Suggestions for Using Journals in our Foundations I.T. Class

What is a Journal?

A place to practice personal expressive writing; an individual record of educational experience; a writing workshop; a technique to reflect upon experience to give it deeper meaning.

                    Diary-------------------------------Journal -----------------------Class Notebook
                    (“I”-subjective)                                (“I/it”)                                     (“it”-subjective)

What should I write?

--post site addresses (URLs) of interesting information technology that you find
--post questions you have about this or other courses. Fellow students, TAs, and the course instructors may be able to help you with your questions.
--explorations of ideas, theories, concepts, problems, paper topics
--reviews of articles, movies, books, CD’s, DVD’s
--descriptions of events that took, or will be taking place that may interest the rest of the class
--records of your thought, feelings, moods, experiences
--whatever you want to explore or remember

What shouldn't I write?

--hurtful thoughts or strong negative criticism of others in our class are not welcome 
--whining or excessive complaining about this or any other UVM course is not appropriate
--do not post about drinking, drugs, or sex.

When should I write?

--at least once a week
--early in the morning, late at night before bedtime
--when you have problems to solve, decisions to make, the need from clarity out of confusion
--when you need to practice or try something out

How should I write?

--however you feel like it, but legibly: use capital I and correct punctuation.  
--freely, expressively, openly

How do you measure Quality in Journals?

TA’s will review your journal, looking for:

1. Language Features:  personal, conversational, informal, emotional, experimental, candid.
2. Cognitive Activity:  observation, speculation, confirmation, doubt, questioning, self-awareness, connection, digression, dialogue, information, revision, problem posing and solving.
3. Formal Features:  frequency of entries, length of entries, self-sponsored entries, chronology.
4. Regularity: it is far better to post once a week, instead of 14 entries just before the last day of class.
5. Number of Postings: 14 postings minimum are expected over the course of the semester.