In general, I think this blog helps me keep track of my writing progress and manage my time better. Since blog posts are due every week, I need to force myself to work on the essay from time to time, in order to publish more and receive comments. Otherwise, I might end up having to rush during the week before it is due. When I was wondering whether my tentative thesis is clear and specific enough, I received useful comments through this blog.
There were no big problem with the blog activity. However, even though I usually received useful comments from classmates, sometimes I didn't. There were comments that were a bit too brief and I could not make any specific changes on my draft.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Post#9 -- 2-3 unsatisfying aspects
One of the aspects concerning my essay that I'm unsatisfied with is the lost of focus. Since there're too many sources and opinions that are related to my topic, it is rather tempting to include everything that I've found out. For some of the paragraphs, especially the conclusion, I may have included some unneccessary points which are not very much related to the topic sentence. I think one of the ways to deal with it is to choose my sources more carefully by evaluating their usefulness in my essay. On the other hand, instead of trying to cover as many points of view as possible, I should focus on 1-2 of them and spend more efforts on analyzing those specific opinions.
Another part that I'm unhappy with is the choice of words. I tried to have more variations in word choice but I kept using the same sets of words, such as 'implementation', 'opinions', 'state', etc. I think the only way to solve this is to look over the thesaurus and try to learn other new words.
For the part about instructors' opinions, I think I can include the views of more people, instead of just mentioning that of 2 professors. By including the points of view of more people, a more comprehensive picture can be drawn. Due to limited time, I only wrote about the opinion of 1 person for each stance (for & against). All I can do now is to put more focus on their individual stance and analyze each of them objectively, such that the analysis can compensate the lack of perspectives.
Another part that I'm unhappy with is the choice of words. I tried to have more variations in word choice but I kept using the same sets of words, such as 'implementation', 'opinions', 'state', etc. I think the only way to solve this is to look over the thesaurus and try to learn other new words.
For the part about instructors' opinions, I think I can include the views of more people, instead of just mentioning that of 2 professors. By including the points of view of more people, a more comprehensive picture can be drawn. Due to limited time, I only wrote about the opinion of 1 person for each stance (for & against). All I can do now is to put more focus on their individual stance and analyze each of them objectively, such that the analysis can compensate the lack of perspectives.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Post#7 -- one of the body paragraphs
My tentative thesis statement: whether online classroom is really more beneficial than traditional face-to-face teaching in the college environment
In my essay, I'm going to present the opinions from different groups of people who are heavily involved in this issue, namely students, instructors and the leading instutitions who are now implementing online learning (i.e. the Univeresity of Phoenix, Kaplan)
The following is one of the body paragraphs on the instructors' part.
Some instructors are not optimistic about the future of online classrooms. Laurie Fendrich, a professor of Fine Arts at Hofstra University, says in her blog that “those who embrace distance learning as a reasonable substitute for students going to college argue their case in the name of efficiency and productivity…I say to hell with efficiency and productivity if it means any more distance learning than we already have. What's the point of living if we all turn into robots?” She expresses her disagreement with the proponents of online classrooms through forceful rhetorical questions, describing students taking online classes as “robots”, implying that online learning reduces real human-interaction and makes people become unsociable. However, when examining Professor Fendrich’s area of expertise, which is Fine Arts, it is found that there might be possible bias in her comment due to her underlying values as an artist. When learning art, people highly value the actual communication and interaction between the artist and the piece of work. One can barely study art through the computer screen as it weakens any emotional or spiritual sentiment. Thus, similarly, it is not surprising that Professor Fendrich stresses the significance of face-to-face interaction. In online classrooms, students are neither able to see each other nor the instructor in-person. Not being able to have emotional exchange, Professor Fendrich therefore thinks their communication through typed words is mechanical and lacks vitality. These biases may have slight influence on her competence to make judgements on the issue.
The thing that I'm most concerned about this paragraph is that whether I'm on the right track in analyzing the source. For the opinion of Professor Laurie Fendrich, I tried to analyze her background and credibility, examining any possible bias in her comment.
I will continue on the instructors' part in another paragraph, in which I will be mostly talking about the voices opposing Professor Fendrich's comment.
P.S. There's another short paragraph which briefly introduce the main role of instructors before this paragraph.
In my essay, I'm going to present the opinions from different groups of people who are heavily involved in this issue, namely students, instructors and the leading instutitions who are now implementing online learning (i.e. the Univeresity of Phoenix, Kaplan)
The following is one of the body paragraphs on the instructors' part.
Some instructors are not optimistic about the future of online classrooms. Laurie Fendrich, a professor of Fine Arts at Hofstra University, says in her blog that “those who embrace distance learning as a reasonable substitute for students going to college argue their case in the name of efficiency and productivity…I say to hell with efficiency and productivity if it means any more distance learning than we already have. What's the point of living if we all turn into robots?” She expresses her disagreement with the proponents of online classrooms through forceful rhetorical questions, describing students taking online classes as “robots”, implying that online learning reduces real human-interaction and makes people become unsociable. However, when examining Professor Fendrich’s area of expertise, which is Fine Arts, it is found that there might be possible bias in her comment due to her underlying values as an artist. When learning art, people highly value the actual communication and interaction between the artist and the piece of work. One can barely study art through the computer screen as it weakens any emotional or spiritual sentiment. Thus, similarly, it is not surprising that Professor Fendrich stresses the significance of face-to-face interaction. In online classrooms, students are neither able to see each other nor the instructor in-person. Not being able to have emotional exchange, Professor Fendrich therefore thinks their communication through typed words is mechanical and lacks vitality. These biases may have slight influence on her competence to make judgements on the issue.
