Reflection #1-ResLAB

First class of resLAB was an incredible surprise! I knew going into the class I should have an idea of a project or research question but I never expected it to be developed on the first day! In partners, we discussed our projects and each came up with different questions for the other person about their project or ideas they could add to it/think about. One of the benefits of this was being forced to say your idea out-loud. Before that day, I kept my whole project idea in my head! This helped me say my idea more concisely and instantly think about what I really meant with my project. My partner helped so much because she gave me questions to think about and because there was a bit of a language barrier between us I had to find different ways to explain different parts of my project. This helped the most because I realised I didn't have a clear idea, just pieces that hadn't connected yet.

After talking with my first partner, I was excited. I had new ideas for my project and needed to think about how to incorporate them. In the class, we then changed to another partner and did the process again.With my new partner, my project developed even more. I started questioning if all these new pieces that were developed were actually going to be incorporated. (Edit: I kept on thinking about all these project ideas the whole rest of the week which was really the first time I felt like I dove in to the project.)

The process that we experienced in resLAB started making me realise that my project was huge. Much bigger than others in my class and I started to get worried. I picked up a research book from the library called So You Want to Do Research! A Guide for Beginners on How to Formulate Research Questions by Ian Lewis and Pamela Munn, and hoped it would lead me to thinking I was on the right track. While the research book helped me understand the importance of having a specific question and to be careful when creating questionnaires for others to fill out, it didn't help me break down my topic or to figure out if it was too big.

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I need to reach out to others about my topic. I think if I talk to someone in the education field who has done research they might help me organise my topic a bit more.

Lewis, Ian, and Pamela Munn. So You Want to Do Research! A Guide for Beginners on How to Formulate Research Questions. SCRE Publications, 1997.