Final Optional Blog Post

   This post discusses my original claim that I am making for my research argument.  My original claim involves the student perspectives on technology and why they are so important.  My data for this argument includes surveys that I distributed to fifty students on the UCF campus randomly.  This post discusses the challenges I faced when coming up with my original argument and what I can do better next time I have to make an original claim for research. Moreover, I discuss who will care about my argument and why it is my own.  Finally, I talk about what I can do to revise my original claim before I turn in my final project.

         While building an original argument for my research on how technology has impacted college students in their education, I faced many challenges.  From analyzing my secondary sources, I found that the reoccurring major gap in the research was the fact that student perspectives had not been analyzed as much as they needed to be. Thus, I decided to build my original claim around the findings of student perspectives.  I decided that conducting a survey would be the most efficient way to collect this type of data.  However, building and conducting the survey led to challenges.  First off, it was difficult in deciding how many students I would distribute the survey to.  If I picked too small of a number than the data may have been unrealistic, and my original argument would have been skewed.  On the other hand, I needed to make sure I picked a number that was not too large and fit under the time constraint. In the end, I decided that fifty students was an adequate number of students to survey.  Another challenge I faced was how I was going to compare my findings from the survey to other data.  Since little data existed that actually viewed the student attitudes, I knew I was going to have trouble making sure my data was in fact credible.   

            Next time I am asked to establish an original claim in my research, I will consider my options more extensively.  After reading through my peer-reviewed articles, right away I knew that I wanted to build my original argument around student perspectives.  Therefore, I somewhat jumped to quickly to conclusions.  I did not give any other original claims a thought.  I know I could have taken my research in a different direction and analyzed the actually technology that makes up the classroom experience by interviewing professors.  Thus, I know next time I will weigh my options more efficiently. 

            As I said before, my claim is how the students feel about using technology in their education instead of the teacher perspectives, and the overall impact it has had on grades. This argument is original because I have collected my own data through the surveys.  I designed each of the questions on the survey and then distributed them outside of the Student Union at UCF.  This will add to the conversation since the student feelings are not talked about as much in the research arguments that have already been conducted and published. I am taking this data and explaining why or why not students want technology in their classroom.  I am also using student quotes from the survey to show the benefits and negatives of technology. Overall, my stakeholders, the academics reading and writing my topic, will appreciate this research since it does in fact attempt to fix the gap in the lack of student perspectives. 

On the other hand, I know my claim still needs to be revised before I turn in my final project. I need to explain why it is so important to my topic to know about student attitudes toward technology.  If technology has truly helped students’ grades then why should it matter how the students feel about it? This is major aspect of my claim that I need to continue to work on. 

Genre Analysis

    As apart of the primary research document, we needed to conduct a genre analysis.  This analysis included choosing a "genre set," and finding three examples of that set.  My genre was the the peer-reviewed articles that were written by my stakeholders, the academics writing about my topic. The analysis describes the content, design, organization, format, tone, and language that my genre entails.  I have also included a sample of my genre that can be found at this link:  file:///Users/ginarichardella/Desktop/UCF/Fall%202012/English%20II/Research%20sources/%239.%20arc.%202nd.pdf

Genre Analysis

          

            The stakeholders, those academics who analyze technology in the educational setting, are best represented by their written peer-reviewed articles. Arthur M. Langer, Kim Sosin, and Hsin-liang Chen are just three of the stakeholders whose articles represent my genre set. Their peer-reviewed articles written give an adequate view on how the research that has already been conducted about my topic is similar to my own. Moreover, their articles all represent how a research argument should appeal to readers, be organized with a formal tone, and utilize proper formats.  Thus, my genre is the academic, peer-reviewed articles written by my stakeholders.

            The peer-reviewed articles come from a strictly electronic medium.  The majority is from academic journals such as The Journal of Economic Education and The Journal of Academic Librarianship.  If not from a journal, the articles are from prestigious departments in universities, such as Langer’s article from The College of Education and Human Ecology at Ohio State University.  Furthermore, since my genre is my peer-reviewed researched source material, there are specific types of content that are permitted in order to be credible.  These articles are primarily researched based. The authors of my articles are all involved in specific field of Education Technology that have guided their interest toward researching this topic.  For example, Aruthur M. Langer’s “College Students’ Technology Arc: A Model for Understanding Progress” revolves around his work at the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Community Engagement at Columbia University (186).  Usually, personal experiences and views are not the driving factor behind the research but are sometimes included briefly in the methodology. Finally, each of articles has numerous sources referenced, as those mentioned in my genre set have over twenty-five each.

