Final Blog-Transformative Learning

This is a world with not only human beings but also many animals

PART ONE:  TWO Examples of Transformative Learning

Example One: Becoming a better researcher:

Writing 39c class helps me to become a better researcher. I never learned how to write a formal research paper in the past, and I did not know how to find reliable sources for writing a research paper. In my past writing courses, I only use Google Scholar to find sources that I want to put into my essay. I thought Google Scholar is the best tool I can used for an academic writing, but I was wrong. After Professor Haas introduced Academic Search Complete for us in the writing 39c class, I found that Academic Search Complete is a better tool to use for research purposes. One reason is that Academic Research Complete provides many filter options for users. For example, if I need to use peer-reviewed sources, I just need to choose “peer-reviewed” for the search option. Also, if I want sources that were published on magzines, I can chose “magzine” as “publish places”. Besides Academic Search Complete, I also learned how to effectively use Twitter for research purposes. Even though the sources found on Twitter may not be academic or reliable sources, but they can at least provide some hints on the directions of researching.

In conclusion, I think all the research experiences I have in this class help me become a better researcher. I grow from a person that does not confident about academic research to a person who know how to do academic research effectively. Even though my research skills still need to improve, but I believe I will become a even better researcher after I practing doing research more in the future!

Example Two: Transformative moments relate to my AP:

It is a long journal to the final draft of my AP! All my research experiences helped me to finish this essay. Among all the readings we read, I think Safina’s articles help me the most. Even though Safina’s articles do not talk about the same specie as mine, but the articles provide many terms and definitions that we can use for future research.

The annotating assignments prepared me to write my own essay. The annotating assignments make us practice writing little senntence by using research words from the beginning of the class. Thus, we know how to give credit to scientists while we are writing our own essay. Marino’s “Eating Someone” is the best essay that gives me a hint on how to write my own AP essay. I had read and annotated “Eating Someone” for many times before I wrote my own essay. I cannot finish writing my AP essay, without the knowledge I learned from these assignments.

Part two: Problems and Future Plan

Time issues:

I don’t know if everyone else in the class have time issues or only me have this issue. My time issues are not that I cannot finish assignments on time, but it takes me a lot of time to finish the assignments for writing 39c class. The problem is not apparent in the first half of the course since we do not have too much assignments. However, on the second half of the course, I only have time on Saturdays, and I need to do writing 39c assignments on all the other days of the week. I think it is good that I took this class during summer because this course is very time consuming for me.

 Connect Practice Grammar Issues:

I realize that I need to practice with my grammar. I always made grammar mistakes when I was doing Connect Assignments. Also, I always can find many grammar mistakes when I was revising my essay. I cannot realize some of my grammar mistakes while I am writing essay, but I can find some when I reread my essay.

What to do in the future:

To solve the time issues, I probably need to practice reading. I think it always takes me a lot of time to finish writing homework may due to the reason that my reading speed is kind of slow. We have to read a lot of things for a writing class. Therefore, I need to read more articles in my spare time. I believe if I read a lot more, my reading speed will improve gradually. For my grammar issue, I need to do more grammar practice. I think Connect is a good tool to use. My account will remain active for two more years, and I can do some grammar practice on Connect to improve my grammar. There is no short path but practice more.