A3.8: Week 3 Reflection

Aims and Objectives:
My personal goals this week were to explore the websites we were provided for preparation and then complete the assignments over the course of a few days.  I also tried to do some extra research while completing the required assignments so I would have a better understanding of the subject I was searching for.  I originally intended to try and do some of my work before the weekend because I went out of town and did not have access to a computer. However, I did not have very good luck.

Declarative Knowledge:  This week I learned that there are several websites that can aide me in finding information on certain subjects that I might be interested in.  I also learned that it is important to be specific on these websites to acquire the accurate information that I need, and I should use multiple websites to see what each one offers.  Along with the different websites, I learned that I can join a mailing list that is based around a specific subject area, and I can learn about the subject through receiving e-mails from different members of thisparticular group.  I also learned that there are mailing lists for almost everything you can possibly think of.  Through taking the VARK inventory I learned that I am an aural, read/write, and kinesthetic learner.  Additionally, I learned that in order for a question to be a good research question itmust have a few different elements like being specific, researchable, and lead to a better understanding.

Procedural Knowledge:  To start out this week, I read about the web and then visited other websites that may help in researching later on.  I then went to my weblog and created a category of Week3 following the same directions as last weeks assignments.  In order to find a mailing list to join I then visited catalist, tile.net, and then searched on google to finally find a mailing list for cochlear implants.  After sending an e-mail to join the list I shortly got a reply back that said that list no longer existed, therefore I went back to google and tried another mailing list.  This time, I got a confirmation e-mail which I had to reply to in order to confirm, and in turn they sent me an e-mail saying I am now on the mailing list,which is extremely busy by the way.  Next, I chose three websites to search to find my last name “kester” and did the same for my topic “cochlear implants.” I went to these websites typed in either my name or search topic and then began to explore the results I received.  Some were helpful, and some were not so helpful.  In order to answer the probe I had to reflect on my learning experiences and when I have been successful vs. when I have experienced trouble learning.  To complete the VARK inventory I had to go to the website, click on the questionnaire link and fill out the inventory.  It then gave me the results of the inventory to tell me what kind of learner I am and different studying strategies that might be helpful.  I then posted my results on my weblog and what I learned from the inventory.  To come up with a question, I had to list areas that I am interested in, choose one area and then turn it into a good research question. 

Conditional Knowledge: Learning how to use websites to conduct accurate searches is very important and will not only help for educational purposes like conducting research, but also for everyday life when trying to find anything you can possibly think of.  Along with searching different websites, another good way to recieve information about certain topics is joining a mailing list.  I would have, and never had, thought about joining a mailing list before this assignment but I now see how it can provide you with a lot of information.  I have recieved a lot of e-mails so far of other recommended websites I can visit that have information on cochlear implants that I may be able to use for future research.  The mailing list serves as another good resource for information for school related topics but also for things like daily quotes, personal interests, etc.  Knowing what kind of learner you are can help you in maximizing your performance.  The results gave me some interesting and useful studying tips I will try with my upcoming tests.  Knowing how to write a good research question will help me in doing my actual research not only for this class, but for others I will soon have.  Knowing how to write the question will help me in searching and finding an answer. 

Questions: My mailing list is very very active. I received an e-mail from it actually saying that if the mail load was too much that I could instead of recieving e-mails just join the group. Should I just join the group or stay on the mailing list? I actually like the e-mails, they’re intersting, but the amount of e-mail is a bit overwhelming along with all of the e-mails from this class, family, etc.

A3.7: Research Question

Areas of Interest:
1.Cochlear Implants
2.Deafness/Sign Language
3.Stroke
4.Aphasia
5.Dementia
6.TBI
7.Apraxia
8.Voice Disorders
9.Dysphagia
10. Developmental Language in Children

Issues of importance for cochlear implants:
1. When should someone be implanted?
2. Who is eligible to receive cochlear implants?
3. How does the deaf community view cochlear implantation?

Question:
1. Has early implantation in children proven to be more beneficial than implantation later in development?
I believe this is a good research question because I could find research that has been conducted on implanted children and the results of when they were implanted.  I also believe I could find a lot of information on this because it is a very new and controversial subject.  This question is a good research question because it is specific and will explain whether or not early implantation is better than later implantation. 

A3.5: Reflection on Learning Highlights

Think about your experience and history as a learner. What story can you tell? Write about your disconnections with learning (the things that cause you grief, create barriers, impede your progress as a learner.)  Then, write about the tensions and excitements associated with learning.  Use specific examples when possible to illustrate your story.

