Course Writing Guidelines

All CEU-HQ.com authors are expected to comply with the following guidelines when preparing continuing education course materials.  You may open the Course Writing Guidelines in PDF format or simply print this web page for future reference.

1. Course topics should relate to professional issues of interest to architects, engineers, building contractors, land surveyors, landscape architects, interior designers and / or building contractors.
2. Course content may be based upon the author’s own notes, industry-specific periodicals and publications, text books or any other publication in the public domain.
3. Course content itself must be the original work of the author but may include quoted and attributed text from source materials. All artwork must be original unless the author provides written releases from the original creator. 
4. Copyrighted materials may not be used without the express, written permission of the copyright holder. It is the author’s responsibility to secure this written permission if the course contains copyrighted material.
5. All source materials, whether in print or online, should be appropriately referenced in either footnotes appearing at the bottom of the page on which the material is mentioned or in a bibliography at the end of the course text. The use of embedded URL links is acceptable.
6. Course topics and contents may not be duplicates of existing courses currently offered by CEU-HQ.com. Please review our list of current courses before deciding on a course topic. All course topics must be approved by CEU-HQ.com before you begin. We will not accept courses which duplicate the topic or content of another course we currently offer.
7. Courses should be of a length such that an average student may read, comprehend and take the test in either one, two or three hours. In general, one course hour is approximately 12 to 15 pages in a default Microsoft Word document, or approximately 6000 words in length.
8. Course titles should be selected carefully. Choose a title that is neither too broad nor too specific and which clearly and concisely conveys the subject matter. Avoid one word titles and titles over seven words in length.
9. The author must include, at the beginning of the course text, a brief course description. This description should be concise and succinct yet indicative of the material covered. It should be worded in such a way as to inspire the student’s interest. The author must also include a statement of the profession or professions the course is intended to serve. For example, architects, or architects and interior designers, or civil engineers and land surveyors, etc.
10. The author must include, at the beginning of the course text, an outline of the course material indicating the major and minor headings of the material in their relative positions in the text.
11. The author must include, at the beginning of the course text, the “Learning Objectives” the student can expect to accomplish by taking the course. There must be at least three (3) learning objectives for each hour of course length. For example, a course estimated to take an average student three hours to complete should have at least 9 learning objectives.
12. Course content may include diagrams, tables, charts, photographs or any graphic device supportive of the content. All such devices must be the author’s original work or work from others used by their express, written permission.
13. Each course should include, at the end, a Course Summary, which restates the major points of the course, especially as they relate to the previously stated Learning Objectives.
14. Courses may contain a list of additional resources and references related to the course material which students may consult for additional information. The use of embedded URL links to online sources is allowed.

1. The author is responsible for preparing test questions for his or her course.  The test questions must appear at the end of the course content document so that students may prepare their answers prior to taking the online test.
2. Test questions must be either multiple-choice or True/False. Both types may be used in a single test, however True/False questions may not make up more than half of the questions.
3. Multiple-choice questions must include at least three choices and not more than six choices.
4. One hour length courses must contain at least ten test questions. Two hour length courses must contain at least 15 test questions. Three hour length courses must contain at least 20 test questions.
5. The author must indicate the correct answer to each question by submitting a separate document containing the entire test in which the correct answers are in a distinctive color or in bold text.
6. Test questions and answers may include diagrams, tables, charts or any other graphic device necessary to the question. All such devices must be the author’s original work.

1. The course content, including the test, must be submitted as a single document in electronic format, preferably in Microsoft Word format.
2. Any images, diagrams or photographs included in the course content or test must be embedded in the electronic document file and should be in a standard image format.