What Does This All Mean?

The data collection portion of my qualifying project is complete. In some ways I feel as if it is a great accomplishment. With all the roadblocks and mid-stride modifications I had to make to accommodate my workplace if sometimes felt overwhelming. Actually it usually felt overwhelming. I still find myself siting and staring at the data, wondering what does this all mean? Have I actually accomplished anything? Will anyone see value in what I have done? I did not decide to go for my doctorate for anyone but myself, but it seems as if as a doctoral student you reach a point and ask if what you are doing matters. Not in the "Pluto is no longer a planet" change in the paradigm sort of way, or even in a "look I developed a taxonomy that will now be synonymous with instructional design" sort of way, but in a will anyone read this sort of way. Yes it will be nice to be published, but I wonder if my work will ever get referenced by some student or researcher trying to find their own meaning through someone else’s work. How many articles have i sorted through trying to find something that resonates? I can not even recall. I'm not just talking about articles I agree with, but sometimes, even more interestingly, those with very different viewpoints, theories, and conclusions.
I have grown so much as a scholar and a researcher during this journey some days I am amazed by those around me and their lack of critical thinking or problem solving skills. People are hard-wired to simply accept that which already fits with their world-view, and no facts, logic or even common sense will change that which they believe to be true. I suppose it's too much to as to add a critical thinking and analytical research component to high school. What if students were required to defend a position not their own, would they learn mutual respect and have greater compassion and understanding of the issues we face? Oh to see a political debate that was held to the same level of expectations as a dissertation review.
But I digress. The blog ramblings of one graduate student will not change the world, but someday it would be nice to know that something, somewhere, I did or wrote helped someone find an answer or made someone think a little differently about something. But even if no one every reads a word (besides my professors of course) it will still be worth it, as I have learned to question, to dissect even, the world around me and that makes me a different person than I was when I started this journey.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A reason to GO to graduate school, you're surrounded by graduate students

I stumbled across a blog today via ProfHacker of The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School . The initial posting I went to go read, as my qualifying project has been on my mind this week, was Reason #60: " The Tyranny of the Dissertation ." But I ended up at #50. You are surrounded by graduate students. I was taken aback by the comment "The professor responded without the slightest hesitation: 'There is nothing to be gained from the company of graduate students.'"Is this really the reality of graduate school? I do remember having very little interaction with my fellow Master's students. Once class ended, we all went our separate ways. Now I worked a full-time job while doing my Master's degree, so by the time class was over at 10 pm I was ready to call it a day. But in truth, there was no feeling of community, and as there were only 3 required classes I rarely saw the same people from semester to semester.
Read more

Response to My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Dissertation

Today I read an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Dissertation . As one who is currently struggling with completing the writing for her qualifying project I was hoping for some ah ha moment reading this article. In stead I ended feeling "so I'm not the only one." Confirmation that motivation and the research muse is fickle. Early on I sat down and wrote 17 pages concerning background, literature review, and identification of need. I figured that by the time I was done with the research I'd just need to go back and edit, fill in some blanks, and add the results. Oh how silly of me. Looking back at what I wrote several months ago I feel utterly disconnected from it. So now I am back to procrastinating, looking at an ever looming deadline and the hope that inspiration suddenly hits. I used to keep a notepad by the bed, as I would always seem to find solutions to issues of wording, transitions, or methodology at 2 AM. R
Read more

The Un-Educating of America

So this week the hits against education keep on coming. I am not going to claim that the education system in America is perfect and that we don't need to work on it. The high school dropout rate is too high, the college drop out rate is too high, and the number of students graduating with STEM degrees too low. Debates should be occurring concerning the role of standardized testing, school funding, teacher pay and accreditation, as well as the core curriculum; what should not be occurring is a debate concerning if our children should go to college. Now, not everyone wants to or should attend 4 year colleges, there are those with other gifts, other dreams and other paths to follow, but not going to college should be a decision based on individualized goals, not on the lack access. This week Rick Santorum claimed that "The indoctrination that is going on at the university level is a harm to our country" and that wanting students to go to college makes you a "snob."
Read more