Human Services Syllabus

Syllabus Requirements
You must read and understand the syllabus requirements. Any questions regarding syllabus
requirements should be directed to the course instructor. The course consists of the following:

All module content

All chapter readings
All quizzes
Three exams
6 Discussion Board activities
An Interview and Personal Reflection paper
All Adobe Connect Sessions

Module Content
You must complete all of the content in each module by the deadline. The deadline is usually the
last Sunday of the Module week at 11 PM EST. Some content in the Modules such as Discussion
Boards may have deadlines of Wednesday at 11 PM EST as well. Please see schedule for exact
deadlines. Missing deadlines will result in a zero for that assignment.
Adobe Connect Requirements
You are expected to actively participate in the Adobe Connect (AC) meetings. It is up to the
discretion of the course instructor to decide the actual number of live Adobe Connect meetings
which may be more than one per month. When going to an AC session, click the AC link (posted
by the Course Instructor) and enter as guest using your full name so that the instructor can see who
is attending.
Note: You are responsible for knowing the content of the Adobe Connect meeting content
even if you did not attend a live meeting. Therefore, a link to the recorded meeting will be
posted on the Announcement page the evening of the day following a live meeting. If you
did not attend a live meeting, you must review the recorded meeting, write a 400-500 word
summary paper, and submit it to receive credit (points) for the Adobe Connect meetings. The
summary should be a MS word document with 1-inch margins, using 12 point Times New
Roman. It should summarize the content of the session and should be written in a narrative
form (no bulleted points). It should include a sufficient description so that the reader will
know you reviewed the session content and are familiar with it. An insufficient description
will result in zero points. Please submit the paper using the appropriate link on the
Submissions page by 11 pm EST Sunday of the same week the presentation was given.
Module Quizzes
At the end of each module is a quiz that consists of true-false and multiple-choice questions. The
quizzes review the content of the module and must be completed before moving on to the next
module.

Exam Requirements
You must complete all exams during the time frame designated on the Schedule. Exams are only
available through the "Exams" tab in the course menu and you must use Respondus Lockdown
Browser to take them.

Exam 1 will cover Modules 2 through 6;

Exam 2 will cover Modules 7 through 10;
Exam 3 will cover Modules 11 through 14.

The exams only cover the content in the module, they are not comprehensive, each exam is
completed in Respondus and has a time limit, if you go over the limit an "!" will be displayed
instead of a score. This makes your instructor aware that you went over the time limit. The exams
will be similar to the quizzes and will consist of objective questions that cover material from the
texts, assigned readings, and lectures. Refer to the schedule or the exam tab for the dates and times
that each exam will be available. FYI, once you start the exam you must complete it during that
sitting.

Discussion Boards
IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU USE THE FIREFOX BROWSER TO POST TO THE
DISCUSSION BOARD AS THE BLACKBOARD SOFTWARE UPDATES HAVE NOT
BEEN COMPATIBLE WITH INTERNET EXPLORER OR GOOGLE CHROME. TO
AVOID ISSUES POSTING PLEASE USE FIREFOX.
Throughout the course, students will be presented with 6 Discussion Boards for response and
interaction about course content. You will be assigned to a group of approximately 5-7 peers for all
of your Discussions Boards from Module 3 on. The introductory DB is worth 4 points, all of the
other DB's will be worth 5 points each. There are two parts to each Discussion Board: Your initial
post and your response posts to your peers initial posts. Your initial post is a well written and
researched response to the question/s posed in the DB. Your initial post is basically a one page
paper and then your response posts are a means of interacting with your group peers discussing and
applying what you are learning to the issues they have raised in their initial posts. You will make all
initial posts and response posts to your assigned group of peers. This means that you will be
interacting regularly with the same small group of peers throughout the course. You will be graded
on your overall writing style, thoroughness, and clarity of your responses. In addition you will note
that some of the DB's are more reflective and personal in nature. Realize you are posting to your
peers, as well as the instructors for the course and everyone will read them so please make sure you
only share what you want to.

Directions: Post only to your assigned group. Remember your initial post should always be 400500 words (about 1 double spaced page), and made by Wednesday at 11 PM EST. You should then

read and respond to two of the initial posts made by your group peers by Sunday, at 11 PM EST.
Each response post should be 100-150 words. (Click Reply to respond to a thread.)

Scoring: 5 points total, 3 for initial post, 2 for response posts.

Meeting deadlines: Were posts made by deadlines? Missing a deadline results in a

zero for that portion of DB.
Length of submission: Initial posts 400-500 words; response posts 100-150 words
each.
Validity of Content: Did the student completely answer the question that was asked
and is the content correct? Did student demonstrate application and synthesis of
learning by using sources from within and outside of the course to make their points?
Grammar/Punctuation of Content: Has the information been spell checked and is it
free of errors?
Interaction with Group: Did the student thoughtfully respond to the other members
of the group? Are the responses tolerant of the views of others? Did the student
refrain from using inflammatory, derogatory, and insulting comments? Posts that are
simply summaries of the material or general comments of agreement/disagreement
will receive a zero!

