Friday, July 29, 2011
First Sources--8/1/11
Once you get some feedback on your keywords, start trying to do some of your research through the databases available to you (most through UTPA's library, but also CompPile, available through the web). Try to locate at least three sources which look promising. Post the information for each here (at least author and title of work) (along with your research question). Read through others' sources to see if any of them might look promising to you as well. (And don't forget our book is an excellent collection of potential sources for you).
Research Questions & Keywords (HW for Monday)
I want everyone to write your research question here and which keywords you're going to try for your first attempt at using databases for your research. You must use a database at first (no google, yahoo, ask.com, etc.). Read through everyone's posts and offer advice about keywords when you see some you think might not work or some that have worked for you if you've already started doing your research. Ask questions if you have them, too, of course:).
Homework for Monday, August 1
Here's your homework for Monday:
1. I've put the researched project assignment in the 1302sII folder in Google Docs, and I'd like you to read it. Post here and write a summary of it. What is it asking you to do? What questions do you have about it? It's not your typical research project assignment, so it may take reading a couple of times:).
2. I'd like you to generate some keywords to use in your database research for your research question. If you haven't revised your research question to really reflect what your interest is yet, you might find choosing appropriate keywords difficult. For instance, some of you have questions that are still pretty general (How can I become a better writer?) and using "writing" as a keyword will get you millions of hits, so it's not useful as a sole keyword. You'd need to combine it with other things:). Hopefully, you'll learn about this from "Research 101," but we'll all be available to help you when and if you hit roadblocks. I want you to write about what your research question is and what keywords you're using here on the blog (in the "Research Questions & Keywords" post) so you can help one another, learn from what's working or not for others, and I can help more than one of you at a time who might have similar questions/problems.
3. Start your database research and try to locate at least 3 articles/books/book chapters that look promising for your question. Post those on the blog under "First Sources--8/1/11."
1. I've put the researched project assignment in the 1302sII folder in Google Docs, and I'd like you to read it. Post here and write a summary of it. What is it asking you to do? What questions do you have about it? It's not your typical research project assignment, so it may take reading a couple of times:).
2. I'd like you to generate some keywords to use in your database research for your research question. If you haven't revised your research question to really reflect what your interest is yet, you might find choosing appropriate keywords difficult. For instance, some of you have questions that are still pretty general (How can I become a better writer?) and using "writing" as a keyword will get you millions of hits, so it's not useful as a sole keyword. You'd need to combine it with other things:). Hopefully, you'll learn about this from "Research 101," but we'll all be available to help you when and if you hit roadblocks. I want you to write about what your research question is and what keywords you're using here on the blog (in the "Research Questions & Keywords" post) so you can help one another, learn from what's working or not for others, and I can help more than one of you at a time who might have similar questions/problems.
3. Start your database research and try to locate at least 3 articles/books/book chapters that look promising for your question. Post those on the blog under "First Sources--8/1/11."
Friday's Work (7/29/11)
A little later on this afternoon, I'm going to put up your major research project assignment (I'll put it on Google Docs in the 1302sII folder). But, in preparation for that, I want you to go to our library's tutorial on doing research--"Research 101"--and read through it carefully with your research question in mind. I'd also like you to explore the library site so you can see what kinds of stuff is available there (especially the "Chat with a librarian" feature and other ways you can get help from the librarians, even when you can't physically get to the library). Respond to this post after you've done the tutorial. Ask any questions you have about the library and doing research via the library.
Good Databases for Work in Reading, Writing, and Research: JSTOR, ERIC (education database), and CompPile (a rhetoric and composition database housed on the web). There are others, of course, especially depending on your research question, so be prepared to spend some time looking for sources--and asking the librarians for help (can i say that too many times?).
Good Databases for Work in Reading, Writing, and Research: JSTOR, ERIC (education database), and CompPile (a rhetoric and composition database housed on the web). There are others, of course, especially depending on your research question, so be prepared to spend some time looking for sources--and asking the librarians for help (can i say that too many times?).
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Student Researchers
Post here if you've chosen "student researchers" as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What do you think student researchers are supposed to do?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student researcher" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student researchers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "student research"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What do you think student researchers are supposed to do?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student researcher" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student researchers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "student research"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
Good Student Writing
Post here if you've chosen good student writing as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of "good student writing"?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student writer" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student writers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good student writers"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of "good student writing"?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student writer" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student writers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good student writers"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
Good Writing
Post here if you've chosen good writing as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of good writing?
--Where have your ideas about what "good writing" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writing is?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writing"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?)
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of good writing?
