Kelsey SummeyMidterm

Key Concepts Im Engaging WithKey Concepts that Challenge Me

1. Critical Thinking2. Independent Inquiry and Curiosity3. Responsibility for Learning1. Making Connections2. Providing and Receiving Feedback

Key Concepts that Im strongly engaging with:Critical Thinking Throughout this semester, I feel that I am critically thinking better than ever before. This type of critical thinking is a lot different compared to in 1101. My critical thinking in 1101 solely dealt with creativity. It took me awhile to get my papers rolling and interesting. Here, in 1102, Im critically thinking through every assignment were given. For example, in Blog Four we were required to create a list of people that would sit at our inquiry questions roundtable for debate. First, I had to think about what type of people I wanted at the table. I chose a journalist, NSA ex and current members, federal judges, and an activist. The last thing I had to do was compare their stances on my inquiry question. The very next day, in class, on February 12, 2015, we had to create a conversation between these people. I had to take in account their points of views, why they felt this way, and how they would present this information. Creating this discussion was difficult but fun in the same way, as it allowed me to get into a role of each member of my roundtable.Round Table Conversation (snippet)Pauley III (ethical) There is no question that the NSA surveillance is not important. It almost prevented 9/11; it could prevent future attacks.Rogers (ethical) I totally agree. Our programs are for the better good of the country.Leon (unethical) But is there any actual proof that these programs have already or will prevent attacks?Snowden (unethical) NO! Its all just an excuse. If the NSA is trying to prevent terrorist attacks, then we dont need every single Americans information.King (ethical) We might not need everyones information, but it is valuable intelligence.Rogers (ethical) Exactly! We arent viewing everyones informationMcCracken (unethical) If you arent viewing all the information, why are you deciding to keep it for five years? You have us all guilty until proven innocent.King (ethical) No one is guilty until proven innocent; we have to go through many steps to open this information.Snowden (unethical) Theres no point to even having the information! You all are abusing power.Independent Inquiry & Curiosity After finally figuring out what my inquiry question should be, I wanted to keep finding out more. My original inquiry question was Is the NSAs mass surveillance and spying unconstitutional? Literally after doing five minutes of research, I came upon various questions. I started asking myself What exactly does unreasonable search and seizure mean? Is the process ethical? If its unconstitutional, how can they do this? Who caused the uproar of the NSA programs? Are there any protests going on? Through various research, I actually answered all the questions listed above. Its a bit too broad for this project, so I decided to narrow down my inquiry question a little further. Ive decided to ask the question Though the NSAs surveillance programs are unconstitutional, yet legal, are they ethical? I will incorporate all the research that Ive done into this topic. Responsibility For Learning Throughout this course, I feel that Ive been 90% responsible for my learning. Ms. Ingram has helped me and given me hints about some assignments, but Ive done most of the work. Just like the Portrait of a Writer Essay in UWRT 1101, I feel like Ive been left alone to figure this all out, which is great. I had the hardest time trying to figure out how to actually set up my visual bibliography. Im not sure which was more confusing, the fact that prezi wasnt working well or the fact that my research was going nowhere. After finally figuring out prezi, I still had the problem with my research. I reached a dead end with the constitutionality of the NSAs surveillance. At first, my topic titles were things similar to, The NSAs Telephone Metadata Program Is Unconstitutional. Yes, this article supported my view on the subject, but it left me no useful substance. It was then my job to revise the way I looked at my research. I then began to find things such as, Federal Judge Rules against NSA Spying and Most Americans Back NSA Tracking Phone Records, Prioritize Probes over Privacy. These new articles pushed me into new directions, and I began to feel like I was on the right path. This is the sole reason of why I believe that I have been responsible for my learning.Key Concepts that challenge me:Making Connections Making connections is something that I struggled with in 1101 as well. I never felt confident incorporating and connecting our readings to my own writing. This is pretty much what Im dealing with now, except I can see it especially in my Visual Bibliography. Though Ive made a key terms list for every source, I am having trouble connecting all the sources together. My next move is to get and use advice from my group member, Olivia. Her inquiry topic has to do with whether or not the use of drugs like Adderall are considered cheating. She did the three column notes and has decided to use different highlighter colors to connect her sources. For example, she uses a RED highlighter to see the similarities between the drugs. Adderall and Ritalin has been the most common drugs across her research. Another example is her using a GREEN highlighter to compare the locations of the research conducted in her study. I can take a lot from her and use it to better develop my Visual Bibliography.Providing and Receiving Feedback Because Im giving and receiving a different kind of feedback, I feel a lack of confidence in what Im saying. In 1101, we got to read our group members essays and then we gave feedback. This feedback would deal with things such as sentence structure, introduction and conclusion changes, or even the title of the paper. Since, in 1102, we are only giving feedback on the visual bibliography and/or the three column notes, I feel that its not that effective. When giving feedback, I am not sure what to say or what to look for. I usually think to myself, Should I say something about the citation? Or how the color of the background appeals to me? Are there any grammatical errors? Its a summary, so how exactly do I give feedback? As for getting feedback, I dont think its as effective as 1101 feedback. Last semester, the feedback made me start thinking. It led me to the experimentation and creativeness of my paper. With this semesters feedback, itll help me make brief changes but not change my outlook or get me thinking. An example of this semesters feedback is from McKenna, and it states, Sounds like you did good research and learned a lot about the topic. I didnt find any holes; you wrote enough. I love my group members and their feedback, but Im just not sure how the receiving of feedback of the visual bibliography will help me in the long run.