[Informatics] Citation styles

McCleary Scott McCS at jpc.vic.edu.au
Wed Aug 10 21:02:09 AEST 2016


I would be amazed if, on an exam, they actually asked you to write the correct referencing style for a given piece of information.

I understand that referencing is a key component for being able to write a report or essay, but is it something that students need to be examined on?

Firstly, who remembers all that off the top of their heads?  Do you remember how to write the reference for your chosen style when given an article, a book, a tv interview?  I personally prefer the APA style but I would use a guide to remember how to do it each time, it’s not something that I could just regurgitate.

Secondly, it would mean that each examiner would be required to understand each style to be able to correctly identify whether it is correct.  I think that could be a little onerous when trying to get through marking an exam.

So while it could be examined based on the fact that it’s in the study design my gut feel would be that the exam writers would be crazy to include such a question on the exam.  Is it really examining the key content of what the subject is really about?

My two cents….

(having said that, it’ll probably appear on the exam now)

From: informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark
Sent: Wednesday, 10 August 2016 2:02 PM
To: Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Informatics] Citation styles

Hi, credit-givers

A student I was tutoring asked whether he needed to be able to cite a reference in all four of the named styles (Harvard, APA, Chicago, and IEEE).

Interesting question. I said no.

U3O2 KK4 says (with my italics) " - one of the following methods for referencing primary and secondary sources: Harvard, American Psychological Association (latest edition), Chicago, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)".

From this, I deduce that the examiner would not be allowed to ask a student to take some reference data and present it in one specific style, e.g.

Question 4. Fred Smith wrote "This technique is great" in his article 'Frog Rescue Methods' on pages 56 to 64 of the August 1977 edition of 'Frogs Monthly'. Write a suitable citation for both the body text and reference list using the Harvard referencing style."

But students could be asked to write the reference in one of the 4 styles of their choosing.

Is this how you good folk interpret the study design?

--

Mark Kelly

mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>
http://vceit.com
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