Chat with Paula

Tonight I had a really useful chat with Paula after submitting a draft of my report to her and I feel much clearer on what I now need to do.  There were a few things that now seem really obvious and will make my report much more coherent once I make the changes:

·         When I was writing my report I interchanged the phrases “my research project” and “my inquiry”.  Eventually I updated my report and only used Inquiry.  The difference between the two is:

o   Practitioner research is about a given topic and only looks at literature

o   Inquiry includes looking at literature and talking to real people about it.

·         I must not assume people reading my report will know about me or the background to the Inquiry.  I MUST state the obvious.

·         If it is commonly known I do not have to say where it originated an example of that is “triple threat”

·         I originally had problems with the BAPP Library so have not looked there again for a while, It is significantly improved so I will make time to skim what’s there and if it’s useful I will add to my literature.

·         I must keep it simple, start with an introduction of what I did and then go into the detail.  Yes it is obvious but I am not used to writing reports and this was not as easy as it sounds.  I will get other people who are completely fresh to the report to read it to make sure I have explained everything.

·         When I have finished the report I will go back to the module handbook and look at the table of knowledge and skills being assessed.  It is a good check list!

·         I will use my personal experience when necessary, but make clear it is my personal experience and not factual and use it in the conclusion.

·         Make sure I use my learning journal if I can.

·         Choose my appendices wisely.

I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, I still have a lot to do but I am slightly less panicked!  I hope you are all doing ok too, and it’s all coming together.