The thing that I'm most concerned about this paragraph is that whether I'm on the right track in analyzing the source. For the opinion of Professor Laurie Fendrich, I tried to analyze her background and credibility, examining any possible bias in her comment.
I will continue on the instructors' part in another paragraph, in which I will be mostly talking about the voices opposing Professor Fendrich's comment.
P.S. There's another short paragraph which briefly introduce the main role of instructors before this paragraph.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Post#5 -- tentative thesis / introduction paragraph
In summary, through reading some of the popular and scholarly sources about my topic, I learnt that one of the topics that is rather debatable is whether schools should abandon conventional method of teaching and shift the learning platform onto the Internet. In other words, the question is: should e-learning replace traditional face-to-face teaching?
This question can be examined in many ways. For example, their effectiveness on students' academic progresses can be compared through experiments. Another way to find the answer for the question is to survey students, who are affected the most, and collect first hand opinions from them. Views of teachers on the issue of e-learning can also be considered. By summarizing and comparing the above as a whole, we can come up with a conclusion on whether e-learning should replace conventional teaching.
Some scientific studies found that e-learning is not very much superior than conventional teaching. Instead, they are both good at a relatively same level. Thus, an integration of the two should be implemented. On the other hand, some studies showed a significant superiority of e-learning over face-to-face lecture.
Tentative thesis and introduction:
The name of 'college student' always gives people an impression of a youngster with a backpack and bulky textbooks in the hands, hastily jotting down notes during lectures. However, in recent decades, hand-written lecture notes can hardly be found in every student's folder. Instead, one can probably find printed class notes, printed lecture slides and lap-tops. With the widespread of Internet access, the mode of learning of college students also changes. Rather than face-to-face lectures, many of them take web-delievered courses for units. Rather than sit-in tests, they take online mid-term exams. Rather than taking their own notes in class, they simply download the typed version from the e-class platform. All the above demostrate the implementation of e-learning, which means computer-assisted learning. A great number of courses offered by dissimilar departments in college have an online learning platform. Such significant change in learning mode arouses various opinions among students and educators. The main question in mind is whether e-learning should or should not replace traditional face-to-face teaching.
This question can be examined in many ways. For example, their effectiveness on students' academic progresses can be compared through experiments. Another way to find the answer for the question is to survey students, who are affected the most, and collect first hand opinions from them. Views of teachers on the issue of e-learning can also be considered. By summarizing and comparing the above as a whole, we can come up with a conclusion on whether e-learning should replace conventional teaching.
Some scientific studies found that e-learning is not very much superior than conventional teaching. Instead, they are both good at a relatively same level. Thus, an integration of the two should be implemented. On the other hand, some studies showed a significant superiority of e-learning over face-to-face lecture.
Tentative thesis and introduction:
The name of 'college student' always gives people an impression of a youngster with a backpack and bulky textbooks in the hands, hastily jotting down notes during lectures. However, in recent decades, hand-written lecture notes can hardly be found in every student's folder. Instead, one can probably find printed class notes, printed lecture slides and lap-tops. With the widespread of Internet access, the mode of learning of college students also changes. Rather than face-to-face lectures, many of them take web-delievered courses for units. Rather than sit-in tests, they take online mid-term exams. Rather than taking their own notes in class, they simply download the typed version from the e-class platform. All the above demostrate the implementation of e-learning, which means computer-assisted learning. A great number of courses offered by dissimilar departments in college have an online learning platform. Such significant change in learning mode arouses various opinions among students and educators. The main question in mind is whether e-learning should or should not replace traditional face-to-face teaching.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of using exact or similar ideas, words or sentences from another author as one's own work without proper citations. If one hands in the same piece of work for two classes, it is also regarded as plagiarism.
Before I begin my studies here, I think plagiarism only refers to copying/stealing from others' work and inappropriate paraphrasing of the same idea. I did not know that handing in the same piece of work, which is geniunely written by me, for two different classes is also considered as plagiarism. I did not know that paraphrased sentences need to be cited either.
I have learnt about plagiarism in one of my classes last semester when we were going to write our research papers. Since we had to describe 3 experiments from scholarly journals, we had to keep an eye on unintended plagiarism. Sometimes it is hard to rephrase sentences from a journal article as I usually regard the way which the source explains the issue is the best. Due to this, I always check the already-paraphrased sentence twice before moving on to the next point, in order to make sure that I did not unintentionally copy anything while keeping its meaning.
