Hi everyone,
First let me begin by saying that it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you during this semester. I truly learn as much from you, as hopefully you learn from me.
During this course, we explored the research process in more depth. We took a figurative step back and thought about how we think as we process our information needs.
Being able to recognize and anazlye where you are as you solve information problems is, in my opinion, one of the most valuable skills you can possess, not only now, but throughout your lifetime.
With that being said, I would like for you to reflect on the following questions. Please add your reply to the post.
Did you find your topic interesting? (Include your topic choice in your answer.)
Was it difficult for you to select a technology topic to research? Why or why not?
Were your initial thoughts on this topic supported by your research or did your understanding change throughout the process?
Did this topic offer any relevance to your own life? Can this information be applied outside of the classroom setting?
Are you able to apply the process steps covered in this class to other information needs. (Feel free to name any of them as you answer...it's ok to go back to your handouts or ask.)
Did you encounter any challenges as you researched? Were you able to work around them? Please share any insights.
Is your desire to do a thorough job in completing the required tasks evident in your work? Did you go the extra mile?
Would you do anything different?
I know...a lot of questions!
But your answers are as much for you as for us.
Best wishes for your second semester. You will be missed...
Happy Trails,
Mrs. Englert and Mrs. Davis
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24 comments:
I also enjoyed working with both Techniques of Research classes this semester. I look forward to hearing students' thoughts about the provided questions!
~Mrs. Davis
The most difficult part in the research process for me was picking a topic. In a world where so much is always going on, it is challenging to “route through” everything to narrow a topic to something specific enough to research. Once I found a topic, I really enjoyed researching. I learned so much about proper citations and even how to enhance thesis statements. On a personal level, I learned a lot as I did the research for both projects. For the first paper, which was just an information/analytical paper, I learned about education and women and, even though it does not relate necessarily to the education/learning system, I have become more thankful, as a woman, to have the education rights that I have. For the second paper, a persuasive piece, I researched the effects that television has on children. As I hope to become a teacher and a mother one day, it has brought about many thought provoking ideas that I most likely would not have thought about regardless of this assignment. There were not any huge struggles that I found as I researched, besides that of picking the topic. But, to ease these frustrations, I liked that before we did our first paper, we skimmed through magazine articles to brainstorm. All together, research is key in our everyday lives. I am sad that this class is over, but I feel that I am able to take many new acquired skills with me through college and even the rest of my life.
Yes, I thought both my research papers on Alzheimer’s and Sexting were both very interesting. It was not difficult at all because it is very common in the present day America. My initial thoughts definitely supported my paper. My research paper definitely had some relevance to my life because my grandmother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, yes. I can use this information in some classes about technology and also family diseases. I found it hard to get some of the last information I needed for Sexting. I worked very hard on both my papers and was given a good grade on both so I think my work showed through. Yes I know I worked the extra mile. I would possibly pick easier topics. I really enjoyed this class and recommend it to anyone else who needs help on writing research papers.
I found my topic, psychological development in children, extremely interesting.
This topic was not difficult to choose because I was learning about it in another class and enjoyed looking further into it. My initial thoughts were supported by my research.
This topic was not relevant in my own life. This information can be applied outside of the classroom.
I am able to apply what we learned to other information needs but I wouldn’t want to.
No challenges were encounter.
I went the extra mile.
No.
1) My topic on racism I thought was very interesting. There was a lot of new information that I learned and history about it. I also got to hear Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech on a video. I thought that was kind of neat. Racism is a very controversial topic that was fun to research.
2) I found it surprisingly easily actually. Cigarettes is a big thing that many students have experienced or use today so I thought the electronic cigarette would be real neat to write about. I’ve experienced it with family members and how hard it was for them to quit. The E-cig is a form of quitting and that caught my attention. The fact that this cigarette is electric and does not produce smoke was right away an attention getter.
3) I learned many new things about this topic as I researched it but my thoughts didn’t really change about it.
4) Both racism and the electronic cigarette were easy to relate to me. Since I am of a different race I could relate to some of the things I read about. It was neat just to read other peoples thoughts on this topic. I also got to create some opinions of my own as I read through some things. The e-cig I could also relate to because I know of people that have tried cigarettes or are daily users.
5) All the steps in our research process were really beneficial. It helped me produce a well thought out paper. I then used these steps to write papers in my other classes.
