I wish my research in my classes were all tied together in some real way but they are not.
I can't say, and this is no affront to Prof. Miller, GRAD: 5124 has been helpful to me in any way whatsoever. In fact, it has eaten up a number of Sunday night hours doing things I've already done on my own but in a more prescribed way that makes me either have to go back to the articles I've found of the course of the week and log them into some sheet, or think of article headings to type into a database that I will never help me, nor be read, as it is a matter of budgeting my time regarding the fact that I'm doing "research" when I need to be writing a paper due on Monday or Tuesday.
Topics I wish were covered in the first weeks are "Why are we taking this class?" and "Is there a way to prove proficiency in research so as to place out of GRAD: 5124?" I mean this seriously. On a side note: Prof. Miller has done an excellent job in rehashing all the stuff I've learned and accumulated re:research, so I applaud her in her endeavor to teach this class. However, what I take issue with is the bureaucratic mass-sanctioning of it to all incoming GTA's. It is just silly if we've made it this far and did not know how to use databases, or library resources. For me, a person whom knows how shitty the outside world is and who is trying to be as efficient and through in taking advantage of his funding and opportunity, GRAD: 5124 is a pain in my side because I've literally done these things over and over again since I was in undergrad. This class just teaches me how, in exercise, to spend as little time as possible doing busy work. Part of the problem is that I see plenty of stuff I could be learning about but am not (keep reading...).
Perhaps, to make a constructive criticism, I'd like to know how Prof. Miller made her instructional screen-casts in the first week (now that is interesting!). Or how to set up and maintain a blog on Blogger (though I already know how to do this, it might be helpful for others). Another topic I'd wish we explore: potential uses of scholar. Or putting together a course pack. Or even a walk-through of classroom technologies in the buildings we'd be teaching in. Or how to use quantitative statistical models in our research from the stats place on campus (I forget the name). Or an overview of data visualization programs and how best to use them / incorporate them into our research papers. Better yet: how to apply to conferences, or conference paper submission guidelines 101. Or getting funding to do research.
Kevin is right: it is easy to be student in the digital age. But by ignoring the more pressing concerns and instead addressing through busywork and module system, Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, etc.., the skills we were virtually born with, we are compromising the integrity of our easy by being lazy an having admin's lay down some arbitrary, though lawsuit and "unfair advantage" preventing, required classwork. Hell, MLA Bibliography, JSTOR, Lexus-Nexus, Project MUSE, RAND public documents, declassified government documents, pamphlets, memos, letters, websites, blogs---these have been stand-by research methods for years! And the persistant problems of what to trust still exists and will always exist, like Cassandra aptly stated.
I'm sorry if anyone is offended. Public outcries on blogs, especially ones linked to our dept., are usually and for good reason frowned upon. But jeepers, can we learn something applicable? Something I don't know, that I'd be thrilled to know is out there but have yet to confirm its existence?
GRAD: 5124 has not, I'm sorry to say, offered me much outside of a constant nagging persistence to haphazardly check in and submit to prescriptive modules.
Hear, hear!
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