Course Syllabus

Canvas Student Guide.

Explore the following resources to get started:

• Canvas Help Resources (All Users)
• Conversations Overview (All Users)
• Notification Preferences (All Users)
• Assignments Overview
• How do I view Modules as a student?
• User Settings & Profile Picture (All Users)
• Where Are My Personal Files?

The Canvas Student app gives you the ability to access your courses on a mobile device. There are limitations and not all Canvas features will be available on the app at this time.

• Mobile features by device - How can I use Canvas on my mobile device as a student?
• iOS | Canvas Student app - How do I download the Canvas Student app on my iOS device?
• Android | Canvas Student app - How do I download the Canvas Student app on my Android device?

To ensure optimal performance, Instructure products should be used with the current or previous major releases of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari. Since Instructure products are built using web standards, they function on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, or any device with a modern web browser.

Instructure products require an operating system that supports the latest compatible web browsers. It is important to keep your computer's operating system up to date with the latest recommended security updates and upgrades.

Navigate to What are the browser and computer requirements for Instructure products? for additional information. 

As a student taking an online course, it's essential to understand and follow the rules of netiquette, or internet etiquette. Netiquette is a set of guidelines that help ensure respectful and effective communication in the digital world. By following these principles, you'll create a positive and productive online learning environment for yourself and your classmates.

Maintain Academic Integrity

Online resources, including ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence tools, should be used responsibly. Many assignments don’t necessitate the use of resources. For example, personal reflections, examples, and narratives, creative writing, and reflections and journal entries are meant to capture your unique experiences and ideas.

For some assignments, AI tools and online resources can assist you in your learning. They can help you develop and support your original work. That said, they cannot and should not replace your original work. 

We view using online sources, much like collaborating with classmates. As a learner, you will often seek ideas from others by having conversations, exploring a variety of information sources, and doing more formal research. Likewise, online and AI tools can help you gather ideas, decide how to organize them, and find the best ways to support those ideas. We believe that learning how to use all the tools and resources available to you purposefully, effectively, and responsibly is a key skill for school and life.

If you use any ideas, information, or wording from your resources–including generative, collaborative, print, and online resources–you must give credit to those sources by honestly identifying which resources you used.

For more information about when and how to cite resources, as well as tips and examples of how to use them appropriately and effectively, please visit our Learning Library, Shelves 9 and 9.5.

Respect is Key

Online, as in life, the Golden Rule applies: Treat others as you would like to be treated. This means being respectful in all your online interactions, whether with your instructor or fellow students. There are constructive ways to express differing opinions without resorting to insults or sarcasm, which can easily be misinterpreted online.

Mind Your Language

When communicating online, it's important to use appropriate language. Avoid foul language, rude comments, or vulgar expressions, as these can be offensive and disruptive to the learning environment. Strive to be professional and courteous.

Grammar and Spelling Matter

While typos and spelling mistakes are inevitable, excessive errors can be distracting and make your messages harder to understand. Use a browser with a built-in spell checker or a separate spelling and grammar tool to help you communicate clearly and effectively.

Respect Privacy

Respecting others' privacy is crucial in the online world. Never quote or forward personal messages or information without the original author's permission. This includes sharing private conversations, contact information, or any other sensitive data.

Additional Resources

For more information on appropriate online behavior and combatting cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, and cyberstalking, select Show Me Respect: Tips for Thwarting Cyberbullying, Cyber-Harassment, and Cyberstalking from the University of Missouri's Equity Office.

By following these netiquette guidelines, you'll not only enhance your online learning experience but also develop valuable communication skills that will serve you well in your future academic and professional endeavors

Explore these links to access various resources for writing and research. By selecting the options below, you can find tools and information to support your writing projects, research endeavors, and academic studies. Each link connects you to specific library services, guides, databases, and reference materials designed to help you develop your skills and complete your assignments effectively.

Citing Sources Interactive Module

The Citing Sources Interactive Tutorial to help you with learning how to cite your sources as well as inform you about what plagiarism is, what it isn't, and how to avoid it. 

Citing Sources tutorial

Navigate to Purdue OWL for additional guidelines on citing sources and avoiding plagiarism.

University of Missouri has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps detect plagiarism by comparing student papers with Turnitin's database and internet sources. Students who take this course agree that all required papers may be submitted to Turnitin.com. A copy of submitted papers is retained in a Turnitin database archive to be compared with future submissions—a practice that helps protect and strengthen copyright ownership.

