4 Alan Lesgoo, atrector of Learning antDee opmerl” C.eriter at CA of Pith Thecomputer is on “amptfier,” involves both50L4nt “stuty practices ant thoughtlessones.” Woch of the two wtl pretominate°5 Are computers “the filn’stnps of the 90s”°chffort gtot, author of iIicori noke Oil “WeIovet thei eftmstripsi because We titn’t haveto think °or an hour teachers lovke thembecause they tatn”t have to teach ant pore ntoovet them because rt shoWet their schoolsore high tech. aut no earning happenet”

8 Ohiltren With atsaboities scow most ecitenceof mproement With computer use.

ID A number of experts argue that visual learning protuces much less than sensory learning.

the senses have little status af”erkintergarten”

The article uoentet some of mythineng aboutthevirtues of corcouter+echnolcgy What o.cs mosthelpfui for mv pro ect, though, Were the commen”sabout the neet for learners to engage in sensoryactivity, ant the Oea that computers to not seem toencourage creativity I’m not sure that the analysisbolts for the activity of research, Witch unlike someof the examples—mostly high scbooi antelementary—seem tirectet toWart a Whole range ofteacher-guictet instruction The task of collectingresearch off the Web seems more tirectet antpurposeful. Rut maybe not.

One puote that really etants out “school is notabout information, it’s about using information” Anthere this seems relevant. The Web offers the 5th-testate illusion she’s geiling somewhere if shesimply collects information, something that is easy toto surfing the Web. Like the photocopung machine,the Web Will help “he sutent research accumu atetmatenal but at What point Will she thiar about it? howmuch toes the stutentfor example, have to reflectbefore she tecites to click the purer icon° At eastWrIt the photocopu machine, it costs monet to print acopu, an incentive to think, about Whother the mater alis WorW copyng, this inverSive is missing on the WebFIGURE 3.5 Here’s one of my double-entry scribbles. I was researching

how students use the Web for research and found a related article in the

Atlantic Month/v titled “The Computer Delusion.” In the right-hand column,

I found myself taking off on a quotation: “Schooling is not about information.

it’s about using information.”

Other Notetaking TechniquesThe Research Log: A Jay Leno ApproachThe research log is an alternative to the double-entry journal

that promotes a similar “conversation” between writer and source,

but with a few differences. One is that, like Jay Leno, the researcher

starts with a monologue and always gets the last word. Another

at

VOther Notetaking Techniques 153Oppenniemet lotot “The Corrpu”er C’e{sion.” Atianl,c t\Jontb v,.Aiit 997

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97ui computer hm>

154 Chapter 3 / The Third Week

difference is that the research log may be more adaptable than the

double-entry journal for researchers who prefer to write on comput

ers. The standard format of the research log can serve as a template,

which can be retrieved whenever you’re ready to take notes on

another source. Those notes can then be easily dropped into the draft

as needed, using the “Cut and Paste” feature of your word-processing

program. Obviously, the research log format works just as well in a

paper notebook.

The basic approach is this:

1. Take down the full bibliographic information on the source

(see Figure 3.6). Then read the article, book chapter, Web

page, or whatever first, marking up your personal copy in

the usual fashion by underlining, making marginal notes,

and so on.

2. Your first entry will be a fastwrite that is an open-ended

response to the reading under the heading “What Strikes Me

Most.” You could take the following stances or pose the follow

ing questions to guide this writing:

Begin by playing the “believing game,” exploring how the

author’s ideas, arguments, or findings are sensible. Then shift

to the “doubting game,” looking for gaps, questions, and doubts

you have about what the source says.

What strikes you as the most important thing the author is

trying to say?

t What surprises you most?

• What do you remember best?

• What seems most convincing? Least convincing?

How has it changed your thinking on the topic?

• How does it compare to other things you’ve read?

• What other research possibilities does it suggest?

3. Next, mine the source for nuggets. Take notes under the head

ing “Source Notes.” These are quotations, summaries, para

phrases, or key facts you collect from the reading. They are

probably some of the things you marked as you read the source

initially.

4. Finally, follow up with one more fastwrite under the heading

“The Source Reconsidered.” This is a second, more focused look

at the source in which you fastwrite about what stands out in

the notes you took. Which facts, findings, claims, or arguments

that you jotted down shape your thinking now? If the writing

stalls, skip a line, take another look at your source notes, and

seize on something else to write about.

Other Notetaking Techniques 155Project: The Newest Commodity: The SmileCitation: Tanner, Marty. “American Choppers.” The New

iQ1 Times 20 Feb. 2005 <http://tinyurl.com/68m2qx>.Date: 4/5/2008L What Strikes Me Most:A prosthodontist is a dentist that specializes in

making teeth look a certain way. While many people

L are born with smiles they are proud of, a

prosthodontist can take any smile and modify it in

any way. Unfortunately, more and more people are

falling into a trap that there is only one “per

fect” smile, and they are asking for their own

mouths to be modified to create the perfect smile.

This disgusts me because I think there should be as

many smiles as there are people. It’s becoming like

a nose job or a face lift—some modification people

make to their appearance to make it less like the

countenance they were born with, and more like that

“perfect” face. It makes me sad that another thing

that is so distinctive to each person has actually

become something we want to normalize. As a woman

I feel like I’m told to be a size two, have

straight, shiny hair, and have a little, cute nose,

and have perfectly arched eyebrows, and have thick,

pink lips. Now too I have to have the correct

length and width teeth that are a sparkly Bl white.

