Ultimate Reflection

I will never blog again. Blogging is just not natural for me. I do not express myself through writing. Some people said that they sometimes found it difficult to write when the prompt didn't inspire them, but at other times the writing flowed naturally. The writing never flowed naturally for me, even when the prompt provoked a strong internal dialogue or an interesting opinion. I literally have to sit at the keyboard and force the words out every time. Maybe I don't think linearly enough, or maybe I'm secretly a babbling lunatic, but I have to jump around the page, writing down multiple ideas at one time. This is after I've picked a topic, after I know what I'm writing about, and after I have some semblance of a plan for what I'm going to write. I'd still rather gouge out my eyes than write a blog post. It feels like trying to walk on my hands blindfolded or being lost in a cornfield with no shoes or eating Raisin Bran with eyeglass screws mixed in. It's uncomfortable, disorienting, and exhausting.

The only time the writing even came close to flowing was during my post about how it feels to be freshman, a post which I am not including in this 'best-of' because I don't know whether or not I agree with the conclusions I drew in it. The beginning of the post was great--telling the story of my first few weeks on campus was almost fun, even though I was writing it; however the point of the post was to describe freshmen's opportunities to interact with upperclassmen, and I don't really think I accomplished that at all. I just can't imagine that my experience freshman year is generalizable enough to comment on all 7000 freshmen's chances to talk to juniors and seniors, especially since I was definitely not seeking those relationships myself at that time.

The first post I am including is this one about zebra mussels. I think this post is pretty indicative of my writing before the course. I wrote in report format: that is the only type of writing I knew. I think I was able to provide a detailed picture of the situation, and I think my writing was competent; however, I don't think that my tone was at all developed. I was writing a report, not a blog post. I was being objective, not subjective. I was telling about a situation, not commenting on it. No matter how well or poorly written the post was, it missed the point of the blogging medium.

The second post I am including is this one about alignment. By this time, I think that I had developed more of a blog-type voice. I was writing more from my point of view rather that as an outsider. I was voicing an opinion, not just fact. I think some of my personality came through, especially at the end. I really am a humorous person, although I wouldn't guess that that has become apparent through my blog or my interactions with others in the class. The one sentence that I wrote all semester that best reflects who I am and my attitudes toward the world in general is the last one of the post: "The pessimist in me wants to return to the rowing analogy: When we pull together, we go places, but we're all still slaves on a Roman Galley." Incidentally, I feel much more qualified to write a 'worst-of' than a 'best-of.'

The third post I am including is this one about thought processes and communication. This post was a long time in coming. I had been struggling with issues regarding communication the whole semester, and they really came to a head when I was writing my book review and receiving feedback about it. I just couldn't seem to communicate what I thought about the book in any sort of manner that allowed others to pick up on it. I don't think my views of the book were not valuable, and I don't think they were any less valid for being mostly negative. At the same time, I just couldn't convey what I thought without sounding as if I'd entirely missed the point of the book. I also tried something new with this post: I brought in an idea that I'd been thinking about outside of class; that is, the mental and physical selves (which Senge talks about too on p151-156! The theme is echoed throughout the section on mental models, though I don't think the terminology arises again) . I tried to write what I knew rather than trying to develop entirely new ideas. I tried to be an expert for a bit instead of always venturing a novice's guesses. Ironically, this post about communication had a rough comments section with some failures of communication present.

The last post I am including is this one about learning. I really liked this post because of the serendipity that allowed me to write it. I had some well-formed ideas about my own learning, but I didn't have any way to make them interesting. I had no story. I had no framework for expressing my ideas. I went to the EWS computer lab after one of my classes to sit down and hash out the blog post, and that was when I inadvertently chose a seat next to someone who was taking some of the classes I took freshman year. It provided me with a perfect 'grab' for the beginning of the post to get the reader's attention. It allowed me to write about more abstract ideas through a concrete example. The situation gave me a grounded topic to write about--something I've struggled with all semester. This was the closest I ever came to actually wanting to post something to my blog because I had a current, relevant situation in my life to write about.

I learned a lot by blogging. I developed a new skill. I am proud of what I've written. I am glad I took the class. I still don't think I will blog again. Writing a post feels like running a mile: it's a huge chore, but I feel like I've improved myself. Even though I do think I will continue running, blogging is simply too painful for me.

shared vision

I don't think I have the proper perspective to comment on shared vision at the University. What is the University's vision? To promote education? To graduate well-educated students? What would it mean for me as an individual student to be compliant with this vision? Would that entail simply being committed (or even compliant) towards being a good student? What would being committed to the University's vision entail? I don't have the answers to these questions.

I do think that I can comment on what it means for an individual student (namely myself) to be committed towards an education.

I like to think that I am a committed student. I try to find value in all my courses beyond boosting my GPA and fulfilling my graduation requirements. That isn't to say that I am not also a compliant student: I study for exams; I learn what is asked of me in the way I'm asked to learn it. I memorize facts for closed-book exams. I prepare equation sheets for technical classes. I go to lecture on a regular basis. I complete my homework.

During this process, however, I am continually asking myself whether I am learning. If what's asked of me simply isn't cutting it, I'll do what I think I need to do to learn what I think is important. One way I really know that I am committed to a class or a subject is if I revisit the material after the class has ended. Whether reading Indian Country Today three years after my Introduction to American Indian Studies class, or helping students with calculus and physics, I can see my commitment to the material when I continue to pursue it after the course has ended.

These ideas tie in closely to the ideas of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, presented in Senge and the subject of a previous blog post. Commitment is closely aligned with intrinsic motivation, and compliance can have aspects of both.

One example of commitment vs. compliance vs. apathy in a classroom setting is the very class I'm writing this blog for: Designing for Effective Change.

Students committed to their blogs didn't need a prompt, or at least not much of one. They had taken complete ownership of their writing. They understood the blogging process and its facility in helping them learn. They wrote not necessarily what was asked of them, but what would help achieve the goals of blogging and of the class that they had internalized.

Students compliant with their blogs saw the value of blogging in terms of helping them learn. They were more than happy to write a blog post every week, and they generally felt comfortable following the prompt. They did not take the authority to write whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. They constrained themselves to the system set in place by the class, and they used it to work towards the goals of the class.

Apathetic students didn't care about the class or about blogging, and didn't do much of it.

In the case of the class, part of the shared vision might be the promotion of blogging as a tool for fostering intellectual discussion--those committed to this vision will probably continue to blog. Those only compliant with this vision may not. The apathetic students still don't care.

In terms of engagement vs. disengagement, language which we've used throughout the semester, both commitment and compliance can produce engaged students. Whether or not this engagement is enough to buy into the shared vision of the University, I do not know.

Dave's Multimedia Project: Mental Models

Made some minor changes: the pacing is slightly faster, and some images that didn't transfer well have been fixed.

Daves Multimedia Project: Mental Models

View more presentations from dluedtk2.

Multimedia project--Mental models

Some of the art (namely a smiley face and some music notes) did not transfer well. I will attempt to fix it tomorrow.

http://www.slideshare.net/dluedtk2/daves-multimedia-project-mental-models