Self Assessment
My first year in the Leaning, Design, and Technology program has been challenging and rewarding.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity thus far to learn as a member of our supportive LDT community. It has been through the generative interchange of ideas occurring so often within our courses and meetings that I have found the most substantial leverage points for learning about the body of knowledge and process of scholarship within our field. It is often not the hours upon hours of solitary effort, but sometimes a single comment from a fellow learner or teacher that I believe makes the greatest difference in my progress.
The foundations course, graduate seminar (8990), and meetings with Dr. Choi in the fall helped me build a platform for further exploration in the years to come. With Dr. Choi’s support, I have constructed an initial research direction that I believe should provide a strong anchor for my program of study. He has challenged me to think critically about key issues in real-world problem solving and to consider the importance of constructing a rich conceptual framework that can undergird the future design of problem-solving learning environments for the students I am working to serve.
The greatest challenge for me in the coming years will undoubtedly be the fact that there are only 24 hours in each day. Most of our life choices involve value judgments about time, and as with so many students and professionals, I have to carefully plan and prioritize in order to reach my goals. I’m privileged to be a member of this program, and although it means making sacrifices with my time in other areas, I am glad to be on this path, and appreciative of the opportunities it affords.
As a full time employee at the University in addition to my role as a student, my program of study is set to take five years rather than four. I am not certain yet about how to focus my electives and cognate courses to best align with my research trajectory, but I believe the field of psychology, and perhaps even anthropology offer interesting opportunities to explore human decision making and reasoning, which are critical areas related to my research interests. I would also like to take the new design based research course as an elective within the LDT department.
As I begin my second year in the program, I am excited to focus on the study of qualitative methodologies, research on naturalistic decision making, and the application of cognitive task analysis as a tool in my work. I believe that with the coursework and research I have described, and my continued involvement with this outstanding learning community, I have a solid structure in place for the coming years as a student of learning, design, and technology.