Postings on the Forum

I've copied in the postings on the forumas of class time Wednesday morning, and put in bold face some things I think I've got something to say about.

The way the course is laid out is different but it intrigues me. Being a fourth year student you get used to the same structure in all your courses, this one is going to be very different it seems.

Something that has really intrigued me is that we have some say in what works we are going to be reading, which has never happened in one of my classes before.

The only thing that really concerns me is having other people reading my work; this is something that I am not used to.

All in all I think this course will challenge me but at the same time will teach me a lot. I think that where we are such a close group that we will hopefully be able to easier group together and help one another on things that we don’t quite get.
 

• I agree with Tabitha that never in any of my classes have we had any choice in what we read. I like that we have choice because then we can pick what we think is interesting to read and talk about.
• At first, I know that the layout can seem daunting. I've been there. I also agree that taking English can get you into a routine, unless you are fortunate to get a prof or a topic that breaks the mold. Hopefully, this will be a good eye-opener for all of us. I know I need work on my research abilities.

When I first came across the idea of “collaborative investigation” I was a bit anxious because I had never had success with this type of work before due to having groups that did not care about the work they were doing but I was really interested to see how this could be different and it is one of the reasons I am more open to this class.

I do like that we will get to decide on some of the literature and other materials we will be using. Since I am a complete stranger with this period of literature I am excited to see what we will discover and discuss in class.

Overall reading the course introduction I learned that this is definitely going to be a class that will challenge everything I have known about an English class that I have taken up to now as well as my own learning processes. While it may be a challenge I am up for it.
 

• I agree that I know nothing about the literature from this time period and am also interested in what we will find.
• I agree with way Lucas's thought of this class not being like any other class. It is a different way of doing a class, but it will hopeful teaches us how to become better at using resources to find things about a certain subject, and also learn to become better writers.
• I've been in those groups where three people put in work for an A, but the other does nothing and everyone walks out with a B. One advantage of this type of course over the typical group format is that your progress is evaluated separately from others. There is still the dynamic of working together, but you aren't all tied together by the waist so the one on the end can drag you off the cliff! ...That analogy got away from me.

I have never been in a class that was organized as a "collaborative investigation".  In an English class, I am use to reading literature and listen to lectures, however, I am open to this new way of learning. It is different and intriguing.

This course entails that students post their work so others can learn from what they have read. I am not use to people looking and reading at my work. The way the course is organized is out of my comfort zone, however, it is necessary to the course so I must do it as I am now. I am interested in what this course will bring and where it will lead us to.

Instead of a professor telling us what happened in a certain period of time, although it would be easier, we get to investigate and explore it ourselves. We can make up our own opinions from what we have learned and share it with others. This way we are helping each other in seeing a concept from a different persepective.

Through this way of learning, I will surely learn something new everyday.

• I agree with Kayla's point about making up our own opinions and how this can help us discover our own views on something opposed to a view given to us by a professor or author that may be nowhere near what we believe. As Kayla says this will help us learn from each other and I think this is an interesting change from other classes.
• I agree with Kayla about having our works read by everyone else, it is definitely out of my comfort zone as well.
• That is an interesting concern that I often forget about... I'm in the Creative Writing concentration and I had to get over my misgivings about my work being workshopped pretty quickly. Don't worry. It is a very different thing to have someone read your work to learn from it versus reading it like you do for workshops. For one, you don't get copies passed back to you covered in red ink with all your typos pointed out!

This course layout requires you be on top of yourself. You have to know when you need things done. And you have to give yourself enough time to work on it. Organization was something I severely lacked in my first few years at STU and Professor Hunt's course is what I keep looking back to as proof.

But this layout will be different than typical group projects; we are individually marked for one. What struck me the most from the Introduction was the part on page 7 about the person in the group skating by... That is always the breaker for me and groups. Here, you need to be reliable and work hard, but not just to get the slacker their easy B. Your effort will contribute to your mark and also aid others in the class. On the flip-side, your slacking will really only hurt you and slightly hinder others. If my groups from before had been like this, I might not have such a bad taste in my mouth at the mention of groups.

It's actually a bit of a relief for me to be coming into this class. I really want to know how much more I will enjoy this course layout now that I have hindsight and a good day planner on my side!

In a course structured around the joint efforts of the entire class, it is only fair that the end result of your learning directly reflects the amount of time and effort you put into your work. Not only does it make things easier for you in the long run (provided you spend an adequate amount of time on the course material), but it also provides a solid platform to let others know what exactly it is you are thinking about any given subject (and also allows you to learn in much more depth from others who put it the same time and effort). For me, this is what makes the class the most enjoyable, because it allows for a learning environment that is intrinsically based on discussion rather than the ability to memorize lectures and diligently take notes.