The search reflections
I found it intriguing to have the opportunity to conduct research on feminism, because I never before knew what a rich history it holds and the vast efforts that have been made in the past to support it. When I found the Encyclopedia entry on Feminism in the Gale database, for instance, I was able to read about several national movements that took place in the early twentieth century in favor of the newly established feminist movement. I had not realized the multinational pull of feminism, as so many women leaders emerged throughout various countries at the time. The entry mentions Austria's Marianne Hainisch, for example, who founded the Bund Österreichischer Frauenvereine (BÖFV: League of Austrian women's associations), as well as the Liga Republicana das Mulheres Portuguesas (Republican League of Portuguese women), which originated in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Asociación Nacional de Mujeres Españolas (National Association of Spanish Women) in Spain. I had also never considered famous women like Joan of Arc to be so influential to the feminist movement, serving as a source of inspiration to those who sought to make a change in society's perception of women.
Although this information was interesting and I wanted to spend a great deal of time reading up on as much of it as possible, I found myself short on time, and for reasons that were unfortunately entirely in my control. As per the typical teenage mindset, I put the project off to the side for quite a while until I began to feel the pressure of the deadline looming over me. Procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. No matter how many times I try to avoid it, that eerie thing always seems to creep back up on me. Anyway, instead of spending a few hours of my time in various intervals throughout the weeks and weeks I had to complete the project, I so wisely decided to complete it all on one day, the weekend before the project was due. Smart decision? Probably not. Effective? I would say so. The up side to writing my entire paper in one day is that all the information I researched is concentrated in my mind at one time, so I can draw upon that knowledge without having to scour the depths of my brain for some shard of information I dug up over a month ago.
However, difficulties abound as well. Not surprisingly, I procrastinated on my procrastination by spending a lot of my time focusing on the formatting of my website (because for some reason unbeknownst to me, I quite enjoy doing that rather than actually writing anything of substance). Thankfully, that part of the project turned out really well, and I found several fancy gizmos to add to jazz things up, so at least the website isn't lacking in flare.
Additionally, I have a tendency to over-cite my sources. Last year I participated in the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program, which required that I write a technical report every other week with very detailed information on the topics that were thrown at me. So, at least I acquired quite a bit of experience throughout that arduous ordeal, but during that time I averaged ten to twenty sources per report, so that habit happened to carry over to this project. Although doing so required a ton of reading on my part, I feel that incorporating each of these sources helped me more thoroughly integrate my newly obtained knowledge into my Search Results paper and made the end result even better.
Lastly, I tackled this project in a somewhat wonky order - you see, instead of working on it in a chronological sense, beginning with the Search Story, progressing to the Search Results, and finally the Search Reflections, I discarded that notion entirely. Whoops. I instead ended up working in a very scattered manner - I started by answering my first research question, then used what information I had found to begin writing my reflection (see first paragraph) and continued on to then finally write my Search Story. That's the point at which I became a formatting Nazi, scrutinizing the layout of just about every aspect of my website until I was satisfied enough to move on. After that I returned to the reflections page, bringing me to this point in time (before I've actually finished answering my research questions, no less....). I just felt the need to take this time to put my thoughts down on (digital) paper before I forgot about the convoluted pattern of development I have crafted for my I-search, which has indeed affected my final product.
*Update: The research questions are now complete, and I return to finish writing the reflection as the final portion of my project. As unconventional as it may seem, I'm glad I worked in this order because it helped me retain my (surprisingly vehement) focus throughout the sixteen hours of work I dedicated to completing the project. I gained invaluable research experience because I utilized the MLA (rather than my beloved APA) format and am overjoyed to have been able to write an I-search paper in lieu of a senior portfolio because I know that it has much better prepared me for the AP exam.
Although this information was interesting and I wanted to spend a great deal of time reading up on as much of it as possible, I found myself short on time, and for reasons that were unfortunately entirely in my control. As per the typical teenage mindset, I put the project off to the side for quite a while until I began to feel the pressure of the deadline looming over me. Procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. No matter how many times I try to avoid it, that eerie thing always seems to creep back up on me. Anyway, instead of spending a few hours of my time in various intervals throughout the weeks and weeks I had to complete the project, I so wisely decided to complete it all on one day, the weekend before the project was due. Smart decision? Probably not. Effective? I would say so. The up side to writing my entire paper in one day is that all the information I researched is concentrated in my mind at one time, so I can draw upon that knowledge without having to scour the depths of my brain for some shard of information I dug up over a month ago.
However, difficulties abound as well. Not surprisingly, I procrastinated on my procrastination by spending a lot of my time focusing on the formatting of my website (because for some reason unbeknownst to me, I quite enjoy doing that rather than actually writing anything of substance). Thankfully, that part of the project turned out really well, and I found several fancy gizmos to add to jazz things up, so at least the website isn't lacking in flare.
Additionally, I have a tendency to over-cite my sources. Last year I participated in the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program, which required that I write a technical report every other week with very detailed information on the topics that were thrown at me. So, at least I acquired quite a bit of experience throughout that arduous ordeal, but during that time I averaged ten to twenty sources per report, so that habit happened to carry over to this project. Although doing so required a ton of reading on my part, I feel that incorporating each of these sources helped me more thoroughly integrate my newly obtained knowledge into my Search Results paper and made the end result even better.
Lastly, I tackled this project in a somewhat wonky order - you see, instead of working on it in a chronological sense, beginning with the Search Story, progressing to the Search Results, and finally the Search Reflections, I discarded that notion entirely. Whoops. I instead ended up working in a very scattered manner - I started by answering my first research question, then used what information I had found to begin writing my reflection (see first paragraph) and continued on to then finally write my Search Story. That's the point at which I became a formatting Nazi, scrutinizing the layout of just about every aspect of my website until I was satisfied enough to move on. After that I returned to the reflections page, bringing me to this point in time (before I've actually finished answering my research questions, no less....). I just felt the need to take this time to put my thoughts down on (digital) paper before I forgot about the convoluted pattern of development I have crafted for my I-search, which has indeed affected my final product.
*Update: The research questions are now complete, and I return to finish writing the reflection as the final portion of my project. As unconventional as it may seem, I'm glad I worked in this order because it helped me retain my (surprisingly vehement) focus throughout the sixteen hours of work I dedicated to completing the project. I gained invaluable research experience because I utilized the MLA (rather than my beloved APA) format and am overjoyed to have been able to write an I-search paper in lieu of a senior portfolio because I know that it has much better prepared me for the AP exam.
Full length movie adaption of Brave New World, produced in 1980