<form name="searchform" action="/" method="get" onsubmit="this.submit();return false;"> 
    <input type="text" name="q" id="course" class="search-input"  onfocus="this.value=''" /> 
    <input type="submit"   onclick="window.location = '/ara/' + escape(document.searchform.q.value);return false;" value="" /> 
</form>