Q) What are you most confused by or nervous about in regards to the four major projects?
A) Overall, the part that I'm the most nervous about is having such a high degree of autonomy within each of the four projects. With the previous schooling I've had, assignments have always been very structured and it will be interesting to see which direction I take with the work ahead.
Q) What are you most interested in or excited by in regards to the four major projects?
A) I believe the most interesting part of our projects this semester will be the ability to gain new insight into a controversy in my field by being asked to interview two people in my own field. By getting a different view on the situation, I hope to gain a new understanding of what it's going to be like working and being part of the field which I will be working so hard to get in to.
Q) Based on your understanding of the major projects, what are the elements of this course that you have to plan ahead for? How will the coursework described in the four project assignment sheets challenge your time management skills this semester?
A) After reading through the guidelines posted and viewing some of the examples for each type of genre that we as students will be working with semester, I'm confident that each project will require a large amount of planning to accomplish including the interviews which need to be set up for project two and planning on using the various types of genres for the project which I believe will suit them best.
Bøtter, Jacob "Typing on MacBook Pro" 1/6/12 via flickr. Public Domain License
Q) How has your past English coursework in high school or college prepared you for the challenges of this course? What skills will you bring into the course with you?
A) So far, I'm not entirely certain whether or not I'll be prepared for this course yet. Despite taking various AP literature and composition courses in high school, I know that the work required was vastly under the quality which will be required in this course. While I believe they taught solid fundamental knowledge, I was never tested with enough difficulty to cement the idea that I'll be ready for whatever comes my way. However, I will bring a vast knowledge of the technology which we will be using and a desire to improve my skills.
Q) Do you have any questions about the four major projects that haven't been answered by the assignment sheets? What do you still want to know?
A) So far, everything that I want to know has either been answered in the assignment sheets or through in class questions, but I will be sure to bring them up should I have any in the future.
Reflections
While reading Hannah's post I found that she and I had a number of similar worries such as the time management required to be successful this semester. However, I'm excited to see what delving into my field will bring, and hope that I get a new perspective from those already in it. The same time management fear was highlighted in Elizabeth's post, showing that a number of students are worried about being procrastinators this semester just as I am. Despite this, I believe the projects should give us an exciting semester and help us explore our interests.
I feel like you and I have very similar expectations and fear about this course, so it's kind of reassuring to know that I'm not alone in being a little intimidated by the seeming lack of preparation from my high school courses. I also found that the assignment sheets for this class were very helpful, and didn't have too many questions about the course or projects themselves. I hope that you find that you're adequately prepared for this course, and that you do well and learn interesting things about your intended field of study.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea of getting to learn more by gaining new insights through interviews. Whenever I hold a view on an issue, I try to allow the opposing view more time to talk, because I already know my answers, but not necessarily their's and want to learn their view.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I really didn't consider was whether or not my high school AP English and Literature classes prepared me well enough for this class, I did learn a lot, but I do remember leaving high school questioning whether or not I was ready for college. Your post really opened my eyes to that issue.
I highly agree with you in regards to your fear about autonomy. For me, I believe that I will also struggle the most with this aspect of the course. I generally do well when given a set of guidelines, yet when I am left to myself, it is often difficult for me to decide upon a course of action. After reading your post, I at least know that I am not alone when fearing the autonomy that this course brings with it.
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