The past week has left me with several topics worthy of journal discussion. As I completed the assignments in my normal fashion (easy ones first, more involved ones later), my thinking was altered in a few ways. First of all, I realized that even though there are numerous protocols used for website evaluation, this process is still a rather subjective one. For instance, an informational site may fail to meet specific criteria for one evaluation, while surpassing the criteria for another. So, ultimately, the researcher/student must use their personal judgment when making decisions about the overall qualifications/accuracy of a website. Of course, it’s important that the major areas of content appropriateness, author credibility, and currency of the site be carefully considered. Yet, I feel that an informed researcher should, ultimately, decide on his/her own whether or not a site is appropriate to use in researching instead of relying solely upon the criteria created by others (even if these are experts). When I completed the assignment that required me to chose a website and use the Web Page Evaluation Worksheet created by Dr. Nancy Everhart, I carefully examined the website using the given criteria and awarded points accordingly. I didn’t think there was any way that the site I evaluated would not receive an excellent or good rating, but it ended up being rated average. I guess that’s why I brought up my last point. I was really surprised and this caused me to think about the criteria in a little more detail. Here’s an example…in the Experience section of this evaluation, one of the criteria states, “The page’s presentation is eye-catching.” I mean, this is completely subjective because each individual who views the page may possess a different mental definition of what is “eye-catching.” Consequently, the many criteria similar to this one make the evaluation form geared more toward the reader’s personal opinions on subjective matters, rather than on criteria that could be concluded concretely (like if the site has the date of the last revision posted or if the site contains sounds, graphics, videos). While I am certainly not asserting that these evaluation forms aren’t helpful, I simply distrust the exactness of the rating and scoring systems. OK, enough about that…(really, Erin).

This week I was able to truly embark on the research process for my MRP. As a result of this, I’ve become even more excited about my topic. I love it because it deals with language learning (a favorite topic of mine) and also with different E.S.L. therapy options (these will be useful to have as a future clinician). The only downfall is that I am so interested that I become tempted to read through ALL of the information I find about my topic. My attention is then diverted because I start reading these articles while I’m in the processes of working on an assignment. Before I know it, I’ve forgotten about what I’m really suppose to be doing and a lot of time has been lost (I would never say “wasted” because I am learning from reading this information). My new goal is to stay focused when doing assignments that involve researching and maybe start sending the articles I’m tempted to read right then to my email. The project prospectus assignment definitely required the most time and energy because I had to begin figuring out what direction I wanted my research to take. Genre and voice selection was not as difficult for me as was determination of a rationale for these groups. Of course, I am not yet satisfied with my decisions yet, so I’m sure they’ll be ever-changing until I really start to create the genres. I am glad that I put a great deal of thought into this assignment because now, I’ve thought of some really interesting ideas for my project. Even though this prospectus is subject to change, it at least gives me a starting point for where to begin putting together the MRP.

Lastly, I wanted to address something that was brought up during our online discussion on Wednesday. Prior to class, I was nervous about my topic because the research articles I found failed to “directly” address my topic (working on ESL in speech therapy). However, my anxieties were alleviated when I found out that it was not necessary to use research articles that deal directly with the topic as long as I can apply these findings TO my topic. Although it would be easier and more direct to find information directly addressing my topic, using research that may seem slightly unrelated will allow me to answer my essential question in a more creative and thoughtful manner. Of course, I will have to support my conclusions and ideas with legitimate sources, but this way, I won’t have to stress about each source possessing a direct connection to my topic. I think I gained a better understanding of this project’s purpose after I went home and continued to think through what I was told in class that day. It’s funny how a single comment can be stated, meander around in my thoughts a while, and then later contribute to me perceiving something more clearly. I guess that’s all for this week…I’m very excited about having a little breather next week from the multitude of weekly assignments we usually must complete. I definitely need this time to catch myself up and to complete more research. My quote of the week shows the importance of supporting and encouraging the new ideas and questions of others, even if, personally, we may not see or agree with the logic behind them.

“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.”
--Charles Brower