Before I begin my studies here, I think plagiarism only refers to copying/stealing from others' work and inappropriate paraphrasing of the same idea. I did not know that handing in the same piece of work, which is geniunely written by me, for two different classes is also considered as plagiarism. I did not know that paraphrased sentences need to be cited either.
I have learnt about plagiarism in one of my classes last semester when we were going to write our research papers. Since we had to describe 3 experiments from scholarly journals, we had to keep an eye on unintended plagiarism. Sometimes it is hard to rephrase sentences from a journal article as I usually regard the way which the source explains the issue is the best. Due to this, I always check the already-paraphrased sentence twice before moving on to the next point, in order to make sure that I did not unintentionally copy anything while keeping its meaning.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Database search
I started the database search by looking into the Academic Search Complete. In order to avoid any possibility that I will exclude some useful articles due to inappropriate search key words, I tried to make use of 'OR'. My research topic is related to e-learning and its possible effects on students.
Inside the first search box, I put 'online learning OR e-learning OR internet learning'. In the second one, I put 'student*', such that the search can include 'student', 'students', etc. For the third box, I put 'motivate OR help OR effect OR influence'.
I found a few sources that sounds promising. There is a scholarly journal article titled 'The effect of computer-assisted learning versus conventional teaching methods on the acquisition and retention of handwashing theory and skills in pre-qualification nursing students: A randomised controlled trial', which is related to my reserch question to a certain extent since it relates e-learning with traditional teaching methods. There is another article titled 'Students' expectations of, and experiences in e-learning: Their relation to learning achievements and course satisfaction'. It basically covers an experiment done based on the relation between students' performance and e-learning.
Generally, I did not find it very difficult to find sources. However, there are sources that focuses on a particular group already. For example, some only stresses on whether e-learning help teachers teaching engineering students. Therefore, I am not sure how to draw relevent information from these sources.
On the other hand, most of the sources that I have found are scholarly ones, including scientific experiments conducted. I would like to find some popular ones which are for the general population.
Inside the first search box, I put 'online learning OR e-learning OR internet learning'. In the second one, I put 'student*', such that the search can include 'student', 'students', etc. For the third box, I put 'motivate OR help OR effect OR influence'.
I found a few sources that sounds promising. There is a scholarly journal article titled 'The effect of computer-assisted learning versus conventional teaching methods on the acquisition and retention of handwashing theory and skills in pre-qualification nursing students: A randomised controlled trial', which is related to my reserch question to a certain extent since it relates e-learning with traditional teaching methods. There is another article titled 'Students' expectations of, and experiences in e-learning: Their relation to learning achievements and course satisfaction'. It basically covers an experiment done based on the relation between students' performance and e-learning.
Generally, I did not find it very difficult to find sources. However, there are sources that focuses on a particular group already. For example, some only stresses on whether e-learning help teachers teaching engineering students. Therefore, I am not sure how to draw relevent information from these sources.
On the other hand, most of the sources that I have found are scholarly ones, including scientific experiments conducted. I would like to find some popular ones which are for the general population.
Monday, March 1, 2010
research questions
Research questions:
1. What is the relationship between e-learning and students' academic performance?
2. What are the effects of e-learning versus traditional teaching on students' academic progress?
3. What is students' evaluation/reflection on e-learning in universities?
1. What is the relationship between e-learning and students' academic performance?
2. What are the effects of e-learning versus traditional teaching on students' academic progress?
3. What is students' evaluation/reflection on e-learning in universities?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Post#1 -- brainstorming about topics
Possible topics:
1. E-classroom / E-learning
1. E-classroom / E-learning
- online academic discussion board & forum
- online homework submission, quizzes and tests
- internet-dependent
- the trend of e-learning & traditional methods (e.g. books, hand-written notes, in-class exams, etc.) --- effectiveness in stimulating students' learning motivation / academic performance?
- e-learning 100% replacing traditional teaching?
2. Classroom interactive learning
- discussion sessions
- group activities, group projects, group presentations
- calling for volunteers during class (teachers)
- interactive learning & chalk-and-talk ----effectiveness in helping students learn?
3. TV talent show
- very young participants --- too young, parents should/should not encourage them?
- fairness --- different (sometimes opposing) opinions of judges and the audience due to subjectivity
- lots of youngsters (students) participate (whether or not they have real talents) --- school v.s. dream?
4. Tutorial classes (academic)
- students depend on tutorial classes outside school, instead of teachers in school
- a belief: if you don't join tutorial classes, you score lower than those who do
- the "tutors" --- mostly for commercial purposes, instead of educational (e.g. ads on TV, buses, newspaper, etc.)
- are these "tutors" really that qualified to attract such a crowd?
- are these classes truly effective? (e.g. kumon)
- more money spent on tutorial classes (which are rather expensive) v.s. study harder at school
- causes of such a trend?
5. Tutorial classes (non-academic)
- instrumental classes (e.g. piano, guitar, violin, etc.), drawing classes, dancing classes, etc.
- many parents 'push' their children to these classes when they are still small, regardless of the children's interests --- should they or should they not?
- is this 'investment' on the children worthwhile?
- causes of this trend?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
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