            Each article follows the same specific strategies that make the information more credible. First off, the articles all begin with a good thesis in their introduction.  For example, Hsin-Lian Chen in his article lays out of the main issue with his first sentence: “With the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), networked learning has become popular at higher education institutions…” (14).  From this sentence, it becomes clear that the way in which technology has been implemented in education is what the research will revolve around. Another strategy shown in my genre is the usage of charts and tables to reveal research results.  These results make the findings in the conclusion much clearer to the reader, as the table breaks down findings into the simplest form possible. In addition to particular strategies in my genre, a certain style of organization is apparent, as well.  Each academic article follows the same general outline.  First the research problem is introduced followed by a brief background on that issue.  Next, the article explains other information found about the topic such as their secondary sources.  These sources generally come from other studies conducted or academic journals such as “Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (Langer 196).  A methodology then explains how the experiment, survey, or observations will be conducted which all connect back to the thesis.  Finally, the results are organized in table format with a conclusion section at the end. 

            My genre calls for a specific tone and language, as well.  The tone of the peer-reviewed articles is scholarly and is very detail oriented. This tone includes formal language, avoiding the use of pronouns such as, “I,” “you,” and “me.”  Moreover, word choice is highly important.  Since the authors are writing to other academics that often have background knowledge on the topic, they are able to use sophisticated terms.  One example term used by Sosin is “cyber-plagiarism” (285).

            Moreover, specific design requirements are favored in my genre. Each article is not only broken up by paragraphs, but includes precise sub-headings that let the reader know what information and what part of the study are to follow.  Sub-headings include words such as “Introduction,” “Methodology,” “Discussion,” and “Conclusion,” or something similar such as “Concluding Observations” (Sosin 288).  Moreover, often times the abstracts before the actual work begins are italicized.  Finally, the fonts vary from article to article but always are clear and professional in appeal. Some examples of font are Times New Roman, Courier, and Helvetica.

            Overall, for this genre to be credible to my stakeholders, the peer-reviewed articles must do more than just summarize research that has already been revealed in the past. The articles must utilize past research to build their own argument where gaps in the research still lay.  For example, Chen states in the beginning of his article, “Whether or not students perceive the same value in approaches to online instruction as their instructors is an area that requires further study” (15).  This is Chen’s way of establishing his own claim and becomes credible since he is trying to work on one aspect of the research that still needs further evaluation.  Thus, this serves as a superior example of my genre that is credible to other stakeholders.  All peer-reviewed articles in my genre must follow similar guidelines as these.

Based on my analysis my final project must include the following:

·      Sub-headings

·      Significant number of sources

·      Table of Results

·      Abstract

·      Introduction and Background separated

·      Professional Tone

·      Formal Language

Works Cited

Chen Hsin-Liang, and James Patrick Williams. "Use Of Multi-Modal Media And Tools In An Online Information Literacy Course: College Students' Attitudes And Perceptions." Journal Of Academic Librarianship 35.1 (2009): 14-24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

Goffe, William L., and Kim Sosin. “Teaching with Technology: May You Live in Interesting Times.” The Journal of Economic Education 36.3 (2005): 278-291. JSTOR. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.

Langer, Arthur M., and L. Lee Knefelkamp. “College Students' Technology Arc: A Model for Understanding Progress.” Theory Into Practice 47.3 (2008): 186-196. JSTOR. Web. 13 Sept. 2012.

Methodology

   This post is my methodology of how and why I am conducting the research I am doing.  My methodology primarily talks about the surveys I have conducted at the University of Central Florida and how I went about distributing these surveys to get a random yet accurate population.  Moreover, this will become apart of my final research report in the primary research document.

Methodology:

            In order to try to eliminate the gap on student perspectives on technology usage in the classroom, a survey was conducted at the University of Central Florida (UCF).  Fifty undergraduate students of all different majors were randomly asked to participate in the survey.  Students in the Student Union were indiscriminately selected and asked to participate in the survey.  The Student Union was the major student center and meeting area at UCF, which made this an ideal location to find a variety of different students to participate.  When a student was approached about a survey they were first asked if they were willing to participate. This included a brief synopsis of the research question at hand.  If the student agreed to the survey, they were then asked if they were an undergraduate student, since the primary focus of the study was to observe undergraduate student attitudes.  The undergraduates surveyed were allowed to have any major and any year, as long as their Bachelor of Arts had not yet been obtained.

            The questions in the survey were based on strictly student perspectives.  Questions consisted of preferences with online courses, feelings toward technology, and if technology usage had increased their grades.  Students also had to provide their major, year in school, and a short sentence explanation of how technology had either helped or hurt them in school.  The primary focus was geared toward student feelings as many researchers who have investigated this topic lack the evidence of student angles.  In the end, student attitudes and adjustments toward technology were what created the outcomes in the overall academic performance of a student.  The findings from the study have contributed to research on whether or not technology has in fact increased test scores and has made students better learners overall.

