Journal 10

We just got done presenting our Field Research Collaborative Project Pecha Kucha powerpoints. I had fun doing this project, because I liked observing and working with a group. My group members all worked hard and I was pleased with the outcome of our project. It was a little hard to talk for 20 seconds on each slide, because my group members got off track and I had to talk for like 7 slides, so that was a little confusing. Other than that I think we did a good job and found some good information about the shuttle bus. I enjoyed listening to other group's presentations as well and seeing what everyone else came up with.
Chapter eighteen was about designing. I skimmed it and realized it was about designing things such as websites. We were going to do a website for our final project, but because of the technology in our classroom we can no longer do that. I'm really bummed, because I was looking forward to making a website. I feel like if everyone brought their laptop to class it wouldn't be an issue. The people in the class that don't have laptops could use the computers that work in the classroom. I'm just not looking forward to writing a six page paper over creating a website, which I thought would have been really fun.

Journal 9

Chapter fifteen was about integrating sources. I learned about using quotes and the three different kinds of quotes: partial, complete, and block quotations. I also read about paraphrasing and summarizing and how to site them.
Chapter sixteen was about writing with style. I learned what it means to write concisely. This is something my English 103 professor would write on my papers last semester and I did not know what it meant. I learned that it means to keep your words to a minimum and just flat out say what you need to say instead or adding unnecessary modifiers and phrases. I also got some good examples from chapter sixteen about transitions, like "in turn, however, and on the other hand". This will be good to look back on.
Chapter seventeen was about revising and editing. It talks about how you should consider your writing situation, argument and ideas, use and integration of source information, and the structure and organization of your document. Some strategies to use to revise would be to ask for feedback and scan, outline, and map your document.

Journal 8

Today we went around the classroom and said our name and what our topic was. We also talked about our sources and what opinions we thought they were forming about our topic. I said that I am doing autism and focusing on the early indications/symptoms/signs of autism in young children usually the ages of 2-3. I'm not really sure what my thesis is yet, because most of my sources were factual and not really opinion based. When we started this project I thought it was just a research paper. I didn't really realize that we needed to form an opinion about our topic, so I may need to go to the writing center to get some help with coming up with an opinion and thesis.
We also got into our research groups and my group made a game plan on what we are going to do next. We are all going to conduct our interviews and write a one page reflection paper over them. We will also each take 5 pictures of the shuttle, people waiting for the shuttle, inside the shuttle, etc. We will then get together and pick which pictures are best and we will use those for our powerpoint. Then we will come up with questions for our survey that we will make with surveymonkey.com. Then we will get together at the library and put our powerpoint together.

SPRING BREAK!! :)

Journal 7

We were just assigned a group observation project. My group decided that we are going to observe the shuttle. I went on the shuttle today coming back from my car. There were three other people on the bus with me when I observed. Two guys got their cell phones out as soon as the got on the bus. I wondered as I watched them if they were "fake" texting like I do sometimes if I'm in an awkward situation. There was also a girl who had out a binder and packet and appeared to be studying. I'm not sure what all this means or what I should take from it. Maybe my group members will take more away from their observations.

Journal 6

We just turned in our Annotated Bibliography rough drafts.. I didn't find it too challenging. However, it was a little bit difficult to find a variation of information. I felt like all the websites had the same information. My topic is early indication of autism in children, and there's only a few symptoms and signs to look for. I am hoping my group members left me some good advice on what I can improve on.
Chapter nine talks about searching for information with electronic resources. I learned that you can search not only by author and subject, but also by title, keyword, publication date, and call number. Chapter ten is about searching for information with print resources. I learned about searching for books and Interlibrary Loan, which is when if you can't find the book you need from your library, you can use interlibrary loan to borrow the book from another library.

Journal 5

Chapter 8 in The Bedford Researcher talks about planning for research. To identify relevant sources you should consider the scope and timeliness of your issue, consider the nature of the conversation you plan to join, and consider what you'll need to learn about an issue. I also learned the best search tools and methods are electronic search tools, print resources, and even observations, interviews, and surveys. I also need to figure out what sources are most relevant to my issue. Since I have autism as my topic, I think print sources would work for finding some good books on childhood autism along with website about early childhood indication of autism. When our class went to the library I learned about finding articles and journals along with other information about my topic online.

Journal 4

In chapter 6 from the Bedford Researcher, I learned about taking notes and how to avoid plagiarism. One way to do so is to quote directly and make sure your notes match the original source exactly and idenity the source and list the page number it came from. I also read about paraphrasing. Even though you are changing the words of the information you read, you still must cite the source because the information is not your own. This is an important thing to remember! Chapter 7 also talks about plagiarism and how unintentional plagiarism is still likely to have consequences. I learned some ways to avoid plagiarism. They are; take notes accurately, integrate quotations, paraphrases, and summaries into a document, and cite sources in the text and in a works cited or reference list.