Use of the Turnitin service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on Turnitin's website at https://help.turnitin.com/Privacy_and_Security/Privacy_and_Security.htm

If you are concerned about any results that you are confused about, feel free to discuss this with your teacher. 

Turnitin Guide - Accepted File Types and Size

Select allowed file types and size to review Turnitin's restrictions, which will outline considerations before submitting a file, including its size, word count, and format

How to Submit a Turnitin Assignment in Canvas 

Submitting an assignment with or without Turnitin enabled follows the same process and does not differ.

Select How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas to review assignment submission guidelines.

Canvas Overview Videos

• Assignments Overview (Students)
• Assignment Submissions (Students)

In this video, you will learn more about assignments: what they are and how to submit them through Canvas.

To learn more about uploading and viewing assignments, navigate to the Assignments section in the Canvas Student Guide.

Navigate to How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas? for additional submission guidelines.

Some assignments will provide templates for you to complete, and the templates may be available as a Word file (.docx, .doc). Even though these .docx or .doc files are native to Word, it is possible to open them without owning the program. You can still work with Microsoft Office files even if you don't have Office installed by using Google Docs.

Open with Google Docs

1. Navigate to docs.google.com in your Web browser. Log in with your Google account. If you do not have a Gmail address or some other type of Google account, select the Create account link. Once you create your account, log in.
2. Select +New >  File Upload 
   
   
3. Navigate to the location of the Word document on your computer and select the file. Alternatively, you can drag and drop a file from your computer directly into the web browser for an easy upload.
4. Once the file uploads, you will be able to access it in Google docs.
5. Select File > Save As Google Docs
   
   

6. Google then converts the Word file into a Google doc and you can begin editing.

How to convert MS Word files to Google docs | VIDEO

After you've finished editing your file, download and export your document back into a Microsoft Word or PDF Document format by selecting File > Download > select the Microsoft Word I.docx) or PDF Document (.pdf) option. 

How to convert Google docs to Word/PDF | VIDEO

Select Print to PDF  to review guidelines for printing a document to PDF using Adobe Acrobat

Recording and Submitting

There are many ways you can submit audio and video recordings for a Mizzou Academy course in Canvas. Your course content may refer to Audacity.  (Links to an external site.)However, you don't need to use Audacity to make an mp3 recording for your course. After all, there are many programs and apps on computers and mobile devices that will do just that! 

Navigate to How do I submit a media file as an assignment submission for additional guidelines on how to submit media files.

The Canvas Guides listed below offer further details on how to capture and submit audio and video files.

• Android - record and submit audio, video or other attachments
• iOS: record and submit audio, video, or other attachments
• Desktop: record and submit audio or video file (Advanced editing can be done with Audacity.)
• Submit a file upload
• Submit via Website URL with YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, or other available Link

We do NOT allow you to submit .wav files. 

The only way for you to present quality speeches (and other multimedia) to your Mizzou teacher is by uploading a video of yourself. Therefore, it's incredibly important that the audio and video quality is good enough that your instructor can see and hear everything clearly.  You might all be in different environments using various types of cameras, so rather than attempting to teach you about specific cameras, we're going to concentrate on things like lighting, background, setup and stabilization, and audio. 

Setting Up Your YouTube (Or Other Video) Account

Creator Studio

Video Manager

Channel

Create

Some assignments may require you to scan your work and upload it to Canvas. Select How to Scan and Upload Your Work to download a PDF file of this tutorial.

Images may not appear if you open an .RTF file on a Mac using Pages or other text-editing software. Select macOS User Guide to review configuration guidelines.

 In this video, we'll show you how to take a quiz/exam in Canvas.

To learn more about how to take quizzes and exams, navigate to the Quizzes section within the Canvas Student Guide.

NOTE:  Read your Syllabus and the Quiz and Exam instructions for your course so that you are aware of the policies and how a quiz and exam is setup.  The Quizzes link may not be in the course navigation menu in your course and only accessible by accessing Modules and selecting the pertinent lesson. 

What is an "objective examination?" Objective means that there IS a right answer (or answers), and you either get things right or wrong. An example is a multiple-choice quiz or exam. This section is here to provide you with tips on how to take objective examinations, or "exams."

Many people worry about how to do well when taking objective examinations.  What does What follows are some simple suggestions that should help you to do your best.