            The survey approach was best because it served as the most efficient way to get in contact with students.  With a survey many questions can be asked to numerous participants in a short time, as opposed to an interview that would entail fifty different individual meetings.  Moreover, UCF was an excellent school to investigate due to its size, the second largest university.  This made the population surveyed a very diverse community of students. 

Genre Memo: Methodologies

    This next genre memo discussed the importance and format of methodologies.  A methodology is used in a research report to discuss how a researcher goes about conducting research for his/her topic.  This includes any experiments, surveys, or interviews that have been done about the topic.  Moreover, the methodology informs the reader about who is being tested or examined and why.  The steps taken in coming up the researcher's method of examination are also included.  Here is my genre memo of methodologies on the purpose, format, and application to the class.

To: Professor Vives

From: Gina Richardella

Subject: Genre Memo: Methodology

Date: 22 October 2012

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Purpose

A methodology is an important part of a research paper, as it essentially gives an overview of the research topic and how the researcher is going about conducting their study.  The methodology discusses the process in which one has collected their own primary data, as well as their gathered additional articles.  Moreover, the methodology also reveals how the researcher is making their claim in attempt to bridge a gap in the existing research.  Some examples of methodologies come from the articles, “Online College Education For Computer-Savvy Students: A Study of Perceptions and Needs” from the Journal of College Teaching and Learning, and “Use of Multi-Media and Tools in an Online Information Literacy Course: College Students’ Attitudes and Perceptions” from the Journal of Academic Librarianship.  A methodology also exists in the article, “Perceived Self-efficacy and Technology Proficiency in Undergraduate College Students” from Elsevier Journal.  Each of these methodologies explains the methods that were used to conduct their research.

Layout/Organization

Methodologies often include:

·      Sub heading informing readers it’s the Methodology

·      Double spaced, 12pt. font, depending on circumstance

·      Precise and to the point

·      Often bullets or number lists

·      Often a chart or table

·      Well-organized

·      Research question stated

·      Paragraph break (not on separate document)

Methodologies do not usually include:

·      Color

·      Pronouns: “I,” “you,” “me,”

·      Title Pages

·      References to sources

·      Results of the study

Application to the Course

The methodology is important in the ENC1102 class because it is a major part of a research paper.  Since the entire class is driven around compiling a scholarly research paper, the methodology cannot be left out.  The methodology completely lays out the steps students have taken to collecting articles and data, including any surveys or interviews. Without the methodology the reader of the research paper does not know the details and processes a student has taken in collecting information.  Thus, the methodology is extremely pertinent to this course. 

Extra Credit: Genres

  This post discusses what I learned about genres from the article "Crossing the Boundaries of Genre Studies: Commentaries By Experts." The article helped give me a better understanding of genres and how they are applied to situations beyond the classroom.

This article helped me to better understand the use of genres in my ENC1102 class.  First off, genres can appear in multiple different cultures including academic, professional, and indigenous cultures (Johns et al. 235).  This means that genres are used beyond the classroom so it is highly important to that they can be applied in many different situations.  In general, a genre “refers to socially recognized ways of using language” (237).  Texts are organized and separated into categories by their primary focuses and purposes.  A genre becomes a category when it responds to a “reoccurring situation” with similarly formatted texts (237).  Genres vary in particular contexts and different situations but have the same general job, to “get things done” (235).  From this I concluded that an annotated bibliography, for example, has the same general purpose in research but can vary in specifics for a certain circumstance.  My annotated bibliography for my English research paper will cover more of the research findings and authors’ credentials, while one for a history class may deal more with specific time periods and events in history.  However, an annotated bibliography is a genre because it serves the same purpose in each setting, which is to give a summary of the source.  Therefore, the article helped me to understand how I can apply genres to all of my classes.

            Moreover, this article helped me understanding how a genre can give an author more credibility. By following a genre, an author can mimic the same format as other profound authors.  This provides a professional appeal to their work.  At the same time the author can add in their own personal identity and writing style. The genre can help the author to claim “solidarity with readers” but build a provoking argument with their own words at the same time (237).  Overall, a genre has similar roles in all situations the genre is being applied to but becomes unique with the author’s own identity. 

Works Cited

Johns, Ann M., et al. “Crossing the Boundaries of Genre Studies: Commentaries By Experts.” Journal of Secondary Language Writing 15 (2006): 234-249. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

Stakeholder Analysis

   For this assignment I had to make a Stakeholder Analysis for my work-in-progress research paper.  To begin this analysis, I needed to clearly identify my audience or my stakeholders.  The audience I am directing my research toward is the academics that engage in research in my topic. The authors who have conducted research about college students and technology are my stakeholders.  I analyzed three authors from the secondary sources of my primary research document.  My stakeholders were Arthur M. Langer, Kim Sosin, and Hsin-liang Chen.

