Reflections

This class has been an eye opener for me! I had done research before but never really understood or knew the depths of it. I knew that for research you had to look at sources and create your own idea of them, but never did I know how many different ways that could be done. I have learned there’s more than one way to conduct research and find what you are searching for. Learning about all the different options for research sort of overwhelmed me and put me at ease at the same time. I felt I now had a better idea of what I was looking for and how exactly I was going to find it. This course truly helped me find what I wanted to know. I now know what I want to research for my capstone project. I came in with an idea, but not really as specific as I knew it needed to be. This class taught me to dig deep within myself and find what I was truly looking for, not what sounded good on paper.

I now know as I leave this class what my research topic is, which is “using art as a tool of personal reflection in traditional art curricula.” Now knowing my goals, and what I am wanting to research by laying out my plans in my research proposal, I feel I am ready for the next step. After this class, I will begin my research during my independent study. It helped doing my pilot study in this class so I could learn from my mistakes and also learn from what worked. I now know how to conduct my study and what techniques I will use, it is now just time to do it. I know now I will use quantitative methods to collect my data, such as journals, interviews, artwork, surveys, etc. Before this class, I didn’t even know they were considered a part of a specific method of research. This class has helped me see the full world of research I never knew existed. I am thankful I have taken this class, because it taught me not just about research but also about my own research. It helped me learn to think more clearly and to problem solve by asking more than one main question. It helped me realize I can have more than one question I want to answer in my research study, but they can all be answered by possibly one overarching idea/question.

In all, this class definitely stressed me out and made me feel ignorant or stupid at times, but leaving, I now feel scared, but ready to move on to the next step. This class has empowered me with valuable tools that I am sure I will continue to use through out the rest of my career as an art educator as I strive to improve my own practice.