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?
 

A3.7: Research Question

Areas of Interest:

1. Alzheimer’s Disease
2. Cerebral Palsy
3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
4. Apraxia
5. Cleft Palate
6. Wernicke’s Aphasia
7. Broca’s Aphasia
8. Augmentative Communication Devices
9. Autism
10. Dysphagia
Issues of Importance:

1. The severity of the damage that has occurred.
2. Characteristics of Broca’s Aphasia.
3. Therapy techniques and augmentative devices.
Question:

What types of augmentative devices are used with people who have severe Broca’s Aphasia?

 This is a good research question because it is researchable.  I know this because of the results that were returned to me when I did my topic of interest search.  This question is specific to a type of treatment (augmentative communication devices) and a particular population (severe Broca’s Aphasia).  I think that this topic is very interesting, not only to me but to other students and maybe even some professionals.  Researching this topic will provide me with more knowledge about treating Broca’s Aphasia.  This is why this is a good research question.

A3.4: Broca’s Aphasia Search

 Before beginning this assignment, I decided to do my topic search on Broca’s Aphasia.  I used Yahoo!, Surfwax, and About.

www.yahoo.com
The search at Yahoo returned 75,600 hits.  This search returned several useful sites.  These sites included the National Aphasia Association, medical sites explaining what Broca’s Aphasia is, and sites concerning therapy techniques.  This information was very accurate.  When I refined the search, I searched for therapy techniques of Broca’s Aphasia and 840 hits were returned.

www.surfwax.com
Surfwax returned 69,700 hits.  The information that was available included causes, treatment, and ways to diagnose Broca’s Aphasia.  A lot of the sites that were returned by the Yahoo! search were returned here as well.  One interesting return was a site that was specific to Broca’s Area.

www.about.com
About returned 5 hits.  The information that was retrieved were pages about what aphasia is, the types of aphasia, the anatomy of the brain, and a stroke recovery page.
When doing this search I found that at Yahoo! and Surfwax the information returned was the same.  About limited the number of results.  I think that to do my research I will probably use Yahoo!, because I like this search engine a lot.  I use it all of the time at home and I am very familiar with it and comfortable with the information that it retreives for me.  These are my impressions and thoughts on the search engines that I used.

A3.3: Heatherman Search

     Before I began my search, I decided to use my married last name instead of my maiden name.  I decided this because my last name Casey is not my family name and the truth is I am not sure what it is.  When my grandfather came to America it was changed to Kasey from its original and when he entered the Army somewhere in the paperwork it was changed to Casey.     I searched Heatherman at www.google.com, www.surfwax.com, www.about.com, and www.ask.com.  Google returned with 60, 400 hits.  Many of the hits were associated with famous authors, lawfirms, and My Space pages.  I did find it interesting that the name heatherman was the name of a coal mines in West Virginia in the 1800’s.  I did find one hit that was about my mother-in-law being the featured employee of the month for the Office of Professional Preparation.  All in all the hits were mostly associated with people who had the last name Heatherman.     At surfwax, 4250 hits were returned.  It returned sites that contained people with the last name of Heatherman.  One hit that I found interesting was the Geneology of the Walter James Heatherman family.  I also really liked the set up at surfwax.

     About.com did not return any results, so I decided to search ask.com.  It returned 2100 hits.  I thought it was wierd that the first return said Heatherman Grave Search.  It linked to a sight were you could type in the name and see where a particular grave sight was.  I also found a newspaper article about a little boys birthday who had the last name.

     None of the search engines made suggestions for different spellings.  I did attempt to change the capitalization and there was not any change in the results.  I think the searches were pretty accurate because the majority of the hits returned that I looked at involved someone with the last name Heatherman.

     I learned that for the most part if you want to return specific facts about something you need to be specific in your request.  By just typing in Heatherman the internet returned results on people with the last name.  I think if I would have put geneology of Heatherman that fewer hits would have been returned.  I would still like to know about being a more efficient searcher.  I would like to know how to formulate my request in a way that I receive a majority of the hits back on what I was looking for and not just pages that contain the word or words.  That is what I would like to know.

A3.6: VARK Inverntory

My scores:

• Visual: 4
• Aural: 5
• Read/Write: 1
• Kinesthetic: 7

     By taking the VARK inventory I learned that I am a multimodal learning preference.  This makes sense because I use different methods to learn different things.  The helpsheet said that some multimodal learners try to be annoying by asking people they are working with to use a different mode than what they are comfortable with.  I use to do this all of the time to my brother just to annoy him.  My brother likes to explain things by speaking, I use to always make him write directions instead.  The helpsheet also said that multimodal learners usually are not comfortable with using only one strategy.  This definitely describes me.  When I study I like to type out my notes, then read them aloud.  This is what I have learned by taking the VARK inventory. 

A3.5: Reflection on Learning Highlights

Think about your experience and history as a learner.  What story can you tell?  Write about your disconnections with learning (the things that cause you grief, create barriers, impede your progress as a learner).  Then, write about the tensions and excitements associated with learning.  Use specific examples when possible to illustrate your story.

     I love to learn and I always have.  There are so many stories to tell about my experiences as a learner, but what stands out the most are recent experiences.  I love a challenge because I feel like I learn more about the subject that I am challenged by and I learn more about myself.  One project that I liked was the group project that we did in voice.  While doing this project, I learned more about Power Point and hemorrhagic vocal fold polyps.  As a group we researched questions about hemorrhagic polyps and answered them.  We created a Power Point Presentation and presented our findings to our professor and peers.  I feel like I learned so much from this project.  Another project that had an impact in my learning was my neuro project.  I researched Wernicke’s Aphasia and wrote out a case history of the patient.  I also wrote out how I informally tested the pretend client and the responses that were given.  From my results I determined the diagnosis and made suggestions for the client. 

   One thing that causes me grief is unclear directions.  I always get frustrated over this.  I probably shouldn’t because I always figure out what was meant but it is my pet peeve.  I also become aggrevated when I can’t pinpoint the relevance to an assignment.  I know there is a point but I just don’t get it.  It makes me wonder why I have to do it but I know somewhere down the line it will all make sense.

     What excites me about learning is the different ways I am able to learn.  When I listen to a professor lecture I soak in the information like a sponge.  I always find when I study I already know the information.  I feel like I am an auditory and visual learner.  Sometimes when I take a test and I am stumped by a question I can go back in my mind and visualize what I read in my notes.  To me this is awesome.

     As previously stated I love to learn.  I learn something new everyday, it may be through an assignment or just living my life.  For example, this weekend I am learning to use my new smartphone and how to can vegetables.  I plan on being a lifelong learner.  The world is and exciting place to live today because there is so much to learn in life and there is so much information available at the click of the button.  Everyone should feel privileged that we have an ample amount of things to learn about and will continue to grow as a society through research and technological advances.