Critical Thinking Survey

This survey was about reflecting on all the things we have been learning to do when doing a research paper. It had questions about what we think makes for a credible source. Which I gave the answer to as going through the school database and reading other sources as well and comparing information. It also asked questions about how do I know what information is relevant to my paper and not relevant. For me it is about re-reading the paper and making sure the information not only flows with the paragraph it is in, but also that it helps prove the point of my paper and its end goal. The survey was very much based on the things we have been learning this semester about writing a research paper and breaking it down into questions. I thought the survey was good, because it made me reflect on what I had learned.

Research Talk

I have done two interviews and the research for MP 2. I still need to do genre analysis and complying an outline. My main concern is time, but that will be on me as I tend to procrastinate. I just have a lot of work recently and I am worried about getting overwhelmed and stressing and not writing the best paper I can. I am proud that I have already gotten two of my interviews done and I am very comfortable with the people I interviewed. If I come across an issue while writing my paper I know I can email Emily and she will help me figure out things to talk about of fix. I plan to start my paper this Friday hopefully and working on it all day Sunday as well. I am hoping that my rough draft is done very well in order for me to have very little to fix on the final. I have planed a whole schedule that includes this work along with all of my other classes and I am very hopeful that I will be able to stick to it.

Interview Transcript

Interview with Emily

How long have you been a part of Rebelthon?

  • This is my second year. 

What made you want to become a part of Rebelthon? 

  •  I did my undergrad at Illinois State and we didn’t have Dance Marathon, but I was involved with other philanthropic events such as the Make-a-Wish Foundation. I wanted to be a part of something that gave back to the community, so I thought the Rebelthon job description was perfect for me. 

What sources of communication do you use to communicate?

  • We use groupme. WE have a groupme with our board of directors. Then a groupme of everyone in leadership regardless of what position they hold. We have meeting minutes that are typed up and emailed at the end of each board meeting. We do text a decent amount between myself and the board of exec. 

What is the biggest reward you have gotten from being a part of Rebelthon?

  • Thats a good question. What I have mentioned before just getting to see things full circle and its been really exciting too that I have held this role now for both years of my masters program. I really feel like I have gotten to know the students and gotten to witness them grow as leaders and just as individuals themselves. Then the dance marathon itself is just months of work leading up to it and that is just really rewarding to be a part of that and see it come to life. 

What is a multimodal I could put together to present to you about Rebelthon that helps you guys with your communication needs?

  • Compose some kind of newsletter or brochure kinda thing. Explain the concept of Rebelthon and what it is about. Talk about Rebelthon and explain the concept of Dance Marathon. And talk about how Rebelthon has many means of communication and this kinda streamlines things and puts all the information in one place.

Seth Kahn reading journal

Copy + Paste this template into a different document (do not try to type directly on it). Then fill it out and post to your blog. 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. 

Khan,Seth. “Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol 2, 2011, 175-192.

Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words This article begins by explaining what ethnographic writing is and how it is a long writing process that you work on continuously. To be doing an ethnographic study you are studying the culture of one group and interacting with the culture things that take place. This article also lists the steps you will take when writing such a lengthy paper and what all goes into each step. One cool thing about this writing style is you are learning directly instead of looking through a window and analyzing it. You will also learn from others experiences as well through interviews and their emotions while interacting in their environment while you are there. 
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “ethnography really highlights and emphasizes human relationships: between participants and researchers; between writers and readers of ethnographic narratives/ reports; between students and teachers in classrooms”(176).

“The term most synonymous with ethnography is participant-observation research”(176).

“ ethnographers: observe, participate, interact, analyze, reflect, write, rethink, and describe cultures, their members, and our own involvements with them”(177).

How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

This reading connects to many readings of this semester because all of or most of are reading journals are preparing us to write for our major projects this semester and giving us tips and new ways to write. 
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. How will you use the tips given in this article to help you on your major project and if this article helped you get a better understanding of what the major project is? 

Letter to the Reader

I plan for my research essay to give my readers a better understanding of what Rebelthon is and hope to encourage them to take part in Rebelthon. I think the readers will be people who are already apart of Rebethon and hopefully Ole Miss students who are not apart of Rebelthon will read as well. I really want the effect of my paper to either be apart of Rebelthon or support people who are in Rebelthon by donating. My process for working on this essay is to keep on track and to not procrastinate. If I do this I will no be so stressed and I can make it the best paper it needs to be. I made a timeline that I am trying to follow in order to keep on track. I took three day to write my draft so it did not seem so rushed, which was beneficial. I was able to take a break and come back and see mistakes that I might not have if I did it all in one day. I made changes to my final draft from things my peer reviews said. I made this decision by re-reading what they told me to fix and asking myself was that beneficial in my paper or not. The class reading journals helped me cause I was able to go back and pick the right article to compare to Johns article on discourse communities. 