6) Writing my paper about racism was real easy. I found a lot of information about it in the school library. There is a lot of history on this topic so finding information about it was simple. I did however have some trouble finding information about the electronic cigarette just because it is such a new product. I worked around these problems by using ebscohost. The internet was the best way to find my information on the electronic cigarette.
7) The way I look at it is if I have to do something for a class why not try and go that extra mile to complete something. I should make it count if I am putting all the time into it. In the end it pays off.
8) One thing I would have changed was not waited until last minute to put everything together for my cigarette paper. I think I did a pretty good job on everything else.
dc4
I found that both of my topics in this class to be very interesting. The two topics I chose where technology in the medical field and day dreaming. It wasn’t that difficult to pick a for my paper on technology because of being in CTC health care cluster. My thoughts on this topic were supported the more I learned about it. Both these topics can relate to life outside of the classroom because everyone will sometime in their life need come kind of health care services. Some problems I ran into during researching were good informational web sites with trust worthy authors. I feel in my first paper I put more effort into it because it was much more interesting and didn’t have to be persuasive. The only thing I would have done differently was when working on my second paper I should have spaced out my time more wisely. SS Pd.7
1. My topic was how cell phones benefit the educational system and I thought honestly like that was a boring topic and I only did it because I had to.
2. I found it very easy coming up with a topic. When I heard we needed to incorporate technology in an essay, I immediately thought of cell phones because they are an extremely hot topic these days.
3. My initial topic was corroborated by my research in the sense that the cell phone is more beneficial then it is harmful.
4. My topic does relate to not only my life, but probably every teenager out there today who owns a cell phone.
5. I’m sure the process steps that we learned in class can be applied to other things; however, I cannot think of any right now.
6. It was challenging to find a print source on my topic that was solely on the benefits of cell phone usage in the educational system.
7. I did not go the extra mile only because I did the essay on something that I wasn’t all that interested in.
8. If I was allowed to do something different I would probably pick a more exciting topic.
1. My topic was how cell phones benefit the educational system and I thought honestly like that was a boring topic and I only did it because I had to.
2. I found it very easy coming up with a topic. When I heard we needed to incorporate technology in an essay, I immediately thought of cell phones because they are an extremely hot topic these days.
3. My initial topic was corroborated by my research in the sense that the cell phone is more beneficial then it is harmful.
4. My topic does relate to not only my life, but probably every teenager out there today who owns a cell phone.
5. I’m sure the process steps that we learned in class can be applied to other things; however, I cannot think of any right now.
6. It was challenging to find a print source on my topic that was solely on the benefits of cell phone usage in the educational system.
7. I did not go the extra mile only because I did the essay on something that I wasn’t all that interested in.
8. If I was allowed to do something different I would probably pick a more exciting topic.
MK
My topics were very interesting to me. Exoplanets are something that are always being discovered everyday and more and more information is being gathered on them. The Cell phones in school topic was also very interesting because I learned of multiple ways that a cell phone can be used in school.
My first topic was hard 2 get because I had a broad topic in mind and I had to narrow it down. My second topic was very easy to get because it is a popular topic to discuss.
Both of my topics I didn’t have much prior knowledge of so it was very interesting to do research on these topics and finding more information on them.
The cell phone topic related greatly to my life because I am a student and using a cell phone would be a very handy tool to aid in my learning.
In doing this process of researching and writing a paper, I have learned a lot and I think I am able to apply what I have learned to future research
I found it challenging to narrow my topic down from a very broad one. Once I have narrowed my topic, I found it easy to gather and organize my information into a paper.
I think I have done a good job in keeping up with my work.
I think I will focus more on my final copy because there are some mistakes on it that I easily missed and that cost me some points.
NMP
1. The first topic I researched was very interesting (video games and their history). My second topic, Internet use in the workplace, was not very exciting at all.
2. It was difficult to select a technology to write about. I couldn’t really find anything that I really wanted to write about.
3. My understanding did not change at all during my paper. My viewpoint was not changed throughout my research.
4. This topic did offer relevance to my life. I can understand how the internet is a problem in the workplace and it is costing companies money.
