BY DAY 6 OF WEEK 9 AND WEEK 10
Respondto
twoof your peers who have identified
differentAPA writing style and grammar elements in their initial posts. Explain how their examples affect you as a reader.
Postagain to ask or answer a follow-up question.
MY MAIN POST
The reading shows that although the student has provided a heading, it must be formatted to the right level. Also, they should have indicated the section they are tackling, such as whether it is an introduction. If it is an introduction, it should be a brief overview of what the rest of the paper will be about to help the reader to contextualize the research and offer a clear sense of what the reader will learn. The introduction should have also provided a concise overview of research questions, the significance of the study, and concepts that will be reflected throughout the paper. Instead, the student has started to provide detailed analyses that are not helping in guiding the reader on what they will expect in the paper. Instead, they should have offered light details and left specific findings and components in the succeeding sections of the paper.
Another element is that the student needs conciseness; some sentences could be more straightforward, making them difficult to follow (American Psychological Association, 2020). An example of such a sentence is, “Although researchers differ in calculating dropout rates, they agree that approximately every nine seconds, a student decides to leave high school before graduation permanently.” The students should have considered eliminating some words to clarify: “Although researchers differ in calculating dropout rates, they agree that approximately every nine seconds, a student decides to leave high school before graduation permanently.”
Failure to adhere to APA writing grammar and style could have a meaningful impact on my understanding of the presented text and my perceptions of the author’s credibility. Another way that this can affect me is in the clarity of communication, as APA style and grammar intend to enhance the clarity of communication. Therefore, when an author fails to comply with these guidelines, it will be difficult for readers to understand their arguments and ideas. Adhering to APA style and grammar guidelines can make the piece I am reading more polished, which will increase my confidence in the author’s credibility and expertise, which is extremely helpful in academic settings. Lastly, reading a text full of formatting, grammatical, and APA style errors tends to be distracting, making it more difficult to understand. It detracts from the general quality of the piece of writing.
References
American Psychological Association. (2020).
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
RESPONSE FROM ASHANTI
We were definitely in agreement when it came to the heading of the introduction. At first, I was confused and took it as a grammatical error until I realized that it was the title they just did not head the paper correctly. This is a great example of why it is important to adhere to the APA formatting because it helps alleviate room for confusion. I also think you made a great point about the author being more direct in some of their sentences and not so wordy. The example you gave was great and your change was straight to the point without having to use as many words. As you mentioned it makes it more clear and less difficult to follow. Another point you mentioned which I also agree with is that when there are so many errors throughout the paper it makes the paper more challenging to follow the direction of the paper and what point the author is trying to make. Again you made another great point that it can take away from a wealth of information if it is not delivered correctly. Overall great post and am definitely in agreement!
ASHANTI
Module 4 D1
After reading the Sample Topic Introduction there were some strengths and weaknesses that were evident throughout the paper. One of the first weaknesses was the correct APA formatting for the heading of the Introduction. The Differential Developmental Pathways of High School Dropouts and Graduates was not bolded, so as the reader, the assumption was that this was the start of the paragraph. It is important to make sure the heading is bolded to ensure there is a separation between the title and the body of the paragraphs being presented. Another lack throughout the paper was the inconsistency of correct citations in APA, some authors were cited correctly while others were cited incorrectly. For example, (Beatty, Neisser, Trent, & Heubert, 2001), the correct citation for this in APA format would be (Beatty, et al.,2001). In APA 7, for a work with three or more authors, list the first author and et al. for all citations (Walden University Writing Center, n.d., para.1).
A visible strength of this introduction was the authors ability to provide evidence to support their claims and findings. The author did a great job at effectively summarizing the points they were trying to make in order to ensure authenticity when using another authors work. It is always important and professional to give credit where credit is due. When adhering to the APA writing style it is also vital as an author to always make certain all guidelines are followed to eliminate any reason for academic integrity violations. Yet as the reader it is also important the author is adhering to the APA style simply for clarity purposes. The APA writing style is for complex information that can help make the flow of the paper easier to understand for the reader with less confusion about the content (The Importance of APA Style: Giving Credit to Get Credit | Rasmussen University, n.d.). As the reader, the paper should have a consistent focus that should be clear to understand and easy to know what message the author is trying to relay.
Overall this introduction was not the strongest and definitely could have been stronger if written more efficiently when it comes to correctly following the APA guidelines. As authors, it can be a difficult process to guarantee every aspect of APA is done correctly however it is very necessary to the growth of going from student to scholar.
References
The Importance of APA Style: Giving Credit to Get Credit | Rasmussen University. (n.d.). Rasmussen University.
https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/college-life/the-importance-of-apa-style-giving-credit-to-get-credit/#:~:text=APA%20Style%20provides%20clarity%20to,the%20content%20of%20the%20paper
Links to an external site.
.
Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.). https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations/etal
