Wednesday, February 10, 2010

So ... What Did You Learn?

After going through the links on e-campus about research, sources, etc., tell me the one thing you learned that you didn't know before. There has to be something ....


-- JG

24 comments:

Zach Wied said...

On the "How to read an Academic Article" reading I learned that when reading one I don't necessarily have to read the whole thing. This is good because they're so long. But what I got out of the tips is that the main parts that I should focus on is the introduction paragraph, conclusion, and really the first couple of sentences of each paragraph. This obviously makes it easier to get through an article.

Stephanie Shumar said...

I learned that the most important part of a source is its credibility. There are two main types of sources; primary and secondary. The primary comes straight from the source and the secondary is someone telling you what they discovered from the source. Just because it is "secondhand information" doesn't make it bad information, it just needs a more in depth "credit check". As long as the source is credible, it can be considered a reliable source.

Jordan Puckett said...

After reading the article "What Makes A Good Source?" I was given substantial information that I had not previously known regarding the reliability of sources we use in our writing.
Normally when I use the internet for research concerning my topic, I usually just google it and use the first website I see. But after reading this article I know I should check the entire article include the context, authors credibility, and the date of publication.
There are different sources out and we should check its credibility. Whether it be a blog, newspaper article, tv interview or some of form of information. Most sources are common sense for writers not to trust it's information over others some of those include: The National Enquirer, a random blog written by someone that has no background concerning the topic.
The date that the article was published is also crucial when using it as source. We wouldn't want something that is over five years old, and in some cases, that may even be too long. Our society and its views are constantly changing and sometimes in order to find the most accurate information we need to check the publication date.
Overall I felt that most of the information presented during this article I knew. But there were some things I up to date on.

Alex Cremeans said...

From the "Library Research Guide" I learned that the CQ researcher can be found on my ecampus page. Before this, I wasn't sure where to find it, and I also learned that books can even be found on the CQ researcher.

JG said...

"Credit check" -- I like that.

Whitney Shannon said...

From reading “How to Read an Academic Article”, I learned that when reading academic articles it is helpful to read the first few paragraphs to see what the author hopes to tell you and to read the last few paragraphs to see how the author sums everything up for you. I also learned that it is a good idea to highlight some of the author’s main ideas and topics, so that they stand out. I think that by making these ideas and topics stand out, it would be easier to go back through and find additional information on a certain topic, without having to read the whole article over again. Highlighting can potentially save you valuable time.

Alexia Biafore said...

From reading all of the articles, I learned that you don't have to read the entire article to understand what it is about. Most articles are like 10-20 pages, and let's face it, that's hard to do when you have to read so many articles to find the right one. Skimming helps save time, and when you find something that interests you, you can highlight it so it won't be as hard to find when you go to use it in your paper.

Tawny Adams said...

In the "How to Read an Academic Article" I learned that the the most important information is in two main spots, in the very beginning where the author talks about what they want to show you, and the very end where they sum up everything they said.

Casey Johnson said...

From the "How to read an acadeic article" I learned that you don't necessarily have to read the whole article to get the information that you need. Strategies such as skimming and reading the main points are probably better for you. Also, reading the beginning to get the what the author is trying to tell you then reading the end to see what the author has proven to you is a good strategy as well.

Samantha Szymanski said...

What I took from the articles is that for the most part, it is not necessary to sit there and read the whole thing. You can get a jist of the article by just skimming and taking away the key points. Highlighting seems to be the most popular form which is something I do regularly now to help me focus on the reading and the key points. Also, the length of the articles may be a little frightening at first but thats because the people who publish these articles are experts in that field and thats what they know to write about. These pointers have shown me how much easier it will be to find articles that are related to my topic.

Megan Thomas said...