5. I couldn’t find much information on my topic so it was difficult to write.
6. Not really. I turned some stuff in late. If I had a better topic I may have been more motivated to do my work.
7. I would get all my work done on time and not procrastinate.
JE pd. 7
I found both of my topics interesting. My first paper was on the Ryder Cup and my second paper was on Technology in sports. I found it quite easy to pick a topic becuase i have a great passion for sports so when they assigned the topic i immediatley knew i wanted to write about instant replay in sports. my initial thoughts stayed true all the way through the writting process. Yes i play sports so i feel a connection to my topic. this information would be helpful on jeapordy. The research process will help in other english classes that i will have in the future. The only challenge i faced was finding print sources for my information. Ebscohost and the internet were very helpful in overcoming this lack of print sources. I feel like if a job is worth doing its worth doing well. so in that spirit i went the extra mile to make sure my paper was as good as it could be. No i would not change a thing.
KM
Did you find your topic interesting? (Include your topic choice in your answer.)
~I found my first choice of researching medical technicians interesting but not as much as much as my second choice of technology (specifically robotics) in medicine.
Was it difficult for you to select a technology topic to research? Why or why not?
Were your initial thoughts on this topic supported by your research or did your understanding change throughout the process?
~I had no trouble with finding sources with information but then that gave me trouble actually decided what exactly I wanted to highlight as my arguments. My opinion to be against robotics in medicine stayed the same but I did learn about a lot of positives on the topic.
Did this topic offer any relevance to your own life? Can this information be applied outside of the classroom setting?
~It definitely was relevant to my life because I hope to one day work in the medical field and knowing this information will lead me to have a good stand on the issue if it ever becomes apparent in my work.
Are you able to apply the process steps covered in this class to other information needs. (Feel free to name any of them as you answer...it's ok to go back to your handouts or ask.)
~I could use it in college and in my future career. Especially because the topics I researched was part of my future career choice.
Did you encounter any challenges as you researched? Were you able to work around them? Please share any insights.
~I didn’t have much trouble. Most of it was in regards to finding sources with good information that supported my topics or descriptions.
Is your desire to do a thorough job in completing the required tasks evident in your work? Did you go the extra mile?
~Ask anyone who checked over my paper, I definitely went the extra mile (both my papers were 6+ pages long)
Would you do anything different?
~I would write shorter papers.
KS7
My topics were The Effects of Fantasy Football and Technology in the NFL. And since I was able to change those topics into the specific topics I wan ted it made the process much more interesting. I was able to find an idea for technology quickly because I knew some information on the growing field of technology in the NFL so it popped into my brain quickly as an interesting topic of study. My initial thoughts stayed true all the way through the writing process. Yes I love to watch football so I felt the connection between my paper and hobbies. The information may be helpful down the road and for random trivia facts. The research process I learned will help in other areas of study. The only problems I encountered were finding print sources because my topics were newer subjects. Finding credible online sources in abundance especially through databases like ebscohost helped tremendously. I felt like I always did my best work and went that extra mile to write the best paper and to do the most thorough job possible. I would not change a thing. ~ BTM7
Did you find your topic interesting? (Include your topic choice in your answer.)
Autism and Cyber Predators, both were very interesting topics
Was it difficult for you to select a technology topic to research? Why or why not?
No, because there are so many issues or topics that relate to technology.
Were your initial thoughts on this topic supported by your research or did your understanding change throughout the process?
For my Autism paper my understanding definitely changed throughout the process because I learned more about the topic with the more notes I took.
I knew a lot about the topic on cyber predators so my initial thoughts did not change.
Did this topic offer any relevance to your own life? Can this information be applied outside of the classroom setting?
Autism is relevant to my life because I am going to be majoring in special education and knowing about this disability will help me in my career.
Cyber Predators also sort of relate to my life because I learned how to be safe on the internet.
Are you able to apply the process steps covered in this class to other information needs. (Feel free to name any of them as you answer...it's ok to go back to your handouts or ask.)
I can use this in college and for my career because the information I reached applies to my career.
Did you encounter any challenges as you researched? Were you able to work around them? Please share any insights.
It was hard to stay focused someday to stay on task. The way I worked around them we to not fight trying to work and just took off the day and did the work another day.
Is your desire to do a thorough job in completing the required tasks evident in your work? Did you go the extra mile?
Yes, because I have a lot of great supporting details for both of my topics and my grades show they I did well.
Would you do anything different?
I would have taken notes differently. The note cards are a very long way of taking notes and I would rather just get a sheet of paper and write down the notes.
~KA7
Did you find your topic interesting?
My topics of Racism in Children and Wikipedia as a reliable source were both very interesting.
Was it difficult for you to select a technology topic to research? Why or why not?
No, because the issue of whether Wikipedia is a reliable source or not as been a topic of discussion for a while.
Were your initial thoughts on this topic supported by your research or did your understanding change throughout the process?
