3 Style Guide
Chapter Format
For this project, you will be authoring your book chapters in Google Doc. Templates will be created for each author and added to the cohort Google folder. Visit the Chapters folder to directly access your template. See the standard template for your chapter.
It is not permissible to customize the style/format in the template including heading structure, font, and sequence of the elements. If you have a compelling reason to modify, consult with your ID.
Your chapter should comprise 11 elements in this order:
- Chapter title
- Opening image
- Overview
- Objectives
- Key terms
- Units and sub-units
- Summary
- Review questions
- Reference
- Appendices
Chapter Title
Keep your chapter title short and succinct (no longer than seven words). Avoid the title in the form of questions or abstract expressions. For example,
Try: Careers in health care
Avoid: So you are ready to be a healthcare professional?
Opening Image
Add an image relevant to the chapter content. It is to engage and stimulate students with surprise. For example, if the chapter discusses career choices in health care, you could add an image of health care professionals practicing in the field.
Find a high-resolution image (the higher the better). For example, if the image is from Flickr, choose Original size which is typically the largest with the highest resolution.
Overview
Provide background and contextual information along with the primary goal of the chapter. Consider starting your overview with a real-life scenario that will help engage students with chapter content.
Objectives
Add chapter objectives. Make sure to create S.M.A.R.T objectives using action verbs as practiced in Lesson 2 from Instructional Design 101 training.
Key Terms
Add key terminologies and matching definitions that students should learn as a result of reading the chapter. Feel free to keep the definitions as concise or descriptive as you feel appropriate.
Units and Subunits
Divide your chapter content into multiple units and sub-units as necessary. Unit content alone should contain a minimum of 3000 words.
Numbering convention:
- Each unit name starts with the chapter number. For example, if you are authoring for chapter 2, the first unit should be 2.1.
- All units will increase by “0.1” (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.)
- Sub-units under each unit will increase by “0.01” (e.g., 1.1.1, 1.2.1, 1.3.1, etc.)
Instructional cues to consider:
- a real-life scenario
- interesting facts (e.g., “did you know”, “reality check”, “myth or reality”)
- visual support (e.g., images, photos, and illustrations)
- supportive data (chart and tables)
- mini-review (“check your understanding”) at the end of each unit
Call Out Boxes
Provide information that adds context with call out boxes throughout the chapters. e.g. “Did you know?”, “Myth vs. Fact”, “Questions to Consider”
Be sure to define the title of your call outs and to keep them consistent throughout the textbook. Identify these in your working chapters by placing the call outs between the tags “[call out]” and “[/call out]” See the Sample Chapter for QA2 for an example inside a chapter.
Example:
[call out]
Myth vs. Fact
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[/call out]
Summary
Add a summary of the chapter with a list of key points, key takeaways, and final lessons you wish to emphasize.
Review Questions
Add a set of assessments for the chapter. Use different types of activities so that students have multiple ways to practice and demonstrate their knowledge. For this project, add
- 5-10 short answer questions
- 5-10 multiple choice questions
- 5-10 critical thinking exercises.
Review lesson 3 of the Instructional Design 101 training for some tips and sample questions.
Reference
Add bibliography entries based on APA style guide 7.0. See Citation Guide for more information.
Appendices
Add Appendices for the topics that appear numerous times throughout the book. Each cohort must identify the Appendices topics as a group. For example, the Welding cohort might decide to index all welding techniques in the Appendices. The Criminal Justice cohort might want to index all legal cases mentioned.
Mechanics of Style
For this project, all mechanics of style such as punctuation and spelling follow APA 7.0 Style. Below are the links to a variety of styling instructions from the APA Style and Grammar Guideline, 7th edition. Visit each page and scroll down. You will see text buttons for specific topics.
Abbreviations
Capitalization
Italics and Quotation Marks
Lists
Numbers
Punctuation
Spelling and Hyphenation
Bias-Free Language
Authors must strive to use language that is free of bias and avoids perpetuating prejudicial beliefs or demeaning attitudes in their writing. This project follows the APA guidelines on using bias-free language. Visit the topics below to learn more.
Age
Disability
Gender
General Principles for Reducing Bias
Historical Context
Intersectionality
Participation in Research
Racial and Ethnic Identity
Sexual Orientation
Socioeconomic Status
Tables and Figures
Tables and figures enable authors to present a large amount of information efficiently and to make their data more comprehensible.
A table usually shows numerical values (e.g., means and standard deviations) and/or textual information (e.g., lists of stimulus words, responses from participants) arranged in columns and rows. A figure may be a chart, graph, photograph, drawing, plot, infographic, or any other illustration that is not a table.
This project follows the APA guidelines on the use of tables and figures. Visit the topics below to learn more.
Accessible Use of Color in Figures
Figure Setup
Sample Figures
Sample Tables
Table Setup
Grammar
Proper grammar and usage are important to all writing, including textbooks. Incorrect grammar and careless construction of sentences distract readers, introduce ambiguity, and impede clear communication. This project follows the APA guidelines on the use of grammar. Visit the topics below to learn more.
Active and Passive Voice
Anthropomorphism
First-Person Pronouns
Logical Comparisons
Singular “They”
Verb Tense