Week 1 - IDT 8092

We're done with Week 1 of 5 and Dr. Weaver was correct, it was intense.

We started the course learning about being reflective students and thus this blog was born. I consider myself a fairly reflective person, but this is the first time I've formalized the process with a blog/journal. I'm looking forward to taking a breath each week and thinking about all the work I've done and what I've learned.

This course, IDT 8092, primarily focuses on the literature review portion of our dissertation. I have looked at literature reviews and I've had experience doing portions of them in my other IDT classes, but specifically working on the lit review for my dissertation, that's new. It's exciting and nerve-racking. It feels like the stakes are higher this time. Am I picking the right topic? Is my method for note-taking going to be helpful? Am I using the right software to organize everything? Do I have the knowledge to critically evaluate the articles I'm reading? All of those questions and others have been swirling around in my head this week as I search, read, take notes, repeat.

Fortunately we haven't been thrown to the wolves on tackling the literature review. Doing some background research on what it is, the steps involved in doing it, and then, finally creating a concept map to capture the process was helpful. The guidance from my advisor, Dr. Mims, helping me focus in on a topic was also helpful. And, the support provided by U of Memphis librarian, Dr. Pam Dennis, has helped me continue to learn about the process of finding articles related to my topic.

Here are a couple key takeaways for me as I continue working towards completing my lit review:

1. Focus. Focus. Focus. - Identifying my topic and research questions was helpful. As I read articles, I have to remind myself to return to those questions. It is so easy to start going down alternative paths.
   
2. Reference Mining - Using the reference list from articles to find new, related articles has been helpful. I feel like I have a lot to learn about finding the seminal work on my topic. The reference mining concept makes me feel like I can narrow in on the most influential articles.