Reflection upon library meeting and beginning of annotated bibliography--Week 2

Taxonomy of Reflection: Week 2

Remembering: What did I do?

This week, I met with Dr. Dennis, the librarian, and reviewed twenty articles for my forthcoming literature review on gifted students in group learning.

Understanding: What was important about it?

The meeting with Dr. Dennis was purely helpful. She gave me lots of nice tips and search keywords (to be written up an submitted soon) to help in my discovery of useful articles. Her advice was good too, about expanding my searches to include international students.  It helped set me on the right track.

The annotated bibliography was important for the obvious reasons: I need to read about my topic so I can understand it. I have to do this before I can write about it. It's all pretty straight forward.

Application: When did I do this before? Where could I use it again?

Well, the information about search techniques that Dr. Dennis shared with me should be useful for the rest of my life, particularly if I really get into RefWorks seriously. I can see that being a very useful tool.

I have written annotated bibliographies for many other classes. This one had a slightly more formal form. I can see using the last two categories in the future: "How does this relate to my questions?" and "what do I need to look up?" This is very useful.

Analysis: Do I see any patterns or relationships in what I did?

Not so much, apart from procrastination crush. As it was last week, the realities of my life now mean that the bibliography just had to wait until the weekend. So, my weekend was a busy whirlwind of reading and reporting. I have planned on stopping by the Ned McWherter Library on the way home from work tomorrow to write up three articles, so hopefully I can avoid the crunch in week three.

Evaluation: How well did I do? What worked? What do I need to improve?

I feel that I did okay. Some of the sources I reviewed were notable (for my purposes, at least) for just one of two lines that will be helpful in the paper. That seems a little cheap, but one has to find attribution where one may, mustn't one?

Waiting till the weekend didn't work. Fix that.

Reading articles worked. I even shared one particularly good article with my wife, as I think it has implications for how we will design our homeschool classroom for TBD Taylor who is currently five months from joining us. 

Creation: What should I do next? What's my plan/design?

This plan now is to stay the course, while making the review schedule more regular and, therefore, less onerous. 

Personal Reflections

Few this week. I enjoy reading articles and writing papers. The feedback is immediate and enjoyable, both from reading a well-written article and understanding new ideas, to creating a document and seeing my ideas come together in a coherent and hopefully lovely document.

Writing the annotated bibliography, however, if one of those intermediate steps that I realize is necessary, but that grants no joy to the worker. It just must be done, to assure the quality of the final step. The researcher must walk out on faith that all will be better because of the drudgery. This is wisdom.

Reflection upon Graphic Organizer and Topic Selection Assignments--Week 1

As part of an important and required process, I will weekly reflect upon my work in IDT 8500 using Peter Pappas' Taxonomy of Reflection.

Taxonomy of Reflection: Week 1

Remembering: What did I do?

This week, I created a graphic organizer, summarizing my understanding of the elements of a literature review, and defined my topic for the literature review that I will produce in the IDT 8500 class. My work was completed and turned in prior to the deadline--but only by a few hours--due to a busy week of traveling and professional obligations.

Understanding: What was important about it?

The graphic organizer forced me to think about the parts of the literature review in an orderly, systematic fashion. I had to synthesize information found in several different sources and concisely reproduce it in one diagram. This helps in the development of my personal cognitive Literature Review Schema, so that future production of literature reviews will be appropriate in scope and form.

When selecting my topic, I had to consider the many questions that have arisen throughout my studies in The University of Memphis IDT department and identify the one that I most want to learn about. In developing specific research questions, I considered what information would have to be understood in order for my proposed research to go forward. This methodical process is one of logic and abstract thinking, and vital in understanding the route from relative ignorance to deep knowledge of the topic.

Application: When did I do this before? Where could I use it again?

I've been required to create graphic organizers in other classes (in education, biomedical, and optometric settings) as a concept-solidifying and organizing technique. Occasionally, I have used such drawings in personal problem solving, particularly when considering large subjects that I cannot fully consider at once. Yet, I do not tend to prefer to use such graphic models when learning a concept, as I find the concept remains relatively blurry until I actually put it into practice. This is not a technique that I am likely to use in the future.

The process of topic selection, however, is merely a particular example of the first step in every high-order intellectual project. I have performed such definition and analysis of requisite questions on every personal, academic, and professional problem I have faced in my adult life. Thus, efficient and thorough problem analysis is of enormous applied importance. 

Analysis: Do I see any patterns or relationships in what I did?

I felt that I approached both tasks with relative efficiency (brought on, perhaps, by the aforementioned time crunch). I read the assignments early in the week, and considered them throughout the next several days. When I found time to complete them, my path was identified and my outcomes were high-quality and efficient. I will have to take care not to allow this last-minute completion to become the norm, for I know how difficult it can make a class like this.

The selection of the topic, being the first step in the production of a literature review, was necessary for what is to come in this class. I anticipate it becoming a vital component of my future work. The graphic organizer, however, will likely languish in a folder on my computer. I don't feel that it helped solidify my understanding of the literature review, and I doubt I will reference it in the future.

Evaluation: How well did I do? What worked? What do I need to improve?

I am happy with my output this week. I do not feel I had to cut corners or submit substandard products with either the graphic organizer or topic selection assignments. My thought process in developing the topic and requisite research questions was streamlined and incisive. I need to avoid last-minute work in the future, using to my full advantage the assigned time each week.

Creation: What should I do next? What's my plan/design?

The majority of what is to come is outlined in the course. I have identified procrastination as my most pressing concern, so I must implement policies to prevent this in the future. Perhaps I will dedicate a certain amount of scheduled time each evening to course work.

Personal Reflections

My struggles with the demands on my time are well described above. The importance of the topic selection--specifically the knowledge that my topic in this course would define the direction of my future research--filled me with a certain amount of apprehension. I do not feel that I know the subject in which I wish to perform my research, or which would make the best project. There are many interesting topics I would like to explore. 

These issues made these assignments, though minor in demand, somewhat frustrating. I settled on a topic that was informed by the course I took with Dr. Grant this Summer. He had reviewed the concept and signed off on it, which gave me some confidence that it has research merit.

It is probably obvious that I found the graphic organizer assignment of little use. I am aware enough of the prevailing research to know that I am in fact learning when I organize and produce such a document, whether I feel as though I am learning or not. Such activities have never lent themselves to me, however, so I found it frustrating. Adding to this frustration is the clunkiness and overall poor user interface of every graphic organizer software I have ever explored. Producing outlines in these programs is a process so artificial and non-intuitive that I feel as though more of my time is spent struggling with the interface than actually producing a useful diagram. Web-based tools merely amplify these problems, even on the fastest Internet connections, as every step is slower and buggier than on local software. The entire process made me wish I could simply take pen and paper, draw an outline, then scan and submit it. Compared to computer based tools, the venerable pen and paper seem so elegant, so efficient, so tactile, so right. 

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References

Pappas, P. (2010, January 5). The reflective student: A taxonomy of reflection (part 2). Retrieved from http://www.peterpappas.com/2010/01/reflective-student-taxonomy-reflection-.html

Welcome to IDT 8500!

This blog is on again, thanks to the IDT 8500 class in the Autumn of 2014.

Watch this space for more posts over the rest of the semester.

--Daniel