Discovery Research Log

This page is will be updated as we progress through the semester.

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:

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

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!).

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.

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.

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.

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."

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

What Should Each Entry Include?

To download the Discovery Log template, go to our Blackboard.

What is your research question(s)?
Date and time spent for each of your research sessions
Keywords you use for each search; how you determined them.
Tools: databases, search engines, reference from other source, etc.
List author, title, and the link to the source for each result you consulted / read / or determined as useful
Notes for each source, recording what you thought was useful / interesting; including quotes, paraphrases, data, etc. that contributes to your learning.
For each research session, a reflective summary of what you did, how it contributed to your learning about your issue, and what you plan to do in your next research session. (Include information about how / why you added research questions or changed them; about what new search terms you will try or did try, and why; about how you might use the information you have found or how it adds to your knowledge about your issue (Anything new? How does it relate to what else you are learning? etc.) In addition / finally, for each of these reflective summaries, explain / explore how the work you did relates to / connects with / illustrates one or more of the 6 Information Literacy concepts (At least the ones we have read so far). You may use the Phrasebank in order to reflect on your session!

Making Connections...

As you research, read, and learn about your focus, you will begin to identify its parts, and the connections among the parts. In addition, as you identify and read more sources, you'll begin to recognize how they relate to one another, as if they were in conversation-agreeing, expanding, disagreeing, offering different perspectives, etc.
Regularly, as you engage in more research, you will be looking at this bigger picture and writing about these connections or developing a mind map or a visual concept map. In other words, you will be developing a fuller understanding of your focus, identifying its scope, its parts, and their connections.

Entries

(click on the date to access the class plan when we started that entry)

Discovery Log #1 (due 1/20)

Begin researching your issue/topic based on your 1/16 Warm Up. Do some general research through Google. Use Wikipedia?? Be sure to create your own question(s) to guide your research.

Discovery Log #2 (due 1/27)

Write an informal letter to classmates and myself. In that letter, tell us what you have decided to research to learn more about this semester. What one (or two) question(s), issue(s), concern(s), problem(s), topic(s), etc. do you want to learn more about this semester? What do you want to research more so you become better informed? Ideally this will be some fairly general or big topic, etc. Nothing is restricted.

Discovery Log #3 (due 2/3)

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. You should also be keeping track of which notes come from which sources.

Discovery Log #4 (due 2/10)

Based on the Warm Up from 2/4, use the questions your peers provided to guide this research entry. For 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!

Discovery Log #5 (due 2/17)

For this week's entry, focus on figuring out what you are wanting to show or do with the issue you have been researching. Pick an idea that is interesting to you and that you could possibly turn into an argument. Think about the so-what of your issue. Who care's? What is something you could add to the conversation? (Think about the FIL concept of Scholarship as a Conversation)

Discovery Log #6 (due 2/24)

For this week's entry, find a way or ways change is effected in your research focus. How does change occur and how does it impact the research focus? (This might take some thought on your part but please ask me if you are not sure of what I mean...) Your research question should be evolving. Be sure to use the template and find more than one source!

Discovery Log #7 (due 3/4)

Use a source from a previous Discovery Log entry.
Find 2-3 sources from that source by following the conversation. Using the Works Cited, Reference page, etc. find sources that you can use for your next DL.
Once you have found those sources, take notes for each source. How do you see the conversation taking place?

Discovery Log #8 (due 3/10)

Use the source you found for our 3/6 library visit.
Find 2-3 sources from that source by following the conversation. Using the Works Cited, Reference page, etc. find sources that you can use for your this DL.
Once you have found those sources, take notes for each source. How do you see the conversation taking place?

Discovery Log #9 (due 3/24)

Thinking about our Intersections: Situations and Genres: for this entry, focus on researching audiences and the types of genres they are exposed to.

Try to focus on 2 types of audiences. Do not be general and say Americans. Pinpoint specific groups you want to target. Why do you want to target them? What types of writing are they exposed to?
- Why did you pick these audience(s)? How would they benefit from your advocacy?
- If the information you want to provide to your audiences is already something they are exposed to/know, then your purpose is meaningless. Also, are you aware of the conversation surrounding your topic? Do you understand more than just your side/point of view?
Evaluating Online Sources

Discovery Log #10 (due 3/31)

Thinking about our Integrated Assignment (3rd Genre), as a group pick a Primary Source to use. Take substantial notes on the primary source!!
Work on finding information you need for Genre #1.

Discovery Log #11 (due 4/7)

Thinking about our Integrated Assignment (3rd Genre), work on finding the 2-3 secondary sources. One should be your Foner textbook.

Discovery Log #12 (due 4/14)

Use this week's entry to do look at least 2 of the videos below. These are helpful on how to address the IA presentation. Use the template.

Discovery Log #13 (due 4/28)

This week's entry will consist of 2 parts. Think of it as a way of catching up on research from last week. Be sure to use the DL template.

Part A. Find a podcast episode to find information you need for the Intersections project. Perhaps try to use one of the episodes or podcasts I recommended on Monday's class plan. Remember, even though it may not be directly link to your topic, you can find other inspiration and transfer what you learn to the genres you create.

Part B.Find information for any final you are going to take. Whether you are using the textbook for the course, or finding information online, think of what information you can find to help you prepare. This should be information you do not have or already know...

Triad M Writing and Rhetoric

Spring 2019