What do you do when you know the answer?  Silly question, right?  You mark it!

What do you do when you don’t know the answer?  This is what you want to hear!

1. First, you need to remember that our quizzes and exams are based on the number of right answers out of the total possible.  So you should answer every question, even if it’s a guess.  There are four answer choices, so your odds when you guess are 1 in 4.  That is, on average, you should get 1 out of every 4 guesses correct.
2. How do you narrow the odds, to make them more in your favor? If you are able to eliminate one or more of the answers as definitely wrong, you have done just that.  When you are guessing which answer is correct out of 3, then you could get one-third of your guesses correct.  When you are guessing between two, you could get half of them right.
3. What if you see an answer choice that you absolutely have never seen before? There is a very good chance it is a wrong answer, and you can eliminate it.  Remember, you’ve read over and studied the material.  Most of the time you will know if something doesn’t belong.
4. Does the answer make sense? A correct answer always makes sense.  Incorrect choices may, or may not.  So if a choice does not make sense in relation to the question, it is probably a wrong answer.
5. Do not spend a lot of time on a question that is giving you trouble. Move on, and come back to it later.  Many times, you will find something in a later question or answer choice that helps you to select the answer to a question you skipped over.  This is known as making the test work FOR YOU.
6. Above all, relax! You have been over the material.  It is all in your head.  Just take a deep breath and go at it.  YOU CAN DO IT!

Many students develop their own tricks to help themselves on objective tests.  What you see above can assist you.  But you may also rely on whatever works for you.

What!? I’m going to have to write!?

It is not unusual for people to be nervous about taking an essay exam.  You will have to decide what the question means, search through the memory banks of your brain, recall information that relates to the question, and then write something that is well organized and clear.  What follows are some tips that just might make this process a little less scary.

Let’s start with an essay question.

An essay question may be fairly short, perhaps only one paragraph.  They may also be longer, requiring several paragraphs to answer.  No matter how short, or long, the essay needs to be, the process is the same.  As an example, we’ll use a topic that is “medium.”

The framers of the Constitution of the United States established the Electoral College system, which provides an indirect method of electing the President.  This system should be changed to permit the direct election of the President, so the candidate who receives the greatest number of the popular vote to win election.  Agree or disagree.

Great!  Now what?

This may seem pretty long.  But you need to remember that you do not have to deal with everything in the statement.  The first thing you need to do is identify what you have to answer, and what you can ignore.  The question statement is reproduced below, with the parts you have to consider highlighted.

The framers of the Constitution of the United States established the Electoral College system, which provides an indirect method of electing the President.  This system should be changed to permit the direct election of the President, so the candidate who receives the greatest number of the popular vote to win the election.  Agree or disagree.

While everything else in the question is relevant to the topic, you are being asked to support the Electoral College system (indirect election) or the popular vote (direct election).

Next?

Write down a brief outline of what you need to do.  It would be best if you did this in order.

• Introduction: State your position.  Do you agree or disagree. Give an explanation of why you have chosen your position.
• Body Paragraph: Explain your first reason for your position.  You might also want to state why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
• Body Paragraph: Explain your second reason for your position.  Again, you could state why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
• Body Paragraph: Explain your third reason, if you have one, along with why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
• Conclusion: Restate your reasons for your position.  This is when you drive your arguments home.

What are we saying here?

There is a very simple way to look at essay writing.  No matter if the essay is one paragraph, or five, or ten.  You do the same three things. 

1. Tell the readers what you are going to tell them (introduction).
2. Tell them (body).
3. Tell the readers what you told them (conclusion).

And in conclusion….

This process can be very helpful.  You need to remember:  you are probably not going to be expected to respond to every word in the essay topic.  That’s why it’s important to identify what you need to consider.  While essays from different classes will look different, the approach to them is pretty much the same.  You can even practice this skill on your own, creating topics on things with which you are familiar.  The more you practice, the easier it becomes.

Good luck!

Mizzou Academy offers the convenience of 100% online proctoring through the Examity platform. This innovative virtual proctoring solution allows you to easily schedule proctoring appointments instead of searching for an in-person proctor for your exam.

Please note that Examity requires a fee for its services. Explore the Online Proctoring with Examity module in the course for additional information. 

Navigate to Calendar Overview (Students) for an introduction to the Canvas Calendar and to learn how you can organize your schedule by scheduling your own events.