Journal – March 1, 2004

Heather Abner

As I begin to pull my final product together for the I-search process, I realize that I have learned so much from the process that will help me. I tend to research and “dig” for information on the Internet a lot, but without any sort of organization. With the I-search process, I think that my future research will change and (hopefully) I will become more organized at it. The steps have been helpful in deciding what I want to know and how to find out.

Because I enjoy Internet research and because the final answer to my I-search question has led me to an Internet support group, I am creating a web site. It will be helpful to me because all of the links that I need will be in one place for me to access in the future.

In preparing my site, I find myself almost directly taking my information from my journals. I know that was pretty much the point of the journals, but should they be the exact answers to my questions – how my topic chose me, what answers I found, etc…? I guess that make sense, but it is so strange to have the work already done, and now I just pretty much compile it together. That seems so easy. I remember research being complicating and drawn out…

I have really enjoyed this process. To me, it is a great means of answering questions. The steps are tailored to take you all the way up to your answer. And, the answer matters, because the question was important to you. I think that this process should definitely be adopted in the classroom, because it is a practical way to teach the students how to research. If you make them research something they don’t care about, they won’t look as hard for the answer and they won’t know when they find out.