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e Q u e s t................................................. |
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The Journal What did Darwyn, Freud, Piaget and other great scientists have in common? They all kept journals in which they recorded what was happening in their research and the ideas that came to them. It's very easy to forget what you did, why you did it, what worked, what didn't. Believe or not, it's even easy to forget great insights that pop up during research. A journal prevents that from happening.
EVERYDAY during your project you should write in your journal. For some entries you simply may be summarizing what you did for the project that day. But the journal involves much more than that! You should also use it as a place to:
- Ask yourself questions about the projectAs you can see, the journal also is a place for you to explore how your project is meaningful to you personally. This is an important part of eQuest. When you write your progress notes and final paper, you mostly likely will be using what you wrote in this journal.
- Work out ideas and record your insights
- Think about what you are reading
- Plan for the next day and week
- Express your feelings about the project
- Discuss how events in your life influence your project
- Record ideas for writing the final paper
Guidelines:
1. You can use either a looseleaf binder, a bound notebook, or a word-processor to keep your journal. If you're up for a challenge, consider using a blog which will enable you to publish your journal online so other people can comment on your writing!
2. For each entry, you should record the day, date, and time. Also put an interesting TITLE at the top of the page.
3. At the beginning of the journal, create a TABLE OF CONTENTS that contains the titles of the entries and a page number that helps you easily locate an entry.
4. Try to write in your journal everyday! Long entries may be several pages. Short entries may be as brief as a few lines. Write even if you did not work on the project that particular day. You may still have ideas, plans, or feelings about the project!
Even if you have no idea what to write, STILL WRITE! Write about why you had no ideas that particular day, how you felt about that, what you might do to get some ideas, etc. If you're stuck or if the spirit moves you, you may even write about things that seem unrelated to the project - for example, what you did that day, positive or negative things that happened to you, etc. Because an important aspect of eQuest is how your topic relates to you personally, these seemingly irrelevant things may indeed be related to your project!
Titles:
Listed below are some examples of titles for entries that might appear in your journal. These headings are just examples. The journal is for you benefit, so choose whatever descriptive or creative titles you like.What I Want to Accomplish TomorrowTHIS JOURNAL IS YOURS! It is a professional and personal record of your project. I won't be grading it and it's not necessary to show it to me. But it will be very helpful in writing your progress reports and the final paper!
I Did It!
My first chat room conversation
An important email with Dr. Suler
Reactions to Jone's (1976) article
Something I Have to Ask Dr. Suler
I Hate This Project!
A great website
An Idea for the Final Paper
An Insight into email relationships
Dr. Suler is a Pain in the Ass
Why I Forgot to Write in the Journal Yesterday
Started the Final Paper
Feeling Overwhelmed!
Talked to My Mom about This Project