--Where have your ideas about what "good writing" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writing is?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writing"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?)
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
Good Writers
Post here if you've chosen good writers as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of a "good writer"?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good writer" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what "good writers" do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writers"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of a "good writer"?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good writer" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what "good writers" do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writers"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
Good Reader/Good Reading
Post here if you've chosen good reader/reading as the construct most relevant to your research question, but please read "Thursday's (7/28/11) Work" post first if you haven't already. If you've chosen a different construct. you don't need to respond to this one.
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of good reading?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good reader" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good readers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good readers" or "good reading"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
I want you to be as detailed as possible in your responses to these questions, so please don't think about answering this post in list or Q&A form. Try to compose paragraphs that get at all of the questions, but in a coherent, well thought through way.
--What is your idea of good reading?
--Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good reader" come from?
--How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good readers do?
--What misconceptions do you think people have about "good readers" or "good reading"?
--How might we go about changing those misconceptions?
Remember to read everyone's comments and make at least 1 additional reply (though what I really hope to see is a conversation develop and your collective ideas advance about the issue).
Thursday's (7/28/11) Work
I've taken a look at the calendar and have decided to do things a little differently. We have just over three weeks left and rather than asking you to do three separate projects, I'm going to ask you to do one--with several parts. It'll cut down on the need to do major revisions of 3 separate projects, and the learning outcomes will be the same. I'm assuming that'll be ok with you:).
Yesterday, I asked you to revise your research question and write about some of the major constructs connected to your research question and the misconceptions about those constructs. As I've been reading your responses, it occurs to me that some of you might be making that last part too hard, so I'm going to give you a little more guidance. I want you to choose one of the following constructs to write about. Choose just one--whichever one is most relevant to your research question and post your responses to the appropriate blog post (I'll put up one for each). And I want you to read one another's posts and respond to at least 2. Use this as an opportunity to refine your ideas, particularly as they relate to your potential research question. If you have a question about which one is more relevant to your research question, send me an email at jcharlton@utpa.edu [due: Friday morning by 10am]
-Good Readers/Reading (What is your idea of good reading? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good reader" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good readers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good readers" or "good reading"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Good Writers (What is your idea of a "good writer"? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good writer" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writers"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Good Writing (What is your idea of good writing? Where have your ideas about what "good writing" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writing is? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writing"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions?)
-Student Writers (What is your idea of "good student writing"? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student writer" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student writers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good student writers"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Student Researchers (What do you think student researchers are supposed to do? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student researcher" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student researchers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "student research"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
Yesterday, I asked you to revise your research question and write about some of the major constructs connected to your research question and the misconceptions about those constructs. As I've been reading your responses, it occurs to me that some of you might be making that last part too hard, so I'm going to give you a little more guidance. I want you to choose one of the following constructs to write about. Choose just one--whichever one is most relevant to your research question and post your responses to the appropriate blog post (I'll put up one for each). And I want you to read one another's posts and respond to at least 2. Use this as an opportunity to refine your ideas, particularly as they relate to your potential research question. If you have a question about which one is more relevant to your research question, send me an email at jcharlton@utpa.edu [due: Friday morning by 10am]
-Good Readers/Reading (What is your idea of good reading? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good reader" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good readers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good readers" or "good reading"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Good Writers (What is your idea of a "good writer"? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good writer" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writers"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Good Writing (What is your idea of good writing? Where have your ideas about what "good writing" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good writing is? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good writing"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions?)
-Student Writers (What is your idea of "good student writing"? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student writer" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student writers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "good student writers"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
-Student Researchers (What do you think student researchers are supposed to do? Where have your ideas about what it means to be a "good student researcher" come from? How have the readings we've done so far influenced your ideas about what good student researchers do? What misconceptions do you think people have about "student research"? How might we go about changing those misconceptions? )
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday's Work (7/27/11)
Hi, everyone. I just finished responding to all the research questions I could find in Google Docs, so before I move on to today's work, I need to do a little housekeeping.
1) I still haven't seen research questions from a significant number of you. You really can't move on with the rest of the semester if you don't have a researched question that I've given you feedback on. So, PLEASE get this done ASAP or email me at jcharlton@utpa.edu and let me know what the problem is so I can help if at all possible. If you think you turned one in, but don't have any feedback from me, email me now because that means I haven't seen it (at least as of 10:45am).
2) When you upload something into Google Docs or create a document directly in Google Docs, you need to make sure you've clicked on your individual folder first. Then, when you upload or create a document, it will automatically be placed in the correct folder (yours). You don't need to "Share" anything as it will already be shared with me. Sharing just means it sends me a link to your document through the email, and I don't have the ability to comment or for you to revise if you do it that way. I found a few of your documents outside of your folders, and I tried to cut and paste them into a document in your folder for you so you could see what it should look like.
