MED 6080 "Unless I am wrong, and I am never wrong, they're headed dead into the Fire Swamp." ~Prince Humperdink

MED 6080 Conducting Educational Research

This quote is how I felt as I took this class..."dead into the Fire Swamp."  I felt like this was the point of no return for some reason.  Almost as if when this class was completed it would be too late to turn back or drop the program - too much work to just let go by the wayside.  Also, this is when things got serious.  I needed to make a good decision about what my project was going to be so I could use my time most efficiently.  Unfortunately, the literature review I wrote in this class was not the one I used for my proposal. 

What have I learned?

When I was making a final decision about my project, I felt like what I really wanted to do for an intervention wasn't good enough, or didn't have enough merit already, despite the pages and pages of anecdotal evidence to the contrary including my personal experience.  I felt like other people thought anything with the word "dance" in it was too far into the arts to be credible.  I learned that I don't care what other people think about my profession.  I need to ignore the skepticism of the "learned elite" and follow my heart.  The seeds of that realization started germinating in this class.   

What do the products of this class say about me?

The literature review which I wrote in this class shows how suseptible I was to my perceptions of what other's thought.  Instead of being firm in my resolve to do what I truly wanted to accomplish, I let my imagined criticism rule my decisions and change my mind in an effort to please someone else.  I hope, when taken together, the products contained in the portfolio will accentuate my growth, as opposed to my weakness.

How will this aid my students?
The things I learned in this class will aid my students in that I now understand better that I need an open mind when teaching and learning.  I hope I can help my students understand the same thing.

Artifact
Yet another literature review...