Critical Thinking Reflection 1

I decided what was most important for the draft by looking at the examples given to us. From there I got an understanding on what I need to do and while reading through my sources I picked out details that either helped me better understand the topic or connected to another source. I decided to leave out the whole sentence from one of my quotes because it was unnecessary and would have made the essay a lot wordier. My steps were to first look at the examples and decide what organization I wanted to research. Then I started reading about Rebelthon and looked at their website and social media. I then reread Johns article and then was able in my research to connect Rebelthon to being a discourse community. I then skimmed through the articles we have read before and came across Kain and Warddler’s article and was able to make a connection with Johns. I brought the consumptions of Rebelthon being a fundraiser and campaign for children’s hospitals and to check this I did research on Rebelthon through their website. I tried to connect all my research back to each other while making it sensible. The information I still need is really the interviews and what it means to the people to be a part of Rebelthon.

Reading Journal Dana Driscroll

Reading Journal

 

Copy + Paste this template into a different document (do not try to type directly on it). Then fill it out and post to your blog. 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. 

Driscoll, Dana L. “Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol 2, 2011, 153-174.

Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words Research takes place in all fields of work in order to figure out something. The three ways of conducting research in a writing class is through observations, interviews, and surveys. Considering research ethics is a big part of conducting research as well. To start the primary research part you have to plan and do background research. After spending time planning and doing background research you  can begin coming up with questions to ask for your primary research. You make observations about certain things and that can also be primary research. When beginning interviews you need to figure out what your end goal is trying to prove in order to come up with good interview or survey questions. 
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “Primary research, the focus of this essay, is research that is collected firsthand rather than found in a book, database, or journal”(154).

“Observations. Observing and measuring the world around you, including observations of people and other measurable events”(154).

“Interviews. Asking participants questions in a one-on-one or small group setting”(154).

“deductive reasoning, where researchers start with a hypothesis or general conclusion and then collect specific data to support or refute their hypothesis”(158).

How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

This reading connects to most of the readings we have done so far this semester because all the readings are preparing us for the major projects we will write this semester. 
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. How will you use the information from this article when you start you primary research for the next major project?

Warrington, Kovalyova, King

Reading Journal

 

Copy + Paste this template into a different document (do not try to type directly on it). Then fill it out and post to your blog. 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. 

Kate Warrington, Natasha Kovalyova, and Cindy King. “Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting a Well-Informed Argument.”Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol. 3, 2020,189-203.

Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words This article talks about who your audience is while writing and remembering your audience. Also as a reader to think about who is reading and ask if  they are credible or not. To improve your credibility with your writing you need to make a good argument and present both sides. The authors give you strategies to consider while finding sources and how you should critically think while reading these sources. All strong arguments need support to back their argument up. I liked this article very much and I like how they used animal research as their example. This was an easy read  which was nice. 
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “ One common mistake writers make is to represent only one side of an argument, which could make the audience believe that the author is either not knowledgeable about other possible arguments or not interested in these arguments.”(191).

“ credibility is not an innate quality. Credibility is established.”(194).

How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

This relates to DasBenders article because both talk about how important it is to use critical thinking while reading a paper to establish credibility. 
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. What are some of the strategies you will take from this article and use in your next paper?

 

Giles Reflective Writing

Reading Journal

 

Copy + Paste this template into a different document (do not try to type directly on it). Then fill it out and post to your blog. 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. 

Giles, Sandra. “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol. 1, 2010, 191-204.

Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words This article was a very interesting read, but did not grab my attention as much as some other readings. Giles talks about reflection writing and what it means to reflect while writing. She says reflective writing kind of can feel like a performance. She also says you have to realize your intentions on writing this essay in order to be able to reflect. She points out that reflective writing helps you figure out your intentions. She gives her example on how she gets her students to become reflective writers. She also says you want to be specific in your writing and not vague. 
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “Reflection” and “reflective writing” are umbrella terms that refer to any activity that asks you to think about your own thinking.”(Giles 191).

“Intentions—a sense of audience and purpose and of what the writer wants the essay to do.”(Giles 198)

How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

This relates to DasBenders article because both show two different ways of how to think about writing but from both you grow as a writer. 
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. What are some questions you can ask yourself while writing that will help you figure out your intention?

 

Analyzing Two diffrent essays

The essay titled “You Better Think Before You Spit” had many stong point and was an easy read. The author wrote the essay in such a way that the order was easy to follow. One weak point of this essay was they never gave a direct quote from the person they interviewed. I think this element would have made the writing even more credible. The way the author explained the different genres they encounter everyday due to the poetry club was very well done. The paper was broken down into explaining the club and then the author gave the interview they took.From there the author broke down the three different genres they encounter and explained how each one was different. The writer seemed to share a lot of passion for this poetry group and explained it very well.There was no other essay to compare it to though because all four essays were the same. The sources this author used were:“Navigating Genres,” personal interview from Sean Glatch,“Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity,” and Project: Spit facebook page.