3) Remember to name your documents something recognizable--with your first name in there. So, for the research question, something like "ResearchQuestion_Raul" would be good for Raul. This isn't a huge deal yet, but as we accumulate more docs and eventually share them amongst the whole class, this will get messy fast:).
Okay, now to Wednesday:
1) I'd like you to read my comments on your research question and revise if necessary. You can ask questions of me by replying to my comments or by inserting new comments of your own (just click "Insert" and "Comment" to do that), and I'll get back to you sometime today. What I'm trying to do here is create a conversation between you and me about your research question. You've got really interesting ones, but I'll be pushing you in the coming days to be as precise as you can so we can start identifying the keywords you can use to locate research in the databases about your question. This won't always be an easy process, but that's just the way research goes:).
2) I'd like you to go back to your research question document and add a section to it about "Relevant Constructs/(Mis)Conceptions." For your first project, I'm going to ask you to write about a construct or a conception of writing, reading, researching, learning, etc. The first step is to start thinking about what the important constructs or (mis) conceptions are related to your research question. So, for instance, Robert has this question: Do standardized state (writing) tests, like the TAKS, ultimately help or hurt students? At the root of this question are assumptions about what "good writing" is and how writers work. After all, for tests to be good measures of student writing, they should tell us whether writers are able to produce "good writing" and they should account for how writers write, right? What I'd like you to do today is go back into your research question google doc and start a new section with the heading "Relevant Constructs/(Mis)Conceptions) and brainstorm about what some of the important constructs are in your question or what (mis)conceptions might be relevant to your question. [Due: end of day Wednesday]
1) I still haven't seen research questions from a significant number of you. You really can't move on with the rest of the semester if you don't have a researched question that I've given you feedback on. So, PLEASE get this done ASAP or email me at jcharlton@utpa.edu and let me know what the problem is so I can help if at all possible. If you think you turned one in, but don't have any feedback from me, email me now because that means I haven't seen it (at least as of 10:45am).
2) When you upload something into Google Docs or create a document directly in Google Docs, you need to make sure you've clicked on your individual folder first. Then, when you upload or create a document, it will automatically be placed in the correct folder (yours). You don't need to "Share" anything as it will already be shared with me. Sharing just means it sends me a link to your document through the email, and I don't have the ability to comment or for you to revise if you do it that way. I found a few of your documents outside of your folders, and I tried to cut and paste them into a document in your folder for you so you could see what it should look like.
3) Remember to name your documents something recognizable--with your first name in there. So, for the research question, something like "ResearchQuestion_Raul" would be good for Raul. This isn't a huge deal yet, but as we accumulate more docs and eventually share them amongst the whole class, this will get messy fast:).
Okay, now to Wednesday:
1) I'd like you to read my comments on your research question and revise if necessary. You can ask questions of me by replying to my comments or by inserting new comments of your own (just click "Insert" and "Comment" to do that), and I'll get back to you sometime today. What I'm trying to do here is create a conversation between you and me about your research question. You've got really interesting ones, but I'll be pushing you in the coming days to be as precise as you can so we can start identifying the keywords you can use to locate research in the databases about your question. This won't always be an easy process, but that's just the way research goes:).
2) I'd like you to go back to your research question document and add a section to it about "Relevant Constructs/(Mis)Conceptions." For your first project, I'm going to ask you to write about a construct or a conception of writing, reading, researching, learning, etc. The first step is to start thinking about what the important constructs or (mis) conceptions are related to your research question. So, for instance, Robert has this question: Do standardized state (writing) tests, like the TAKS, ultimately help or hurt students? At the root of this question are assumptions about what "good writing" is and how writers work. After all, for tests to be good measures of student writing, they should tell us whether writers are able to produce "good writing" and they should account for how writers write, right? What I'd like you to do today is go back into your research question google doc and start a new section with the heading "Relevant Constructs/(Mis)Conceptions) and brainstorm about what some of the important constructs are in your question or what (mis)conceptions might be relevant to your question. [Due: end of day Wednesday]
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday's (7-26-11) Work
Because a good research question is so important, I'm devoting the next 24 hours to making sure you have a good, workable draft of a question. Some of you got a start on this on the blog over the weekend and on Monday, and now it's time to weed through all your potential questions and choose one you'd like to focus on for the rest of the semester. To do this, I'd like you to go to Google Docs and, in your individual folder, write about the research question that interests you most. Remember this is a question that must be related to reading, writing, researching, or learning, and it must be a question you don't already know the answer to. In your document, which you can create right there in your individual folder or upload from Microsoft Word, I want you to do the following:
-Write your research question at the top. Remember to phrase it as a question and to be as specific as you can at this point in your thinking.
