Getting Better with Time

I was able to meet with Dr. Dennis earlier in the week so that I didn't get too far into my journal search without her help.  Identifying 20 articles was a challenge at first, but it became more manageable after my meeting, and I was able to get the twenty done in the time frame allotted.  I think learning how to properly execute a search of literature was an important goal this week.  I think that I got better as the week went on.  I was able to refine my search and search through other cited articles.  Going to meet the librarina helped me with the annotations assignment because I didn't realize that I was not using the database to the fullest. 

In the past when I completed searches for articles, I only used education full text.  While that is a good start, it is by far not the only option.  I can find articles in databases just based on topics.  I didn't think that I would have any use for articles in psych info, but I learned that there are a lot of theory based articles located in that database which will help me as well.    This assignment would have been beneficial to me in my other classes last semester.  I wish that it could have been offered last year when I just beginning the program and had to do literature reviews.  I would have selected better articles and used more databases for searches.  Even though I feel more confident in my searches, I still need more practice with refinement.  I will use the feedback that I receive from this week to make the required improvements.  

A Fresh Start

I really feel that I am off to a great start this week because I have narrowed my research topic down to something that is interesting to me as well as researchable.  So I have more of a purpose and that will help me move forward with less stress than when I started reading the first assignment.  I think this was an important first start and I am proud.

This week I got to read and get a better understanding of what a literature review is.  This would have been very helpful in my last term when I did a literature review.  Creating a concept map helped me to organize my thinking.  Click here to see my concept map. This will be helpful as I start organizing my thoughts for my literature review.  While reading about the different types of literature review, I was able to see that I will do a more comprehensive review that is a part of a larger body of work.   I will be writing about Bring your own device (BYOD) in school. There is a growing body of knowledge that can be found, and I hope to also be a contributor.   

At the beginning of this week, my main goal was to narrow my topic, and I did that so I  elated to have met that goal.  Next week, I will meet with the librarian.  I hope to have some articles already selected so that I can see how I am improve my researching techniques.  

My Concept Map