Self Assessment - Research Writing Survey Post
Post 1 Self Assessment Researched Writing Survey
1. When you are assigned a research paper in a course, do you welcome it as an opportunity to learn, or do you see it as a burden or an unwelcome task? Most of the time I see writing a research paper as an opportunity to learn about something in a deeper way. There were occasions in a class about policy where I was concerned that the material would be boring. Surprisingly, I found that connecting the information on policy with people and how that challenged quality of life, made a difference in the way I embraced the writing task.
2. How Confident are you in our ability to use supporting material effectively to strengthen your ideas in a paper? I'm somewhat confident in using supporting material effectively but feel like I still have room to grow in this area. I feel like using supportive sources "expands my lens" which I may view a topic but communicating the ideas and connecting them throughout the paper may be challenging.
3. How confident are you in your ability to paraphrase an idea for use in a research paper? I am more confident about paraphrasing ideas in papers as I have had to do this fairly often. As a therapist I practice "active listening" and often paraphrase or "parrot" back what I think the patient or client has said. This may be why it seems to be fairly easy or comfortable when I am writing.
4. How much formal training have you had regarding plagiarism and how to avoid it? I have had some training about plagiarism but I would not consider it formal. After looking over two of my books for current courses, I am comforted to know that I will have more formal training this semester.
5. In writing a research paper, how easy have you found it to incorporate sources that conflict with your central argument or idea? I have found incorporating conflicting sources somewhat challenging only because I either have not written a paper that I did not find a variety of supporting material or I have had a topic that made it difficult to find conflicting material. As I have more opportunities to write, I will grow in this area.
6. How confident are you that you know the rules for using sources well enough to avoid unintentional plagiarism? I am learning about this subject on a daily basis but I would have to say I am in a neutral place at the present. I feel somewhat confident but that is what is concerning in an area where the "unintentional" can be devastating. This is an area where confidence should be at the highest level. I am not there yet but on my way!
Cybele,
ReplyDeleteI look at it this way, I feel minimally competent but I think that if I keep investigating, writing and researching, I will make mistakes and learn from them. It is going to happen. The challenge for me is to not get discouraged but keep pressing forward and learning from the challenges. It will be encouraging to me to see where we are in four months with our comfort in writing research. I know we will learn some new and powerful information that will aid this process we are in.
Shari :-)
Hi Shari,
ReplyDeleteIn the readings I noticed that Harris encourages writers not to be deterred when encountering conflict or opposing arguments during our research processes. That was encouraging because it clarified that everything will not all be supportive (I noticed that there will be an entire chapter that will address how to adequately add those conflicting statements into our writing and use it as a platform to address and give explanation to and for). You definitely seem to have a handle on that aspect.
I agree with you in terms of wondering what is the meaning of "formal" training as it relates to plagiarism (I am not sure there are courses dedicated specifically to plagiarism as opposed to all classes seeming to incorporate expectations regarding the avoidance of plagiarism within the introduction portion of the class). I think this class will be very informative overall as you have mentioned above and I am a bit excited to learn what is needed for the dissertation (and Dr. Reeves seems to be breaking it down quite comfortably).
Talk to you soon,
Niki
Shari,
ReplyDeleteI have never thought of the skill of active listening as a tool for paraphrasing but that is exactly what it is. I will be paying more attention to how I respond to my teachers and the lessons I can take from that and apply to my writing.
I think we all have some learning to do in using sources effectively, whether it is showing both sides of the issue, or the unintentional plagiarism. There is always something to learn!
Keri
Shari, great job on your blog and your first blog post! I love your blog user name; so clever! :) I am glad you feel fairly confident in your ability to write and avoid plagiarism. I would imagine anyone would be anxious about unintentional plagiarism, but rest assured, if you remember to paraphrase and site you will be intentionally avoiding it! With regard to integrating conflicting sources, this is something we will work on this semester!
ReplyDelete