Changing methods of research--what does it mean?

[_asbestosman]

Something else that the internet age has changed for me is the ability I have to find software or tutorials to teach me something. While a tutorial may not be the same thing as research, it tends to teach me something more quickly than I would learn by plowing through a textbook or reading a webpage. The drawback is that sometimes tutorials leave me without making the bigger connections I find in textbooks. But the benefit is that many tutorials give me a better intuitive feel for what is happening in the first place. Once I understand that, it becomes easier to digest the information in textbooks. This at least works for me in the case of science and engineering.

[_asbestosman]

I hope you didn't think I was telling you to grow up and be an adult...rather that is the case I make to my students---that they are adults, not frightened children. All my comments were illustrations of how I view these things in relation to the students I encounter, not you. The same with the issue of "boredom" which usually comes after a few lessons on theories of reading, in particular the notion that the reader produces the meaning of the text. Once a student accepts that idea you can productively ask, "so why then do you want to produce this text as "boring?"

That is an interesting idea. I suppose one could do the same for "boring" movies too. I know I've enjoyed the penut gallery in Mystery Science Theater 3000 as they take on B films. Maybe if I could have done the same with books and history I would have done better.

Also I'm not saying one has to be interested in everything. What I'm talking about is what happens in the classroom. Too often students, because they have been taught to do this, approach "literature" as though it were merely a matter of appreciation. And thus they think its all just a matter of "likes" and "dislikes" or enjoyment and entertainment. I'm sure its still taught that way in some classes as well. I am not interested in inculcating some form of connoiseurship. Rather in my courses, which are not classes in "the classics" or "great literature," texts are an object of study and whether they fit one's tastes is immaterial to a study of the structure of narrative and an investigation of the ways in which narrative tropes mediate our relation with reality. In other words, I'd like students to be able to reflect on how ideas and concepts organize our situation in the world, producing both limitations and possibilities.

The problem I myself have is that if I don't enjoy something then I'm unlikely to think about it or analyze it. I can plow along through stuff I'm not interested in, but I get less value out of it. In such cases I revert back to simple and stupid memorization. Once in a while a teacher was able to spark that interest for me as in the case of "Bartleby the Schriveneer" (I added mention of it in the previous post after an edit). I'm not saying it's the teacher's responsibility to do that, but rather that sometimes that's moved me from memorization to analysis in some cases.

[_Moniker]

Asbestosman, I think it's unfortunate you didn't speak up in class. The classes that I found most stimulating were the ones where I found questions to ask -- THAT is what made it quite interesting, to me. Or where a spark of discussion happened! Say something -- anything and someone else has a different POV and then it's off - that was FUN!

I'm resurrecting my book club thread! Let's read a book together, asbestosman!

Psst: I wasn't bored with math -- it was just difficult for me. It was quite challenging.

[_asbestosman]

I think it's also important to look at cons when speaking of the changing methods of research. The internet has made a lot more information available, but I also often haft to sift through more garbage to get to something of interest. Yet it can also be the case that lower standards makes information more readily available to me. If someone quickly sketches an illustration by hand, such a thing may be unlikely to be up to publishing standards but yet quite valuable for me to better understand what I am looking for.

[_Yoda]

Here's my problem...I love to think about stuff, but I don't really like to research. I love to read, but not tons of material about the same subject. I can do research, but I don't particularly enjoy it. What does that make me? (Normal?) Perhaps it means that I haven't found a broad subject I'm really interested in and want to immerse myself in.

You just need to have Blixa as your professor. Wait...scratch that...you have a massive crush on her. You wouldn't get anything out of the class. I have this vision of you painting "I love you" on your eyelids and closing your eyes in class to distract her during a lecture. (Flashback to "Indiana Jones") LOL

[Jersey Girl]

The Internet has made research available to the masses. No more need for those formidable card catalogs. Google has simplified and renovated the process.

To heck with even relying on the unavailable resources from proprietary academic journals. Those whose work ends up there will be forgotten even in the footnotes of history.
- The Moksha Prophecy, 2008

[_Bond...James Bond]

Here's my problem...I love to think about stuff, but I don't really like to research. I love to read, but not tons of material about the same subject. I can do research, but I don't particularly enjoy it. What does that make me? (Normal?) Perhaps it means that I haven't found a broad subject I'm really interested in and want to immerse myself in.

You just need to have Blixa as your professor. Wait...scratch that...you have a massive crush on her. You wouldn't get anything out of the class. I have this vision of you painting "I love you" on your eyelids and closing your eyes in class to distract her during a lecture. (Flashback to "Indiana Jones") LOL

Ha. Yeah. That's me totally. Although at my current life juncture I think I got a crush on everyone with a vajayjay. Um...except Juliann.

[_Blixa]

I think it's also important to look at cons when speaking of the changing methods of research. The internet has made a lot more information available, but I also often haft to sift through more garbage to get to something of interest. Yet it can also be the case that lower standards makes information more readily available to me. If someone quickly sketches an illustration by hand, such a thing may be unlikely to be up to publishing standards but yet quite valuable for me to better understand what I am looking for.

This is a good point and shows the need for research education: a basic introduction to search skills will help everyone.

[_Gazelam]

I was gonna read this thread, but its really wordy, can I get whats discussed here in a Youtube clip that I can just watch?