Review the inquiry process diagram, attached. Think about how your inquiry process has changed since the beginning of the semester, and how it's similar to or different from this diagram.
Here's an example of somebody's unique inquiry process. As you can see, it's a bit more complex than the one in the diagram. Your own process might look more like this one, or more like the diagram we reviewed above.
For your final assignment in this course you will reflect on the process through which you conduct research and write an academic essay. Based on your reflections, you will create a detailed flow chart of your inquiry process, similar to the one above. Describe all the steps you go through -- and your reasoning behind them -- from the moment you receive a new assignment to the time you submit the final draft.
You may use an online flow chart application such as bubbl.us and submit the flowchart as an image, or you may use paper and bring it to class in person (or scan it and send it as an email attachment for an online class).
Your flowchart should be accompanied by a 2-3 page reflective essay describing your current inquiry process, whether (and how) it has changed since the beginning of the semester, and what you have learned about research in the past four months. The reflective essay should describe and expand upon the information provided in your flow chart.
Please consider sharing your students' work with Rachel Santose (santoser@canton.edu) for assessment purposes.
This week you will write a 700 word reflective essay on how you've grown as a researcher this semester. While answering the following questions, you should be as specific as possible, referring to the particular research that best demonstrates how you've grown as a researcher.
How has your conception of research changed over the course of the semester?
Discuss your evolving sense of yourself as a researcher, as represented in your writing. What kinds of research can you do that you couldn't at the beginning of the semester? How is that represented in your writing? What kinds of decisions do you make as a researcher?
Name at least four research strategies you find most useful and why. Which of these strategies will you apply in future research projects?
What next steps will you take as a researcher? How do you see yourself developing as a researcher and writer?
Please consider sharing your students' work with Rachel Santose (santoser@canton.edu) for assessment purposes.