Second Draft Week

What did I do?

This week, I completed my second draft. In the process, I did a little more research and thought more about my topic. And ran into a brick wall.

Why was it important?

This week was important because I realize that I'm still dancing around my topic a bit. Maybe what I want to find from informal learning in adults doesn't want to be found. Maybe there are parts of our informal lives that need to be left alone. So, this week got me thinking and I found self-doubt.

Where could I use this again?

Learning how to evaluate research, read and understand, and then classify research could be used with just about any topic of research. This course has been incredibly helpful.

Do I see any patterns in what I did?

The pattern emerging is reaching a brick wall. The choices are to go around it, through it, under it, or over it. I'm still considering the choices.

How well did I do?

I knew that my writing was not connected well, and that this belies my unconvinced self of my topics and inability to focus or stay focused. All the possibilities are still in front of me, with no choices made. After the second draft, there are now even more possibilities. Basically, I'm brain tired and find myself back at square one.

What should I do next?

Next, obviously, I will rewrite parts of my review and make sure that it flows as well as I can make it. The next thing I will do is just re-read other reviews out there online. Somehow the ability to write well must sink in eventually... 

Thoughts on the annotation process - Week 6/15 - 6/19

This week was a doozy. However, once the rhythm was established, finding articles and reading them became a much smoother process. So far so good grades...

This process because so clear that after explaining it to a friend, she remarked, "I'd like to try that with _____ (her profession)." So, I knew I did something right... At some point in my life, I will do this "for fun" as well.

What was surprising was that I uncovered an angle I had never considered before (learning in a prison setting), which sticks with me now. When I see other unfortunate people, such as those who ask for money on the corner, I wonder... how can their prior learning be captured and propel them into a state of self-sufficiency?

The important thing I learned was that there are others out there with the same interest who have found articles that supported their particular view of the topic. My view will be a little different from theirs. I'm getting by with a little help from my friends who are fans of Informal Learning.

Go Diesel!

One thing leads to another.

This week something amazing happened. I completed my first set of annotations. :o)

Seriously though, as I began the second set, I kind of got it... I find related articles to read from the first set and they become part of my second set—if they still make sense. Each article I read has a plethora of other articles from which to choose. Listing terms and concepts as they pop up has also been helpful in focusing in.

Learning what others think and borrowing from their resources has been useful in bringing focus to my topic. There's a check my brain goes through, to see if that's the right path for me. As to getting better, following the journals and authors as they keep popping up could be added to my routine.

This is how it works. I'm very excited to grow as a researcher and a writer. This method can be applied to researching anything.

Thanks Dr. Weaver!