class 13 IE research methods

Towards developing our sense of college as an integrated learning experience (IE), the goal of this assignment to describe and reflect on research methods you’ve learned in your college courses that were particularly effective and/or meaningful.  And to consider ways they may be useful and relevant to the praxis issues we’re studying.

Review and describe two courses that involved a research process: (1) in your major (Communication) and (1) in your wider studies.  This means you will write about two courses.   Here’s some guiding prompts:

  • What were the courses, what are some takeaways?
  • Describe and assess the research projects?  
    • Objectives
    • Methods
    • What, if any, theories were applied?
    • Outcomes, some takeaways
    • How did it work?  What did you get from the experience?
  • In what ways, if any, might these be useful for the individual and group topics of study we’re addressing in this class?
  • In what ways, if any, does any of this experience relate (or not) to the focus of this course?

Share your responses to the above prompts in two ways:  short report and photo image.

  1.  Maximum two page, single-spaced report, posted on your rolling Google doc.
    • Start with a strong opening sentence.
    • Do you best to write a report that is engaging and readable;  think of the project as telling a story:  what’s the drama?  Any interesting turns, obstacles, discoveries along the way?  Outcomes? 
  2.  One photo that somehow speaks to some takeaway about which you wrote.  JUST ONE — not for both research experiences.   
    • The photo should represent some meaning from the research you describe, e.g. a research paper on youth uses of social media could be a photo you take of youth using social media;  it could be a self-portrait, a shot of others, what else?
    • Video should be brief — 15-30 seconds or so.
    • Write a brief caption – could be a phrase from what you’ve written above, or something else.
    • Post with above report.   If video, you might search for ways to embed in a Google doc.  Otherwise, post a link to wherever it’s stored. 

POST TO YOUR GOOGLE DOC.  INCLUDE ASSIGNMENT DATE AND TITLE AT TOP.  Send link to instructor:  jsaxe@comm.umass.edu