From my biology lab class last semester, I learned a lot about author credibility and the difference between primary and secondary sources. The one thing I learned from these articles that would have been great had I known it last semester is that reading the whole article isn't necessary. Most journal articles tend to be fairly long, because it's author's trying to get their idea or point across to the public. I learned that scanning the article for pieces of information that would be beneficial or of importance and marking them will save time and easier when writing research papers.

Tara Tyler said...

Through these several articles, I've learned that there are MANY ways to find articles and books and other sources. Also, there are many research methods such as CQ Researcher, EBSCOHost, and Lexis-Nexis. Furthermore, I've never heard of Lexis-Nexis.

As well as learning the several types of research I could do, I also learned that I can do all of my research right from Ecampus. I was so amazed when I read that in the "Research Methods!" article because I didn't think Ecampus could do that.

These are just several things that I learned from the articles I read.

Andrew Sanchez said...

I remember one time when I had to read a Academic Article. It was about twenty pages long and once I read up to the fourth page, I was not interested in it anymore. After looking over the article on how to read an Academic Article I learned how to read them in ways where it would work out for me. Like when it says to skip around and go back to look at in depth areas

Kyle Baxter said...

well couldn't find "library research" on e-campus. but was able to find the article though the library site. i learned how to use the library site to find articles.

Jordan Dameron said...

After reading the information on the links it was nice to find that there was introductions, so i knew it pertained to my topic instead of spending time reading through several articles.

James Hayes said...

I learned alot after reading about the Imaginery Feature Article and as I starting to write the Article for class I started to it coming up with your own story to tell it was not that bad I'm the person that hate to write about everyday but the Imaginery Feature Article was fun not that hard at all!

Samantha Messner said...

I read the "Academic Article" and it shows that you don't need to fully read all 20pages of something to understand it. Which in reality, I do. I am a huge hypochondriac, so sometimes things have to be perfect, so when I read something I want to fully understand what I'm reading and not just skim it. The "Academic Article" tells us how we can truly read something by not reading all 20pages to it. For instance, by just reading the intro, conclusion, and the first few sentences of the other paragraphs, you can pretty much get the whole idea of the concept that is trying to be presented! =)

JC said...

What I learned from reading these links was that it's not necessary to read all the way through an article. Most scholars skim their way through these and take the information they need that way. Also, the most important information in the article is the opening and closing paragraphs.

Tyler McGrew said...

One thing I learned was that being able to properly skim through an academic article will help when trying to read one. Trying to read these for biology as you would a normal article was very painful. Now that I know how to pick out the most important information, I think that some of these reading assignments in my biology class this semester will be much easier.

George Greco said...

I learned the most from the "What makes a good source?" reading. I would say that research is one of my biggest weaknesses in writing just because of the inexperience. In high school I never really did any research papers, and if it was something like a research paper we didn't have to show that we used legitimate sources. So basically it was wikipedia this, and wikipedia that. Sounds whack I know, but I learned that sources are a very vital part of a research paper. They're not just for a work cited page to show you aren't plagiarizing. Sources mean much more, and have a long criteria to follow in order for the source to be legitimate, and this will help your research paper to be successful.

Rosaura Frias said...

Going through all the links each brought their own source of knowledge that I was on aware of. Like for example I didn't know that the librarians had a chatting system set up. Kinda creepy librarians and chat I don't know if that's a good or bad thing yet but I will surely find out.Another was finding out that when reading academic article you don't have to sit there and read the whole thing. Something I have already done and was completely miserable the entire time.

Ashlie Gosnell said...

I learned how to read an article better and that it is not necessary to read the entire thing. Although I did know this before, the article gave me a better way to read and comprehend without reading everything.

mike carden said...

I learned that when scholars read academic articles, they don't actually read them, but rather the beginning, end, and a few topic sentences. Thus, in order to be a true scholar, you have to be a liar as well

Kaitlin Lester said...

I learned where the CQ researcher was located, and the most important thing of all is that you dont have to read the entire article to get the information you may need. This will save me a lot of time when trying to find sources for my papers.