Derrick Beil April 20, 2013 Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

Dear Malcolm, As I look back at the progress I have made on my ePortfolio I have come to realize that this semester is almost over. Its weird for me to think that my first year of college is coming to an end and that my summer break is about to begin! I look at all the assignments we have done over the course of this semester and I really do see how everything seems to come together toward our class focal point of curiosity and inquiry. For example, as found in the think book section of my ePortfolio, the entries titled: The Questioner, An Analytic Thinker and My Favorite Entry all express how I satisfied and explored my general curiosity. Moreover, in conjunction with all the assignments I have completed for this class thus far, I have noticed that I have developed in many ways. If one was to summarize my development in one sentence, it would sound something like this: Derrick has successfully developed: the ability to conduct specific, yet, fulfilling research, his writing style, and his overall work ethic. These skills are not only necessary for success throughout my academic career, but they are also completely integral in my life from here on out. Being able to answer questions that I do not know will prove to be an invaluable skill especially now that I have become proficient at doing detailed and informative essays. Speaking of essays, the development of my researching skills is the result of the extended inquiry project and its components. The extended inquiry project (EIP for short) was based heavily on the research each student did regarding their specific topics. Therefore, if one were to even complete the project to the most minimal requirements, they would still develop their research skills in

some shape or form. However, this research EIP was not the usual research paper/project in which a professor gives a topic and students researches it. The EIP was a paper in which each student selected their own topic and was then encouraged throughout the semester to dive into their curiosity and answer their primary inquiry questions. We first started by composing a topic proposal that was comprised of the following: an overview and introduction to our proposed topic, initial inquiry questions, our interest in the topic we had chosen, and the next steps we would take to complete the EIP. This initial step in the development of my final project allowed me to better comprehend my own understanding and knowledge regarding my topic. Moreover, by stating my inquiry questions and the next steps I would take, I was basically creating a road map that would effectively lead me toward the completion of my project. This not only made it easy to conduct research but also made the process of researching enjoyable. For example, the annotated bibliography, an assignment that most students despise, was not only easy but surprisingly fun. The annotated bibliography not only taught me how to pick out important information quickly, but also how to evaluate the information I had found. Being able to evaluate information is a skill that I had already possessed, but doing an in depth annotated bibliography helped refine my annotation skills. Furthermore, finding information quickly was not a skill I had fully developed yet and the assignment helped nurture development in this area. Through some initial research I realized that I would have a lot of information that I would need to analyze and understand; and much like many things in life, doing something over and over again eventually enables one to become better at the process being repeated.

Up till now I have refrained from mentioning my topic - the differences between peoples online and offline identities - because I felt it was an irrelevant notion when expressing how I felt about the assignments completed during this class. I choose to mention it now because the entire process of finding what I wanted to write about as well as doing the actual research on the topic had profound effects on my development in becoming a better thinker, questioner, and overall writer. First off, considering how my topic was a psychology based topic that required me to understand complex hypotheses, learn new terminologies, and learn new methods of understanding people, the part of becoming a better thinker was completely essential in breaking down the information and then representing it in my own words. Truthfully, at first I was a little overwhelmed and also found it a little difficult to understand some of the information I had found, but as I kept reading, it became exponentially easier to process what I was reading and not only understand it but also begin to develop my own ideas and explanations. As for becoming a better questioner, I found that throughout the semester my peers and I were continually encouraged to dig deeper into our topics and ask ourselves more in depth inquiry questions. At first I thought it was a little redundant, but over time the constant questioning turned out to be quite helpful and allowed me to produce a higher quality paper. Finally, when it comes to my development as a writer, I must say that this class had a significant impact on my writing abilities. This is mostly due to the fact that there were required blog assignments every week which gave me the ability to fine tune my creative writing abilities as well as discover my own writing style. On a final note for this reflection letter, I would like to make a comment regarding the class itself. This class gave me an amount of freedom that I have never seen in any of my other English classes. This freedom consequently gave me the option to develop my writing abilities

without any difficult roadblocks. Usually, I have found that when an English teacher forces students to do everything they way they want, I dont really learn anything because I usually end up forcing the material onto paper with lackadaisical effort. I really do hope that some of my other professors English or not give me the same amount of freedom for certain assignments because Im sure that if they do, I will learn and understand the material better not because I have to, but because I want to.

Looking toward the future, Derrick Beil