I have always liked doing research, whether searching for scholarly sources in the library databases for a school project or doing research online for personal reasons. But for any kind of big project, I always enjoyed the hunt for information much more than organizing it. I had never annotated or summarized documents before or thought logically about why I was including one source or another. As we went through the summer, I learned how to categorize and prioritize my sources. I think the “Rounding Out the Conversation” worksheet was helpful because it did reveal some holes in my research as well as some areas where I had too much. Each of the units gave me more tools to try out and habits I will try to continue in the future.
They Say, I Say also changed my way of thinking about writing. I had never thought of writing as a conversation that I was joining. That was eye-opening. I have used sentence starters before, so I loved having a lot more examples of them at my disposal. I will keep that book as a reference for a long time.
One of the things I struggled with in units 1 and 2 was the huge scope of topics like organizational culture or diversity and inclusion. These are important topics, but they also felt overwhelming to me. In the assigned readings, every writer seemed to be making the same argument, only on behalf a different group of people. The only way I could see getting involved in the conversation was through one of my identity categories, which I didn’t feel comfortable doing.
When I read Sherri’s article summary on the ways that online personality tests can be biased, I saw a way into the conversation. Coincidentally I had recently taken one of those types of tests for an online job application, so I could really relate. Like most people, I am simultaneously excited about new technology and scared of it. Artificial intelligence sounds like the perfect solution to so many problems, but will it really turn out that way? I just had to learn more about how it was being used in recruiting and selecting employees, which then led me to see that it is becoming more widely adopted for all kinds of HR functions. I didn’t come into the summer with this interest, but now I’m hooked on it. I saw the AI in HR Resource Center blog not only as a project for this course, but something that I could potentially continue to work on, or at least use in a portfolio someday.
This summer, I feel I took some big steps towards becoming a better researcher and writer, and I got an interesting side project as well. I was impressed by my classmates, their choices, and the passion they brought to their work. I learned from the ideas in their work and the feedback they gave me on mine. We formed our own supportive community, and I was glad to be a part of it.
Thank you, everyone! Have a great fall!
This has been a great community, and I, too, have enjoyed being part of it! Glad to hear that TSIS has worked well for you, and that you’ve been able to find your way into interesting conversations that you hope to continue. Wishing you all the best in the year ahead!