When looking back on my learning experiences, it is hard to know where to start.  I have learned about many different things and in many different environments throughout my life.  Like most people, some things came easier to me more than others.  Learning about things I enjoyed and had an interest in was always exciting for me.  I loved to go to dance class and learn a new part of a dance, or learn how to execute a new dance move.  I also enjoyed going to soccer or basketball practice to learn a new play.  Even though I am now learning on a whole new level, other than soccer and dance class, I still get excited about learning in the field of speech-language pathology.  I will admit that when I first came to college and was unsure about a career, I was not very enthusiastic or ambitious in my classes because I did not really have an interest in learning subjects like philosophy, biology, or geology.  Because of this lack of interest in these subjects my grades were not the best, which I now regret but can’t really go back and change things. My point is, I have always had trouble succeeding in the areas that I was not interested in,and this was a very hard concept for me to overcome as a learner. It is easy to look back at my previous school records and see which classes I enjoyed and which I did not share the same enthusiasm for. 

 The things that cause me the most grief in learning is being overwhelmed with the amount of work and information.  I feel like I have learned a lot in the past four years, however at the same time I feel like I don’t really know much of anything.  I know there is a lot more for me to learn in the years to come but when I sit down and really think about it, I get very overwhelmed and worried.  Which brings me to what creates barriers and impedes my progress as a learner.  Along with being overwhelmed at times, emotional problems going on in my personal life often cause me problems as a learner.  I find it very hard to sit down and study when I am upset or worried about someone or something going on in my life.  Although I know that you are supposed to separate work and personal problems, I envy people who can do that because I am not one of those people.  For example, I had a test one morning in one of my classes and the day before it my grandmother had open-heart surgery.  Despite studying a lot for the test, I was so worried about her that I did not do as well as I should have on the test.  It was not because I did not know the information, it was the simple fact that I could not concentrate because of my emotions. 
 
Like I previously said, I do get excited about learning, especially with CD related classes. I actually enjoy going to class to learn about different types of disorders, therapy, etc.  I think it is very exciting for me because I am anxious to actually use the information that I have obtained throughout the years. Knowing that I am making progress towards becoming a speech-language pathologist is very exhilarating, and I look forward to learning more in my education, profession, and other aspects of my life forever.      

A3.4 Cochlear Implant Search

Even though I am not positive I will do my project on this topic, it is something I am very interested in.  It is a fairly new invention, somewhat controversial, and I feel will become more popular in the future.  I have been around a few deaf people throughout my life so it also interests me on a more personal level.
For this search I used Google, Ask.com, and Yahoo! Search. They all gave a large amount of “hits” and each offered a little different information.

Google responded with the most “hits” with 3,420,000.  Most of the websites that were listed had to deal with many different national associations.  A few of these were the FDA’s website on cochlear implants, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, ASHA’s website on cochlear implants, and Gallaudet University’s Laurnet Clerc Center.  Most of these sites gave information on what cochlear implants were, how they worked, who can get them, etc.  They also provided many different personal stories with people who have been implanted. 

With Ask.com I received 128,600 “hits.” This search provided me with a lot of the same sites that google did, however the main difference was that there were many more articles about implantation listed with ask.com.  I found this site the most useful.  What I also enjoyed with this engine was an advertisement for Energizer.Cochlear. Energizer batteries for cochlear implants. I wonder who carries those!

Yahoo!Search gave me 1,270,000 “hits.”  This site was the most like google giving me the majority of the same websites as google.  Most of them were the national organizations and the college/university educational sites. 

All of the search engines were helpful and I felt like they were very accurate.  I don’t believe I ran into any website links or articles that were not about the specific subject I was looking for. 

A3.3: Kester Search

During this exercise I learned that when searching for something, one word can have a variety of results.  Like me, you can receive results from anything from a national solder product company to a female models webpage.  The Internet has an unreal amount of information so this exercise showed me how important it is to have a more specific search, yet not so specific that you will not get any results. 

I also noticed that if one search engine does not give you the results you desire then you can try several different serach engines until you find something that can help you.  I found that there really wasn’t that much information about my last name, but it served as different company names and many different people’s first names. 
I would still like to know about scholarly search engines.  For school and class purposes I sometimes find it difficult because I will find a page that is very informative, but I am still not sure if it is a legitmate webpage.  Finding the publisher and that sort of information is often difficult for me.

A3.6: VARK Inventory

After taking the VARK Inventory, my results were: multimodal (ARK)  
My scores were:   Visual: 1     Aural: 6       Read/Write: 6         Kinesthetic: 5

I learned a few different things with regard to studying and learning.  First, I surprisingly found that I actually do study with the strategies that the inventory encourages based on my test results. As you can see, I am a visual learner the least; which leaves me to definitely rely on listening in class, reading my notes over and over, and relating to examples given in classes to help me learn and study different concepts. I agree that I learn aurally because it helps me better understand to explain or discuss topics or ideas with other people. I also found it interesting that the inventory said that I should study lists, headings, and handouts because I often remember and write my notes this way.  It is a good recall strategy for me to use for tests because I can remember things easily this way.  The inventory really showed me that I learn and should study using different learning modes.  I obviously do not just learn through one learning style so it is important for me to both learn and study using all of the modes.  Even though I previously have used some of the learing strategies suggested, I also found a few new ones that I think will be very interesting to use soon for my classes.  Hopefully, these strategies will help me succeed in the near future.