4.1 Students gain knowledge of appropriate research methodologies and are able to apply them in their studies. 4.2 Students use appropriate technologies in research and studies relative to Japanese language and culture. 4.3 Students collect, manage, and analyze current and emerging technology-based resources to develop and produce their scholarly work.
Please see the above links for evidence of completion of this MLO.
MLO 4: Reflective Narrative
Both Precapstone and Advanced Japanese for Presentational Communication focused on helping students to learn how to complete their Capstone projects, which required covering MLOs 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3.
MLO 4.1 So that we could adequately complete our Capstones, we were taught many research methodologies to use for our projects. For example, several times the Librarian in charge of World Languages and Cultures research came to our class (or we met her in the library) and went over tools such as Zotero, coggle, and the library journal databases. She also went over how to more effectively conduct research. Throughout each course, the professors reinforced and reminded us of the methodologies and tools we had learned how to use.
MLO 4.2 What we learned from the librarian and our professors, we applied to our Japanese Capstone projects. Using the library databases and the efficient research methods we learned, we gathered sources, analyzed their applicability to our projects, and properly cited them. We were also able to use these methodologies to gather Japanese sources along with English sources. The information we gained from these sources we organized into effective presentations and papers. The information we researched also served as a base for our surveys; my partner and I even cited and used survey questions from a source we procured after determining they would be useful to our research.
MLO 4.3 The main resources my partner and I worked with and gained knowledge of through these classes were: Zotero, a citation help tool; coggle, an organizational tool; the library databases; online translation tool; and Google docs, slides, and survey. We were able to gain a lot of assistance from these tools to better complete our project. In particular, the library databases, online translation tools like Rikaichan, and Google Drive tools were very useful. The databases provided a trustworthy way to gather sources and the translation tools assisted in our understanding of sources and being able to translate material back and forth between Japanese and English accurately. Google Drive was probably the most helpful, as it allowed us to work on the project separately and keep up with the changes each other had made, as well as communicate from remote locations. For my partner and I, becoming more familiar with Google Drive was an inevitable must due to our conflicting schedules, and our classes really helped build this familiarity.
Though I mainly developed these skills while working on my Capstone at CSUMB, it is important to note that my classes in Japan did involve research and laid the foundation for my Capstone work. Looking back, I can see how my abilities involving research have improved a lot since that time. I think one of the main things I gained from studying abroad was a greater ability to understand Japanese language texts and more awareness of tools I could use to overcome language barriers. I definitely applied what I'd learned abroad to my Capstone project.
I hope to continue to develop my research abilities even further so that I can eventually apply them to graduate school. I feel that through these classes I've gained a very solid base to work from and am very satisfied with my current skill level. I think I've gained more attention to detail and awareness of what to look for when researching from everything I've learned from working towards completing this MLO. I know that in the future what I've learned through working on the Capstone project will definitely help me, one way or another. Knowing how to properly research isn't just applicable to academics.
The most challenging part of fulfilling this MLO was learning how to effectively and efficiently find appropriate sources. There are tons of sources out there and weeding through everything can be daunting. I was happy to learn more research techniques so that I could better utilize the library databases. Ensuring that the survey was airtight was also a difficult process requiring many meetings with our advisors. My partner and I are satisfied with our results, but it was quite the journey getting there. I learned a lot about paying attention to language, what kind of data different questions types would give you, and what kind of data is useful in different situations.