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Discovery Research Log

One of our course learning outcomes (#4) focuses on the kinds of research you will do most often in most academic courses. We say that students' portfolios will:

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"Demonstrate their ability to locate, read, evaluate, select, and use (integrate) effectively information from appropriate sources with their own ideas."

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However, a larger (and perhaps more important) goal of this course and of a college education, is to change (or expand) the ways you think of "research." Instead of your being a better "researcher," we want you to be more "information literate." We want you to begin to recognize that "research" is a way to learn, to become well-informed --about a topic, an issue, a concern, a problem that may be of interest to you, relevant for you (or not!).

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You already know from other experiences in your life that being well informed helps you make better choices, helps you make important decisions. You may also have experiences in which knowing more, being well informed or better informed, has made you a better employee, employer, friend, spouse, family member, organization member, and / or citizen.

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As information (and knowledge) expands exponentially and is available in unprecedented quantities and various kinds of quality, being able to "learn" more (and trust what you are learning) about anything continues to be more challenging.

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Individuals who are more "information literate" and who know how to continue to develop their information literacy will have more opportunities (and chances) to be successful in life, to be valued and valuable members of the numerous communities in which they participate and to which the contribute--as citizens, family members, organization members, neighbors, professionals, etc.

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This "Research to Learn" sequence in ENGL 1302  is meant to help you achieve not only the course outcome but also to support this larger (often unspoken) goal of helping you become more "information literate," changing how you think about, do, and use "research."

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This sequence includes Discovery Log entries as the primary "ongoing" activities/assignments​.

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Entries


Discovery Log #1 (due 9/8)

  • Focus on who you are and/or where you come from. In the simplest form, research your ancestry! Use this as an opportunity to find out more about your ancestry and your identities. 

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Discovery Log #2 (due 9.22)

  • Identify a "personal trouble" that has impacted your personal biography or your family. Describe this.

  • Next, connect that to a "public issue."

    • For example, my father didn't want to admit, or even like, that I knew Spanish. I learned Spanish from my mother and sisters. This connects to a public issue of my father growing up in the United States in a time when Spanish speakers were not accepted. My dad was born in 1931 and he experienced severe racism back in the gap. ​

    • Example: depression and funding for mental health services

    • Example: orphans and the failure of the family institution

  • Research those public issues! 

    • ​Use the databases and tools introduced to you to do some research...

    • For the databases and tools, go to the TAMUCC library website>Research Guides>Sociology>Sociology Research Guide

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Discovery Log #3 (due 9.29)

Spend the rest of class working on your Discovery Log based on the warm up you worked on today. 

  • You can find any sources you like! 

  • Be sure that you are interested in what you are researching! If you aren't then I don't want to see it...

  • Think sociologically....there are so many troubles that can be linked to sociology. See what I did there?  (hint: you all know this because you just did an exam and a major assignment practicing this!)

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Discovery Log #4 (due 10. 20)

  • Continuing what you started for DL #3: 

    • Based on the Warm Up from 10.17, use the questions/comments your peers provided to help guide this research entry.

    • For at least one of the sources you find, look for a podcast episode. If you need help on how to find a podcast episode, let me know!​

    • Basically:

      • Continue researching your topic. You want to think if this is a good time to change key words and phrases or use the same ones.

    • For another source, find an Op Ed piece which aligns w​​ith the issue you are researching...

 

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Discovery Log #5 (due 10.27)

  • Find a source (based on what you are researching for Genre #2-refer to the Argumentative Guide found on the Genre #2 button)

  1. ​Background ​

  2. Good Reasons & Evidence that Supports these Reasons

  3. Anticipate Objections and Rebut Them

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Discovery Log #6 (due 11.3 )

  • Find sources you are lacking to complete Genre #2: Op-Ed!

    • Do you need more sources for the rebuttal or the evidence? How about the background?​

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Discovery Log #7 (due 11.10)

For this entry, continue researching your issue from Genre #2. The FYS is our 3rd genre, so that means research is still needed. Think of what you need to present...

  • I want you to find a quote in one of your sources, then I want you to find out if you can find the original source, so that you can read this quote in context. Once you track down the original source, read it. At the very least read a little before and a little after the location in which you find the quote. See what you can learn from tracking down sources in this manner. 

  • Once you have done this, repeat this process with a different source. 

  • In essence, your job is to track the conversation happening between these sources of information, and to gauge how each source is either building on previous work, arguing against previous work, or simply raising new questions. Your job is to track how each "scholar" or "researcher" is using another persons work. What is the conversation these two are having.  

  • Document these findings in your research journal as normal; however, take some time to explain this process in the summary section of your journal and share how and what you have learned from this process both about conducting research (finding information) and about your particular research area. 

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Discovery Log #8 (due 11.17 )

  • For this entry, work on revising other research you have done for Genre #2 and FYS. This is meant to be helpful! 

    • Are there sources which you did not get to explore fully? ​

    • What more could you look into? 

    • Which sources did you just "look" at for the sake of being done with the log but you think might be helpful?

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Discovery Log #9 (due )

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Discovery Log #10 (due )

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Discovery Log #11 (due)

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Discovery Log #12 (due )

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Discovery Log #13 (due )

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