1.3 Extract Three
(5/03/2010)
This week I had a telephone appointment with my tutor, Peter Bryant and it really helped me to feel like I was on the right tracks. We spoke about my project title and Peter thought it was a good idea and a solid base for my project. He informed me that as I had already decided on a topic idea and seemed quite solid and secure with that I was ahead of many other people, this made me feel slightly less nervous than I had been feeling! After speaking to Peter I decided not to get too hung up on my topic idea as it will probably focus and change over time. I realised that I need to concentrate more on the module itself and the different research methods.
Another thing that had been bugging me which I discussed with Peter was searching for journals. He explained to me about if I use the library catalogue, I can type keywords but Google scholar will allow me to find different articles and gain the titles and abstract to search for them in the university library of journals. I felt such less pressure on me after speaking to my tutor, as I sometimes feel slightly alone in this project as I can never make the campus sessions!
After my phone appointment I began reflecting on work I had done in the past and how this might help me with my topic. I used to work in a call centre doing market research on a part time basis and many of the terms we used in the office are terms used in the book by Judith Bell and terms that I will need to use in my project. This means I already understand many of the terms, for instance, qualitative and quantitative research and coding etc.
Overall from this week I have decided I need to move away from my topic idea and start working through the module handbook more thoroughly.
1.4 Extract Four
(11/03/2010)
This week has been difficult for me. I am starting to feel very behind on my project proposal and struggling due to lack of time and not being able to attend campus sessions.
I have been relying heavily on the blogs of fellow students to see me through and have been reading up on the feedback from campus sessions.
One way of managing my time I have trailed this week has been to stick post- it notes all over the module handbook where I need to complete a task and then write lists of task and when I want to complete them. As mad as it seems I get lots of satisfaction from ticking off jobs as they are completed and have found it really helpful this week as I can see more clearly how well I am doing!
I have been searching the internet for literature using notes taken from campus sessions

Notes on searching Journals
• Annotations – notes to yourself
• Include research books in bibliography
• Google scholar – cuts out commercial stuff
• G247-RESOURCES – library of journals- learning resources
-electronic database searching
-full text and citation
-Citation databases
-call / email librarians

1.5 Extract Five
(16/04/2010)
I have run out of time for the draft copy to be submitted to my tutor for feedback which is disappointing.
Time is running out for my proposal and I am at a loss. I have been trying to utilise Kolb’s learning cycle
• Concrete (doing, feeling),
• Observation (watching, assimilating)
• Abstract conceptualization (thinking, considering)
• Active experimentation (transforming, adapting).
However it’s not helping. I have been trying to work through the activities in the handbook to feel more prepared and equipped however it is making me feel panicky about time constraints. I have read through some of the work I did in the previous handbook to try and help me with my learning.
I believe the best thing for me to move forward now would be to put the reading aside and begin to work on the proposal itself, hopefully this will make me more confident about completing the work on time. Tasks to complete
• Proposal
• Critical Commentary
• Rationale for Award Title and form
• Ethics Issues and form.