Research Log

Completing this research log allowed me to meet key course outcomes, particularly in terms of my ability to conduct research, evaluate materials against specific criteria and analyse how the material was created. A primary outcome I accomplished was finding and critically analyzing credible academic references through the UCF library database. This process helped me become sure of how to find scholarly articles and the components that make a source stable (peer-reviewed, relevant author topics, etc.). I elaborated on how each source connected to my topic of literacy and dance, not just describing the article but as well as summarizing and analyzing sources more productively than in the past. A more significant outcome was how to tie these ideas in with a broader academic conversation across the sources. For instance, I made connections between Fishman’s concept of literacy as a social practice and Gee’s idea of multiple literacies to dance practices. Although I shifted my topic of research to social media and mental health, this assignment was essential in learning how to establish a strong basis for a research paper. In general, all of these aspects of the research log improved my source analysis capabilities, and allowed me to better prepare for higher writing, such as that needed in the literature review and research final project.