-Write about why you were drawn to this question. What issue(s) is at stake in your question, and why do you find yourself needing to search for answers about it? This should take at least 1/2 page, maybe more, because I want you to give me as much info as possible so I can give you the most useful (and quick) feedback that I can. Remember that context plays an important role in everything we read, write, and research, so I need you to provide me with enough context that I can understand why you're interested in the question and what you're hoping to learn.
-Write about who you imagine to be impacted by your question. A number of you have questions which clearly have ramifications for yourself, but who else is involved in the issue(s) at stake in your question?
If you're finding it difficult to come up with a research question, you can always 1) read back over others' ideas for research questions, both in my initial blog post about research questions and in your peers' potential questions in the comments section; and 2) look back over the readings we've done. All the readings address areas of dissonance related to questions about what counts as "good writing," "good reading" and "good researching." Is there a question related to one of these ideas that you could start with?
[Due: by end of day, Tuesday; I will give you feedback starting Tuesday evening and running through Wednesday morning]
-Write your research question at the top. Remember to phrase it as a question and to be as specific as you can at this point in your thinking.
-Write about why you were drawn to this question. What issue(s) is at stake in your question, and why do you find yourself needing to search for answers about it? This should take at least 1/2 page, maybe more, because I want you to give me as much info as possible so I can give you the most useful (and quick) feedback that I can. Remember that context plays an important role in everything we read, write, and research, so I need you to provide me with enough context that I can understand why you're interested in the question and what you're hoping to learn.
-Write about who you imagine to be impacted by your question. A number of you have questions which clearly have ramifications for yourself, but who else is involved in the issue(s) at stake in your question?
If you're finding it difficult to come up with a research question, you can always 1) read back over others' ideas for research questions, both in my initial blog post about research questions and in your peers' potential questions in the comments section; and 2) look back over the readings we've done. All the readings address areas of dissonance related to questions about what counts as "good writing," "good reading" and "good researching." Is there a question related to one of these ideas that you could start with?
[Due: by end of day, Tuesday; I will give you feedback starting Tuesday evening and running through Wednesday morning]
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Williams Discussion--Error as Construct (Monday's work)
In the lead-in to Williams' article, Downs and Wardle define "construct" for us, a term I've been throwing around for several days, but haven't yet defined. And since you'll be writing your first project about constructs, it's important that you have a clear idea of what they are:). So, D&W write that a construct is "a set of ideas woven together over time until they seem inevitable, the only way of thinking about a problem, when in fact they are not at all inevitable but simply choices in thinking that are constructed to look unavoidable. The concept of error in writing that most people hold," they add, "is one that people have become accustomed to, but it is not one that is necessarily universally true" (37-8). Here are the two sets of questions I'd like to use to begin our discussion of Williams' article. [Due: end of the day Monday]
1. What is this common conception of error that Williams is responding to? What have been some of your own experiences with this idea of error? Why do they stand out for you? How would you react to those experiences now after reading Williams' piece? What, if anything, did you disagree with in this article? What arguments did he make that conflict with your own experience or with your sense of how things should be done?
2. Two of Williams' claims are that (a) if we read expecting to find errors, we tend to find them, whereas if we aren't looking for them we are less likely to notice them, and (b) if we were to read student papers as we read "ordinary" texts, we would find far fewer errors in them. If you take these two ideas together, what does Williams seem to be saying? What do you think about that?
1. What is this common conception of error that Williams is responding to? What have been some of your own experiences with this idea of error? Why do they stand out for you? How would you react to those experiences now after reading Williams' piece? What, if anything, did you disagree with in this article? What arguments did he make that conflict with your own experience or with your sense of how things should be done?
2. Two of Williams' claims are that (a) if we read expecting to find errors, we tend to find them, whereas if we aren't looking for them we are less likely to notice them, and (b) if we were to read student papers as we read "ordinary" texts, we would find far fewer errors in them. If you take these two ideas together, what does Williams seem to be saying? What do you think about that?
Jonikka's ENG 1302 Summer II: Research Questions: A Beginning List
Jonikka's ENG 1302 Summer II: Research Questions: A Beginning List: "Over the weekend, I asked you to start thinking about questions that you have related to writing, reading, research, or even learning .For t..."
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