It makes me wonder why our culture goes from

accepting one part of ourselves as standard and

imperfect but acceptable, and makes it into some

thing we need to modify.I also think the prosthodontist to the stars,

Dr. Levine, is really disingenuous in this article.

While his job depends on people being unhappy with

the way their teeth look, he tries to play the

“good guy” card and say that people’s smiles are

looking too perfect, and that people need to have a

great set of choppers, but not overly great. HeFIGURE 3.6 Amanda’s Research Log

156 Chapter 3 S1 The Third Week

seems to want to make the polite statement that

nobody has a perfect smile, but then through his

profession his job is to make people believe they

can get a perfect smile—and they don’t already have

one. I think that’s kind of slimy.

Source Notes:

“Within certain strict boundaries, Levine likes to

see some imperfection because it renders the hand

of the dentist invisible. This is his art.” Many

famous people, like actors and actresses, think of

their smile as a sort of symbol of their status

that they can flash to attract attention. Many of

these smiles are exactly the same, with the golden

mean the proportion of the length of their top six

front teeth, and with each individual tooth having

a width that is 80% of the length. There is even a

“perfect” amount of tooth that should show when a

person’s mouth is closed: around 3.7 mm. Patients

can wear a fake set of teeth around their home

before they have their smiles modified to see if

what they imagine as being perfect actually looks

bad. They can test drive their new set of teeth

for friends and family so they don’t end up with

a mistake that looks like a pair of too-perfect

dentures.

“Smiles are looking too much alike.”

the man who credits himself with shaping

Christie Brinkley’s ‘iconic American smile.’” Reality

makeover programs like The Swan often use a

prosthodontist as part of the makeover.

The Source Reconsidered:

When the article mentions Julia Roberts or the

“iconic American smile” I know exactly what it

means. In my mind, I truly have an image of that

smile, and I realize now that’s because every sin

gle starlet and commercial mo-del seems to have

that smile. Yet, when I look at my friends and all

the people around me, there are so many different

smiles. I have one friend with really short, stubby

RGURE 3.6 (Continued

II

5,’,

IOther Notetaking Techniques 157

teeth that are pretty brown around the edges, and Iadmit that I notice it. But when she smiles, I tendto look more at the rest of her face and the factL that she’s really happy tnan I do at her imperfectteeth. It’s like it’s turning some natural humanemotion into some mass produced carbon copy. That’swhy the whole smile care thing really bothers me.Changing somebody’s nose changes only their nose.Changing someone’s smile seems to control and modify the way they communicate a feeling, and thatis really bothersome. They are modifying somethingfar more personal than just their appearance,they are changing the way they emote. That’sfreaky.

FIGURE 3.6 (Continuedi

Narrative NotetakingNarrative notetaking (see Figure 3.7 is an episodic approach toreading for research. It documents the writer’s narrative of thoughtabout a source, developing several layers” of response with eachreading and rereading; in that sense, it’s a bit like the research log.Narrative notetaking essentially turns the double-entry journal on

Fo&using Question l4ow has cosmetic tientistq changeti the way Wethink of the smile, anti what are the repercLAssons1

our&e t,Ualke ftob. C.onsumeti; (,Anstaineti Masses” The NeW”lorkz May 1004 ht://tinyu1.com/5suo9w.

First Layei ton the ouroeThe prosthotiontist ionatban Levine works to change the way people’steeth took. l-Ie createtl a protluc.t calleti Gomnile that works to whitenpeople’s teeth. t first he tiitin’t think there was much use for it, butthen normal people starteti to want whiter teeth, anti his businesshas boometi.

FIGURE 3.7 Amanda’s Narrative Notets

I

I158 Chapter 3 / The Third Week

For a while many celebrities have cosmeticafly enhancetl their teeth,

but now normal people are as well. saks an ephora, two upscale

retailers, started selling the product. Colgate an Crest, trai

tionalty known for their toothpaste, also created protucts for over the

counter whitening. These procucts seem to be booming in the

early 2.000s.

Many people are now feeling that white teeth are as much of a necessity

as a wasbe face or brushed hair. It seems to be a sign of the times.

ftetailers are also making out hand over fist as more and more people buy

whitening products.

One of the clever ways whitening products work is they tell consumers

that they don’t have to change their lifestyles to get whiter teeth. They

can still drink dark beverages and eat colored foods, but dust use a

whitener to keep their teeth looking pristine. Americans seem to like

products that make sure they can indulge in all the things they’d like,

but avoid the negative repercussions of doing so.

People are now going to the dentist to make sure their teeth look

good, rather than just for oral health. This can actuaUy be seen as a bene

fit, because it means that people are at least going to the dentist.

It’s not completely inational that many people are hopping on the band

wagon of a more celebrity-like smile. People who are generally considered

attractive make more money than average looking people, and it’s another

way to stand out positively in the crowd.

e&on Layer ftapi summary

The American public is getting more and more vain, as evidenced by the

fact that tooth whitening is growing in popularity. While only celebrities

used to modify the appearance of their teeth, now average people are

flCURE3,7 (Continued)

I