         My research issue, the affects of technology on college students’ learning in their educational setting, is primarily directed toward my audience of college professors in the United States.  These professors encompass a special interest in educational technology, often having a relating major, and work with the development of digital information literacy.  Specifically, these stakeholders have been chosen due to their participation in extensive research on college students and their usage of technology in education. Moreover, they have a thorough background in the educational technology fields needed to examine this issue.  One example of a stakeholder is Arthur M. Langer, a professor and academic director of the Executive Masters in Technology Management at Columbia University (Columbia 1).  Langer serves as a sufficient stakeholder as he has engaged in many research works dealing with information systems and technology based curriculum at numerous universities (1).  Moreover, he is the co-author of “College Students' Technology Arc: A Model for Understanding Progress,” which contains key aspects of my research argument.  Therefore, Langer has a strong interest in the conversation surrounding how college students use technology.  

Another stakeholder, Kim Sosin is an author of a key article, “Teaching with Technology: May You Live in Interesting Times” from the Journal of Economic Education.  Sosin is a professor of Macroeconomic Theory and Monetary Economics at the University of Nebraska Omaha (Ecedweb 1). However, Sosin’s research interests in Economic Education and Educational Technology are what qualify her as an important stakeholder (1).  Overall, Sosin raises concerns for the new technological realm of teaching in schools and is apart of my audience of my research topic. 

Finally, my final example of a stakeholder, Hsin-liang Chen, has his Ph.D. in Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and is a professor in these fields at Indiana University Bloomington (Indiana University 1).  He co-authored, “Use Of Multi-Modal Media And Tools In An Online Information Literacy Course: College Students' Attitudes And Perceptions” and discussed how college students are using new types of online media and information in their classes.  Chen is a stakeholder because he engages in research that deals with technology in the library of his university, which is the essential location where students can access information. 

 Overall, Sosin, Chen, and Langer are my stakeholders as they work with students in technology based curriculums on a daily basis in their universities and have all completed research surrounding similar aspects of digital literacy, comparable to my issue. These academics are the types of people my paper is geared towards.

Works Cited 

Columbia University. “Arthur M. Langer.” Arthur M. Langer: Professor, Author, & Speaker. Columbia University, 2010. Web. 11 October 2012.

Ecedweb. “Kim Sosin.” Curriculm Vitae: Kim Sosin.” University of Nebraska Omaha, 2006. Web. 10 October 2012.

Trustees of Indiana University. “Hsin-liang Chen.” The School of Library and Information Science.” Indiana University Bloomington, 2012. Web. 11 October 2012.

Genre Memo: Stakeholder Analysis

   For this assignment we were to construct a genre memo for stakeholder analysis.  Below is my genre memo, which gives the purpose of a stakeholder analysis, the general format and look, and how it applies to my ENC1102.

To: Professor Vives, Instructor

From: Gina Richardella, ENC1102 student

Subject: Genre Memo: Stakeholder Analysis

Date: 12 October 2012

Purpose

The purpose of a stakeholder analysis is to identify one’s audience in which the research or information is directed towards.  The stakeholders are those who will be most interested in one’s research conversation and already have a significant amount of knowledge about the topic.  The importance of this type of analysis is to clearly state who the information is involving and why those stakeholders are qualified in the topic’s field.  Some examples of stakeholder analysis are: the Sustainable Management Development Program for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tim Loberstein’s article on childhood obesity which address the Newsletter of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition, and SAP’s stakeholder analysis.  All three serve to identify whom their aiming to reach with information.

Layout/Organziation:

Stakeholder analysis often include:

·      Specific examples of real life stakeholders

·      Works Cited

·      Double Spaced, 12pt. font, deepening on circumstance

·      Charts/ Graphics

·      Formal and professional tone

·      Black space between paragraphs

·      Conclusion of general ideas about stakeholders

Stakeholder analysis do not include:

·      Title pages

·      Pronouns: “I,” “you,” “me,”

·      Bullets

·      Extensive detail on research conversation

Application to the Course

The stakeholder analysis is key to ENC1102 as it helps students to clearly identify their audience for their research topics.  If the audience is unclear, it becomes difficult to provide a proper tone for the paper.  Moreover, distinguishing boundaries of how much knowledge of specific topic terms is needed is also hard.  If the stakeholders are clearly established, than the student knows how to go about relaying their research findings. For this course, the stakeholder analysis is taking one’s authors, or others talking about the topic, why they are interested in one’s research issue.