A3.8: Week 3 Reflection

Aims and Objectives:

My goals for this week were:
• To improve my writing skills when doing my weekly assignments.  I sometimes tend to write in a hurry, which makes it incomprehensible.  This week I want to take my time when completing my assignments and read over them.  I want to edit and make corrections as necessary.
• When I read, especially stuff on the internet I sometimes drift away from my reading.  My goal this week is to stay on task when reading and to gain some insight from the assignments.
• To develop a good research question.  I want to do this so that my research is directed and comprehensible.

Declarative Knowledge:

     This week I learned about search engines.  I did not realize that there were different types of search tools until completing the reading assignments.  My favorite is still the good old fashioned search engine.  Alternatives to the search engine are meta-search engines, subject directories, and invisible web.  Another favorite search tool of mine that we looked at this week is databases.  I also learned about framing essential questions.  One main point that stood out in my mind about this is that essential questions must spark your curiosity.
      While completing the weekly assignment I learned how to join a mailing list.  I now know that when you make the request you must type exactly what the website tells you to in order to join it.  I did a name search and a topic search on different types of search tools.  I can honestly say I prefer the search engine.  I learned that I was a multimodal learner when I took the VARK inventory and looked at some strategies to improve my skills.  I learned how to formulate a research question and by reflecting on past experiences as a learner I learned more about myself.

Procedural Knowledge:

     To complete the reading assignments, I went to the class webpage.  I then clicked on Week 3 Assignments and clicked on each reading that was assigned one at a time.  I then went to my weblog and created a new category by clicking on manage and then categories.  I typed in the categories name and selected create.  To join a mailing list I typed in the address given in the weekly assignments.  I clicked on a topic I was interested in and wrote down the information that was needed in order to join.  I then went to my e-mail address and typed in the needed information and sent it to the designated address.  When I received the conformation that I had joined I forwarded to the class mailing list. 
     When doing the search assignments, I went to three different search tools.  I typed in the topic and clicked search.  I made a note of how many hits were returned and proceeded to open up some of the hits to analyze the accuracy of the search.  I wrote about my results and e-mailed the class list.  I then posted the results and added some additional information to my weblog.  When I began my reflection on learning I thought about my past experiences and wrote a draft.  I edited the draft and then posted it.  To complete the VARK Inventory I went to the class webpage and clicked on the link.  I answered the questions then recorded the results and read the helpsheet.  When formulating my research question, I reflected on my interest and chose one that I thought I could do my best work on.  To complete this assignment I thought about what I read and formulated what I think is a good research question. To make a post and complete the writing assignments, I went to wordpress.com and logged in.  I then went to the dashboard and clicked on write.  I then clicked on write post.  I entitled my post with what was assigned and wrote my thoughts on the prompt that I was responding to.  In one case I created my own prompt.  After I finished responding I hit publish.  To post a comment to a classmates post, I went to their webpage and clicked on the post.  I filled in the needed information and wrote in my comment.  When I was finished I clicked on submit.

Conditional Knowledge:
   
      Learning more about the internet will allow me to be a better researcher.  I think that it is necessary to know about the different ways of searching in order to get good, accurate information.  This will also help me be a lifelong learner.  Learning more about myself is allowing me to become a better person.  Through the personal reflections I am able to look back and see how much I have grown and changed as a person.  Formulating a research question is important because it will help me throughout my career.  By doing this I will be able to study a particular area in great deal and come to a better understanding.  This will help me be a better clinician.

Question:

What are some of your favorite search tools?  Do you find that a lot of students prefer the good old fashioned search engines?  What do you think is the most effective search tool?