For the topic of Wikipedia my initial thoughts were supported by the research I found. For the Racism in Children topic I didn’t really know much beforehand, and the research I found helped to broaden my knowledge on the subject.
Did this topic offer any relevance to your own life? Can this information be applied outside of the classroom setting?
Wikipedia did have some relevance to my life because I use Wikipedia on a regular basis and finding that it is quite reliable is helpful. My racism topic doesn’t really apply to my regular life because it was never an issue for me or my family.
Are you able to apply the process steps covered in this class to other information needs. (Feel free to name any of them as you answer...it's ok to go back to your handouts or ask.)
I will be able to apply the process that I used in this class when I am in college and even later on when I have a job.
Did you encounter any challenges as you researched? Were you able to work around them? Please share any insights.
Some days it was difficult to focus on the topic, but I was able to get my work done on time.
Is your desire to do a thorough job in completing the required tasks evident in your work? Did you go the extra mile?
Yes, if I am interested in a topic it is much easier for me to stay focused and write my paper.
Would you do anything different?
I would probably use more time to find some more information for my paper and provide some more details.
-EM7
My topic covered the digital piracy of media over the World Wide Web and I found the topic very interesting with the amount of piracy found within our current generation. It was not hard to find this topic and I entered my research paper with a large amount of knowledge about my specific topic. I found that some resulting corrections proposed to solve the problem of internet piracy then directly affected my own search for large amounts of cheaper media and specifically music. Thus I would consider that my research paper would be applicable to any one outside of school in search of media files. I did not cover any large constraints in researching my topic and I would find that my contempt to write an excellent essay. I thoroughly enjoyed this essay for Techniques of Research and regret nothing in my entire research process.
~J.R. 4
I enjoyed my topic very much (Sexting. It was hard for me to think of a good topic at first because there is so much variety in technology. My understanding of sexting definitely changed throughout my reasearch because there was lots more undiscovered, interesting facts I did not know.
It did offer any relevance to my life because a lot of teens are sexting nowadays and I can easily talk to others about the consequences if it would happen! I definitely applied the process steps. The only challenge I had when I was researching was the fact that I couldn't find a lot of information on my topic. It was hard for me to find good statistics and quotes, but I managed to find a few. My paper turned out good, so it was okay. :)I feel like I did all I could to do this paper to the best of my ability and I think that is the best I can do :)
JS 4
When I got into my topic, Solar Power, it got interesting to find out how much it can do to help you and the environment out.
It wasn’t difficult to find a topic because I like to talk about solar power. Most of my thoughts were supported by research but there were some stuff that I didn’t know.
Yes, this can be used outside of the classroom. I plan to get a solar panel so I don’t have an electric bill to worry about. Well at least a high electric bill.
Yes, this process helped me out with my project for my government research paper.
I didn’t really come up with any challenges unless I couldn’t find much on the topic.
My desire wasn’t really evident in my work and I didn’t go the extra mile.
Yes I need to do my work when it should have been done and do a better job.
SW4
1) I found my topic extremely interesting, or else I wouldn't have done it! Bionics is the technology of the future, and it goes without saying that what we know now is only a fraction of what's to come.
2) It was a little hard at first, because you are still confined to the topic of "technology," but when you look from a broader perspective, there's really a lot to choose from.
3) Well, Bionics really can't effect me..yet anyway. I don't have any missing limbs that need replaced, or anything like that.
4) Without a doubt. Research papers as a whole were easier after practice from this class.
5) Some of the challenges I encountered were more of the "Is this ethical" instead of facts. The other problem I ran into was the finding of facts as a whole, because Bionics is a new subject that's still being looked into and researched. There's really very little done right now, but enough to be able to make an impact and demonstrate future potential.
6) I'd like to say it is. I definitely tried pretty hard in my paper, and gave it what I could. I think because we put so much time into writing it and putting it together, in the end the result feels like a much more professional and well-put together result.
-TH, Period 4
Personally I found my topic to be very interesting, the fact that we are trying to reduce the use of rockets and trying to build a more efficient way to go into space is very interesting. I, myself, find that space and anything involved in it is very interesting. Finding a topic was hard since I do watch a lot of scientific shows that cover all of the fascinating things that occur in space and the technology involved in finding new ways to see our expanding universe. I 100% believe that the topic was supported by the research that I had found, I found more and more of the same information and even some ideas that everyday people had to try and fix some of the problems that scientists were stating. This subject is definitely relevant to my own life; seeing how it can help towards keeping our planet healthy and saving the ozone layers. The process that I used can easily be used in other classes and even outside of school due to the field of work I would like to try to get into. One of the most common problems I ran into was how the sites had the same information but had too little of it. this was a huge bump in my road to finding the right information. I would like to write good papers but when I can't find as much information as I would like, it becomes harder for me to be more set on continuing to write the paper. I think that if I had put more time and effort into what I was writing I could have created a better paper.
