- Campus:
- IU Southeast
Focus of the story: Brief synopsis of your struggle
I didn't know how to conduct my own original research.
Describe your learning story and how you developed, grew or and overcame the problem.
In my honors class, I was assigned a two-semester long research project which culminated in a presentation at the IU Southeast Student Conference. I felt overwhelmed because I had never done anything like this before, and I did not know where to start. I didn't even know what I wanted to research. There are many topics that I find interesting, but I couldn't seem to settle on one. A major obstacle in this process was I didn't know who I could talk to in order to get help.
During a discussion in my honors class, I opened up about my struggles picking a topic and I found out that everyone seemed to understand. We brainstormed lots of topics, and I ultimately chose one that my professor suggested. Figuring out the topic was only the first step. I didn't know which key words to use in database searches, or which databases to use, or how to read and analyze academic articles. At this point, I really started to stress. Thankfully my professor anticipated this and helped to walk us through the process. The more I learned, the less stressed I felt. I set up consultations with campus librarians who taught me how to use keywords to find relevant information. They also taught me to have fun with my project. I had been thinking of this as an assignment, and not a learning experience. After this revelation I began to read my sources out of curiosity instead of necessity.
Describe the impact that this experience had on you.
This experience has changed how I view my work and college. I've never liked asking for help, but I'm grateful that I asked for help from my peers and the IUS staff. I developed a more positive outlook on challenges and confidence in my ability to read and interpret different types of work. These skills will not only help me in future research projects, they will also help me with other class assignments. The most important lessons that I had learned from my research experience were to ask for help, to view challenges as learning opportunities, and to take everything one step at a time.