Instructions for Discussion Board Posts.docx

Professional Interview and Personal Reflection Paper
Conduct a face-to-face interview with a human service professional, at an agency or school near
you. You must submit your proposed interview plan for approval in the module discussion
indicated in the schedule. You must conduct the interview using the 34 questions found below in the
paper resources. Using these questions will produce more than enough material to write your paper
but you are also free to add others. You will have to condense it down and write a narrative
description of the individual and the information you gathered. An example paper and the grading
rubric are also provided below.
Once you have conducted the interview remember to send a thank you note!! Then, write a 3-4
page (no more, no less) APA style paper that will include only two parts: the title page and the 3-4
page body of the paper (No Abstract), you may include a reference page if needed. Make sure you
follow APA and include a running head, page numbers, 1 inch margins and use only 12 pt. Times
New Roman font. Base your APA formatting on that in the example paper and feel free to refer to
the Owl Purdue website as well: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Here is a link to a youtube video that clearly shows how to format an APA paper. Your paper does
NOT have an abstract, so you can disregard that information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdAfIqRt60c&index=1&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D

There is also additional information on APA at the bottom of the modules page: Professional
Academic Writing. Please refer to this information as needed.
The body of the paper should be a professional narrative description that provides the reader
with a complete description of the individual, their setting and the work that they engage in.
The paper should include the following information weaved together in to a concise and clear
narrative:

The information you obtained from the interview, including the individual, setting,
and work.
A reflection on how the interview influenced your thoughts about the field, how it fit
or did not fit with your expectations regarding the profession, and how it did or did
not impact your career goals.
What you learned about the human services profession that you did not know before
conducting the interview.
A description of the area of human services you think you might be interested in.
Ways in which you think you could contribute to the human service profession
Any other reflections you may have had in regards to the interview.

As you can see this paper has to include a personal reflection in a professional voice so that the
reader can easily tell how the interview has impacted and influenced you. References are not
required for this assignment. However, if you use material from another source, each reference must
be cited using appropriate APA style and included in a separate reference section at the end of the
paper (this is not included in page total). Approximately fifty percent (50%) of the total grade will
be based on quality of writing. Please consider using the ODU Writing Center which is a free
service available to all students even those at a distance. To find their information please look under
the Help tab in the menu to the left on this page.
*As per ODU and CHS policy - students may not interview faculty members or Graduate Assistants
working within the department in conjunction with an assignment.
The following 3 items are resources for the Professional Interview and Reflection paper. There is
an example paper, the grading rubric, and a list of questions to help guide your interview. For
examples of human services workers there is a great list at the bottom of this linked
page www.nationalhumanservices.org/what-is-human-services and a concise explanation of the
field.
Interview Paper Rubric(1).pdf
Interview Paper Questions.pdf
341 Professional Interview Example Paper(2).pdf

Plagiarism StatementAny work that you complete for this class that contains work from another source needs to be
properly cited and referenced in accordance with the American Psychological Association (APA)
specifications. This applies to both your major paper for this class along with your discussion board
assignment posts. Any student found to be guilty of plagiarism (intentional or unintentional) may be
reported to the ODU student council. Here are some helpful links posted by the ODU library:
http://www.lib.odu.edu/resourcesfor/plagiarismsheet.pdf
http://www.lib.odu.edu/genedinfolit/7ethics/plagiarism.html

Please complete the ODU Plagiarism activity to ensure that you are fully aware of ways that you
can avoid being guilty of plagiarism:
http://www.lib.odu.edu/genedinfolit/7ethics/plagiarism_activity.html

Points will be awarded as follows:

Exams 1, 2, and 3. 30 points each: 90 points

Quizzes: 47 points
1 long quiz (module 2): 5 points
12 short quizzes: 3.5 points each: 42 points
Discussion Boards (DB): 29 points
Intro DB: 4 points
5 DB posts: 5 points each
Professional Interview and Reflection Paper: 30 points
Submit and receive approval of interviewee for paper: 5 points
Adobe Connect Sessions. 3 points each: 9 points
Complete Online Orientation and Upload Certificate: 5 points

Total Possible Points: 215 points

Grading Scale
Grades will be assigned as follows:

92.51 - 100 % = A (198.90-215)

90 - 92.5 % = A- (193.50-198.87)
88.5 - 89.99 % = B+ (190.28-193.48)
82.51 - 88.49 % = B (177.40-190.25)
80 - 82.5 % = B- (172-177.38)
78.5 - 79.99 % = C+ (168.78-171.98)
72.51 - 78.49 % = C (155.90-168.75)

70 - 72.5 % = C- (150.50-155.88)
68.5 69.99 % = D+ (147.28-150.49)
62.51 68.49 % = D (134.40-147.25)
60 - 62.5 %= D- (129-134.38)
59.99 % and below = F (128.99)