CW4
Yes, I found my topic on Parental Controls and Teenage use of the internet very interesting. No, it was not difficult to come up with a technology topic, because I have always felt really strongly about the one I chose. My initial thoughts were supported by my research, because I already had a strong understanding about the topic. Yes, this did offer relevance to my own life, because my parents always ask me what I’m doing online and I get frustrated, but now I realize it’s just because they care about me. Yes, this can be used outside the classroom. Yes, I’m able to apply the process steps I learned in class. No, I really did not have many challenges while researching. Yes, I feel I completed above and beyond what I was suppose to in my task. I would probably not procrastinate as much.
RS4
I found the topics I researched very interesting. Nuclear explosions, and Facebook were topics very far from eachother. I chose topics I was interested in, and forming the papers were very enjoyable.
It was hard to chose a technology topic to write about because there is not as much information about the topics when wanting to write about them in a persuasive way. My understanding of the topic I chose was very clear, because I am a facebook user. Gathering enough information and having a structual paper was tough, but Mrs. Davis was a wonderful help.
This information does indeed apply to my life, but not exactly in the same way. As a said, I am a user, but not an addict.
This class was wondeful, and will surely help me in the future as i write papers in college and throughout my life.
I did encounter some challenges in writing the paper about Facebook, there are so many topics and things that fall under the Facebook catorogorey. However, Mrs. Davis was a huge help in helping me narrow things down.
I myself felt I worked extremly hard on both papers, the first one I was very proud of the grade I recived, I hope the same outcome resluts from the second paper.
I probably would have better prepared myself for the second paper, I assumed I had more time then actually there.
MW4
Did you find your topic interesting? (Include your topic choice in your answer.)
My first two topics that I wrote about were interesting to me. My short paper on Facebook was fun to research because I was genuinely interested in the topic. My second paper about nurture verses nature was very interesting because the facts and research was enlightening. My paper that I wrote on technology was what I felt, boring because I didn’t narrow down my topic enough. That caused the topic to not be as interesting as the other papers I had written.
Was it difficult for you to select a technology topic to research? Why or why not?
Were your initial thoughts on this topic supported by your research or did your understanding change throughout the process?
It was difficult for me to select a technology topic because technology isn’t one of my interests so I thought what I chose was good until I was writing my paper and realized that I didn’t narrow it down enough. My understanding definitely changed throughout my research but my point did not agree with my personal beliefs and I also think that that caused a problem.
Did this topic offer any relevance to your own life? Can this information be applied outside of the classroom setting?
I think that topics that I had chosen prior to this one have been applied outside of the classroom; however, the technology information that I collected is not information I see myself applying later on.
Are you able to apply the process steps covered in this class to other information needs. (Feel free to name any of them as you answer...it's ok to go back to your handouts or ask.)
The process of gathering information and using it to write a paper that I learned though this class will benefit me when I have to write other papers for other classes.
Did you encounter any challenges as you researched? Were you able to work around them? Please share any insights.
Being able to sift through different sources to find exactly what you are looking for can be time consuming and aggravating. While writing my nurture verses nature paper I experienced this first hand. I was able to work around this by broadening my search a little and then narrowing down after a specific article was chosen.
Is your desire to do a thorough job in completing the required tasks evident in your work? Did you go the extra mile?
For the first marking period of this class I would say I went the extra mile however when I was doing a topic that I was not as interested in it was obvious that I would just do the minimum.
Would you do anything different?
I would pay closer attention to due dates if I were to change something that I did in this class.
KP
1. I did find my topic ineresting, but cyber bullying for me was difficult at times.
2. Yes it was very difficult because I am not good with tecnology.
3. I haven't has this such thing happen to me, but I know that this can help others uderstand how and why cyber bullying happens today.
4. I do believe that I can because I could have added much more information.
5. Yes I found it much more difficult to find detail on this topic without life stories happening.
6. Yes and to be honest I know that I could have done better.
Thank you for all of your help.
MR4
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