Blog 11 (11/7/13)

Since college, I have enjoyed reading research. Initially, I didn't question research methods or findings, but the longer I taught, the more I began to question findings in educational research, which led me to question methods. I realize qualitative research isn't the only kind of research, but I feel like I'm beginning to understand some of the theories and methodologies within this field. Even though I don't quite understand it all yet, I'm starting to see how theories and methodologies are applied to research, how the research should be conducted, and what conclusions can be drawn. It's interesting to read articles implementing the techniques I've read about this semester...although I'm now painfully aware that I tend to use the word "interesting" a lot in my blog posts (I didn't intend to seem so neutral to the information presented this semester; it does, however, make sense I would do that because I wasn't sure how to intelligently respond to the information and I didn't want to seem unintelligent; neutral is safe). It's interesting (again, I use the word "interesting") to read articles about CMC in a course that requires blog posts, but it might be more odd not to read articles about CMC in a discourse analysis course that requires blog posts. Although there is still so much I don't understand (novice/disclaimer alert), I have really enjoyed learning more about qualitative research this semester, and I love that these articles were included in the required readings. The way the articles are written pulls a lot of what we have read about together for me...they also make me incredibly paranoid about what they are revealing about me. I feel exposed as a student who tries to play it safe via neutral commentary and disclaimers. I'm sure I was aware to some extent I was doing that, but I certainly did not want others to be aware of it because it exposes my insecurities, which, illogical as it may be, makes me feel more vulnerable to criticism.