Intellectual Indebtedness and Academic Integrity

Adhering to the principles of academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism

Intellectual Indebtedness and Academic Integrity
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 and how to write scholarly papers, visit Athabasca University's Library Help Centre.

All written assignments in this course must: use correct spelling and grammar; adhere to APA format, as outlined in the current edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association be your own work and be free of evidence of plagiarism; use Microsoft Word (or Microsoft Word compatible) format; and be submitted via the Assignment Drop Box. 

Assignments
To receive credit for Nursing 434: Community Health Promotion students 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. Refer to the course Schedule for a systematic approach to completing study guide units and assignments.

Note - Assignment completion supports students meeting course and unit outcomes. Students are expected to include scholarly evidence to support the concepts and ideas presented in assignments. The assignments and weighting of the composite grade are as follows:
Assignments    Weighting
Assignment 1: Concept Map: Community Health Promotion - Application to Your Practice 30%
Assignment 2: Application of Epidemiology in Community Health Nursing 20%
Assignment 3: Community Assessment and Diagnoses    25%
Assignment 4: Development of a Community Health Promotion Program 25%

Citing sources in a consistent and logical manner

Optional Project: Finding a Study Buddy (5%)
Due Date: Negotiable. However, it is recommended that if you wish to find a Study Buddy that you do so early in your course contract.
Purpose: The purpose of this optional project is to provide students with an opportunity to work online with another individual or individuals currently in the course, to share knowledge, resources, and skills, motivate each other, discuss learning activities and assignments and assist each other in meeting individual learning goals and outcomes. While study buddy feedback are only recommendations, many students find proofreading papers and editing APA helpful. To receive this additional 5% you will be required to create a forum post seeking a study buddy and write a brief summary of your experience in finding and working with a study buddy at the completion of the course.

Optional Project Guidelines
The study buddy approach has been found to improve learning through social interaction, motivate study and promote a deeper approach to critical inquiry and reasoning in relation to concepts (Madland & Richards, 2016). If you decide to participate in this optional project, you may find it helpful to include information such as an honest evaluation as to your knowledge of community health promotion, preferred language, preferred time, i.e. morning, afternoon, evening, night including time zone to study and discuss, and your learning goals for completing the course in your study buddy request forum post.

You can have more than one study buddy. However, if you are creating a study buddy group, be careful not to let the group become too large. We recommend that the group is no more than five people in order to be able to set study schedules and times when you will communicate. Remember, a study buddy relationship is a professional partnership, entered to share workload, meet deadlines, and engage in constructive discussion to enhance learning. If a study buddy within the classroom is not feasible, you may choose a person outside of the classroom to collaborate with in the development of knowledge, resources and skills specific to individual learning goals and outcomes.

Marking Criteria
Students will receive an additional 5% toward your overall Assignment 1 grade if you complete the following: 
1.Post your request for a Study Buddy to theFinding a NURS434 Study Buddy forum (If you are not able to connect with a Study Buddy within the course you may reach outside the course to find a Study Buddy, if your Study Buddy is not a classmate, please work to maintain course confidentiality in your discussions with your Study Buddy) and; 2.Submit a copy of the request with a brief 1 to 2 page summary that discusses the following points: How you found working with a study buddy to be helpful why or why not. Would you choose to work with a study buddy again? Would you make any changes when working with a study buddy in the future? Why or why not?

Requirements for written assignments in Nursing 434: Community Health Promotion

NOTE: Submit to the Assignment 1: Dropbox at the same time you submit all the final requirements of the Assignment 1 Concept Map: Community Health Promotion – Application to Your Practice.

Required Assignments
NOTE: This assignment is submitted in 2 parts. Assignment 1A - a draft concept map is the first submission of the course and is graded as pass/fail. Assignment 1B is the last submission of the course, which includes an improved concept map and a scholarly paper).
Due Date: Negotiable. However, it is recommended that you complete Section I: Units 1-4 and Section II: Unit 5 prior to your first submission and both Sections I and II: Units 1-7 including all other assignments prior to your final submission. 

Purpose
This assignment will provide the student with the opportunity to create a concept map of a community health promotion. You may find it helpful to email your instructor early to share the community as client focus you have chosen with a brief description of why. When choosing a topic, consider the health needs of your community. If you live in an urban centre, are there particular communities that face challenges maintaining their health and meeting their potential? If you work in a health facility, is there one population that has higher rates of admission? If you live in a rural setting, are there certain groups that have unmet needs, or who are at risk for poor health? Thinking about the community around you may help when you try to focus on one group that you would like to research and write about throughout the course. 

Between assignment 1 A and 1 B, students will demonstrate growth in learning. Assignment 1A outlines your initial understanding of the target community and demonstrates you have considered relevant factors and the determinants of health impacting your community. At the end of the course, concept map and scholarly paper (assignment 1B) will build on earlier course work. The concept map in the final course submission (1B), will have increased depth and detail. The scholarly paper will introduce the target community and analyse 4 chosen community health concepts and demonstrate how concepts relate to the community's overall health. 

Assignment Guidelines
Concept maps are visual tools used to support learners in demonstrating relationships, connections and processes between concepts and ideas about a central subject (Harrison & Gibbons, 2013). As a learner, you will have the opportunity to draw from existing knowledge, identify knowledge gaps and make learning meaningful to you through concept mapping (Fitzgerald, n.d.). Often in nursing concept maps, the central node is the client, and the arcs link to outlying nodes about the client. In this assignment the central node must be the community as the client. First, you will develop a comprehensive community health promotion concept map and then select 4 community health concepts that stand out in relation to your community client for in depth discussion in a scholarly paper. 

Community health nursing is not limited to any one place or unit instead it can be found practiced anywhere and with anyone if the practitioner so chooses. The following resources are not meant as an exhaustive list but instead provide some opportunity to explore trends and issues that you may find to be both intriguing and relevant to your current nursing practice. Consider these topics as examples of how a nurse might identify a community of interest. Careful choice of your group is important as all course assignments relate to your chosen community.