of records related to employment, for example job descriptions, qualifications and references should be kept.
Contents of a portfolio can be diverse, depending on the nurse's history of practice and education. Generally, the following are included:
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