Contact Areas Did the Most to Advance

¶ … contact areas did the most to advance the author's learning, what did the author learn about himself/herself and how the course was approached, what did the author learn about one's self that will help advance the author's progress throughout the program, what ideas have changed about the author's overall research topic, what approaches and tactics from classmates were worthy of admiration and recognition and what other questions can or should be addressed.

Research & Writing

The author of this response learned a great number of things over the course of this course and its associated topics and tactics and the author will explain them in the order provided in the assignment and as noted in the abstract for this assignment. The author of this report has a great deal to share about what was learned during this course from the author's personal perspective and will now into what exactly was learned. The author will also describe the learning in great detail.

Questions Answered

The content areas covered in this course were all informative in their own way but one in particular stood out and that was the basic tactics and methods that are the hallmark of good research. There are exceptions like the deeper scientific fields and the like, but establishing a firm foundation whereby a person knows the best practices and tactics to research and write properly based on that same research is something that all people need to learn and learn well. Being able to write and speak clearly and articulately is a prerequisite for others to take you seriously and this is especially true for younger people who are not expected to know as much as more mature and aged people.

Having these habits and traits down pat would be a major first step in researching and/or writing about just about any topic that one could imagine. It also has to be realized that many people write about certain topics and they are most certainly not, either borne of ignorance or borne of ambivalence, using the best practices of research and presenting that data in a coherent and fair-minded way. However, the author supposes that they're focused more on making an impact and/or pushing their world view than on doing the proper thing or the academic thing.

As for what the author of this response is the most proud of as far as the accomplishments and plaudits gained in this class, it would be that the author's eyes are much more open and honest about what good and honest research is and what it is not. The author has learned that ignorance and intent do not matter nearly as much as the author first thought and ignorance can be derided and be shone on bad writing just as harshly as if the improper research and/or writing was done on purpose. This is especially true of using work of others not in the name of stealing it but in a way that does not give proper credit but when that is not the intent. It still comes off as theft of ideas to many even if the intent to do so was not present and obvious as one may have thought.

As for what the author of this response enjoyed the most, the winner of that argument to the author of this paper was clearly the interactions with the other students and the professor because that makes the learning experience much more enjoyable and this is especially true to someone that is extroverted like the author of this response. There is much to be said for self-paced and remote learning because affords many people with inflexible schedules and/or limited access to the better colleges of America the chance to be exposed to what they normally would not be privy to given their life choices and circumstances. However, any learning experience, whether it be online or ground-based, affords the author of this response the chance to interact and speak with people the author would not normally meet and that is a definite plus across the board.

As for the rigor of this course and how it has changed the author of this report, the changes in this regard are palpable and noticeable as well. The author is beginning to learn that the rigors of life and of education both require resolve and dedication and it drives home the point that nothing worth having is easy to attain or a quick "get" unless it comes down to just dumb luck and no one should want or seek that out because it takes away the amount of value that the eventual achievement that is gotten in the end. Just because taking a shortcut leads to a good grade does not mean the shortcut was worth it, noble or that the grade really means something at the end of the day. For example, taking a class from a college or professor that is a clear rubber stamp is not going to mean as much as if it was from a better college or a stricter professor, even if the grade ends up being an "A" in both instances. Something that dovetails greatly with that is that many hiring managers and HR professionals know that as well and they either be generally skeptical or suspicious of specific schools (if not both) when seeking out people with college experience and little (if anything) beyond that.

As for what surprised the author is that the overall tactics and habits are not hard to master as they are not complicated. However, what is very difficult is getting into the proper habit of using them and applying them in all of the proper instances. This is not to say that all facets and tasks in life should be made as formal or complicated as many of the topics in this course but it does not hurt things in many to most instances to be that diligent and exquisitely tuned into the details.

The tactics and habits of classmates that really sunk in for the author for this report is the general tactic of inclusion and building a rapport and line of discussion with others as well as displaying the best habits through the publicly available posts and other parts of the class so as to allow classmates to see these good habits in motion and what can be had from doing just that. This is not to say that introversion and such is a bad thing but it can be much better to be extroverted in a classroom or similarly educational situation as this allowed the learning horizons to be much longer and wider. Even if an active discussion is not taking place, classmates can silently and discreetly look at the discussions and tactics of others so as to see what is good, what is bad and what is more mixed in terms of results and perceptions. The thoughts or statement of others can stir ideas and thoughts from others so it's almost always better to have an active discourse between students than it would be to not have those lines of communication flowing.