Graduate Counselling and Applied Psychology (GCAP) 500
Program Student Orientation (Revision 1)
Revision 1 is closed for registrations, replaced by current version
Delivery Mode: Paced study; online
Credits: 0 (This course will appear on the transcript as a zero credit course)
Prerequisite: None
This course is available only to new students once they have been admitted to the program. You do not need to register in this course. Access will be provided automatically as part of the program orientation.
Faculty: Faculty of Health Disciplines
Overview
This course provides students entering the Graduate Centre for Applied Psychology (GCAP) graduate programs with additional information about the programs as well as the GCAP courses. The GCAP 500: Orientation to Graduate Studies in Counselling course is designed to familiarize students with the tools, resources, and procedures that they will draw on throughout their graduate program, as well as the roles and expectations of both students and program staff. We recognize that distance learning and online communication are new to many GCAP students. However, by the end of this course, students should feel more confident in this virtual academic environment and be ready to begin their first GCAP program course.
As part of the Student Orientation, new graduate students will also be required to complete GCAP 550: Introduction to Mastering Professional Writing and Navigating APA Format. There are seven lessons in this course. Four of them will be completed during the orientation course; then remaining lessons are to be completed at the students leisure but prior to the start of their first GCAP program course.
Outline
- Lesson 1: Foundations of the GCAP Graduate Experience
- Lesson 2: Becoming a Graduate Student
- Lesson 3: Joining Your Graduate Community
- Lesson 4: Preparing for your Graduate Course Work
- Lesson 5: You're on the Home Stretch
- Lesson 6: Ready, Set, Go...
Course Evaluation
There is no credit assigned to GCAP 500. Students will be assigned a pass/fail evaluation based solely on completing the tasks involved in the various study units. Students are required to complete the course prior to taking any other GCAP courses.
Course Materials
Course Texts
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Students are required to purchase this text prior to the program or non-program student orientation and must use it to support their writing in all GCAP courses.
Collins, S. (2016). Professional Writing in the Health Disciplines [e-book]. Athabasca, AB: Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://epub-fhd.athabascau.ca/professionalwriting/
This e-book is available as an open education resource at the link provided above.
Other Information
Students with a disability, who require academic accommodation, need to register with the Access to Students with Disabilities Centre at Athabasca University. Notification of the need for academic accommodation must normally be provided to the program office no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the first day of class. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Disability Centre to request academic accommodation if required and to notify the instructor that such accommodation has been requested. Every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate individual student needs. However, because GCAP courses are paced, all student are required to participate weekly in the online discussion forums. There are also several courses where online exams are required.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice.
Opened in Revision 1, April 2010.