Learning Record Final

12/3/2004

Welcome back! When you last tuned in we were analyzing our subject, Malisa Hines’, progress in reference to her own goals. Our format today will be similar to that of last time with the addition of some new sections. We’ll begin with a recap of our last episode, move on to the new information we’ve uncovered, report our current observations of the subject, draw it all together to give you a complete picture, then conclude with our observers notes and photos.

Recap

Over the course of our observations up until the last episode we established that some of her goals for herself have been met while others left much to be desired. Midway through her semester, here is how she measured up to her goals:

Goal 1: STOP procrastinating, and put more time into projects.

Status: Room for improvement.

Goal 2: Learn to manage time better and to complete all reading assignments.

Status: Room for improvement.

Goal 3: Learn how to write more effectively.

Status: Making good progress.

Goal 4: Learn how to produce a professional product.

Status: Good effort, still room for improvement.

Goal 5: Learn more about self through the activities of class.

Status: Satisfied, however, one can always stand to learn more about themselves.

Goal 6: Work on giving good constructive criticism.

Status: Satisfied, she has worked on it but should continue to work on it.

Goal 7: Produce a final project that is something to be proud of.

Status: Unknown.

Goal 8: Write with the intention to produce the best product possible instead of only fulfilling requirements.

Status: Room for improvement.

Goal 9: Work on revising skills instead of just writing then turning in a project.

Status: Room for improvement.

Goal 10: Don’t stress so much over assignments and just enjoy the class.

Status: Satisfied.

By looking at the list of goals and which have or have not been fulfilled, we can see that she has had many things to work on. At the time we gave her a 5 on a 10 point scale, giving her half credit on her goal fulfillment. Hopefully we will find some improvement when we evaluate her today.

In our evaluation of her overall performance at mid-semester she had earned 347 out of 465 possible points. This led us to give her a probable grade of C in the class. We had hopes that perhaps this would also improve by out second visit.

New Information

Since our last episode we have uncovered some new information. We have obtained some writings that the subject herself has done. These writings are things called learning records. We’re not exactly sure what they are supposed to be, but they are documents in which the subject writes about herself. We are hoping that these writings will help us to understand this creature.

In the first document, Mali writes about her results from a Meyers-Briggs type indicator test. This has given us some insight into how Mali actually sees herself. Her type is INFJ. Here are the traits assigned to her type that she found to accurately describe her personality.

“…under stress may fall prey to various forms of immediate gratification.”

“…There can sometimes be a “tug-of-war” between NF vision and idealism and the J practicality that urges compromise for the sake of achieving the highest priority goals.”

“…Self expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper…”

“INFJs: …are motivated to learn in order to further their own and other people’s development…benefit from allowing their creativity and inspiration free reign…may need to be encouraged to share their insights…”

Hopefully this information will prove useful in interpreting today’s evaluation of Mali.

In the second document, Mali writes on her status as a reader and writer. We will give a short recap here. She starts by admitting that she has a habit of doing the minimum when it comes to reading. She states that she only seeks to comprehend what she is reading to a certain point. The same apparently applies to her writing. She states that she only “dig(s) down deep enough to write for a certain grade.” She also mentions some areas that she hopes to improve upon. The first is to tackle big projects head on instead of succumbing to her tendency to find other smaller projects to work on. Her other issue was that of abandoning topics she is passionate about for ones that are more practical. She also was of the opinion that if she tackled these two things, the improvement would be seen in her writing. Okay, enough of that, on to the new episode!

What we are seeing

Our subject is nearly done with her course. She is nearing the end of the semester and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. She is approaching the end of her next to last semester at the University of Texas. What an exciting time. Let’s see if she is making any progress with those goals of hers. As far as procrastinating, I am sorry to report that she has made minimal if any progress in this area. It appears that she thinks she does better under pressure. What a strange notion. I think she would be better off starting things earlier but apparently she just doesn’t have the self discipline. Putting more time into projects… she’s done a little better in this area. With her last biggest project she seemed to put a lot of time into it. Unfortunately this was at the expense of the deadline as she is to turn the project in late.

She also had a goal to manage her time better and to complete all reading assignments. I have to say that things are not looking up. This area shows little improvement as well. I stand by my original allegation she has a bad case of that dreaded illness, Senioritis. It would be such a blessing if a cure could be found. Oh, well, wouldn’t help her much no anyways.

Learn how to write more effectively. That is one of the things Mali wanted to do this semester. Through the feedback of her classmates and the comments given to her by her professor I think that she has definitely improved her writing. I feel that, if she continues to practice, her writing will continue to get better. Hopefully she will see this and perhaps continue to write on her own.

Mali also wanted to learn how to produce a professional project. I have been watching her and have seen her diligently working on putting together her web portfolio. I must say it looks very promising. The ultimate test of this goal however, will be her finished portfolio. Unfortunately, she has not finished it yet so we will not know whether or not she satisfies this goal. Judging from her previous work and her current efforts relating to her final portfolio I have high hopes that this goal will be fulfilled.

Learning more about herself through the activities of her class was important to Mali this semester. I think that she put a good amount of effort into learning about herself. This can be seen in her taking of the Meyers-Briggs, writing about herself in her learning record and in her second project which focused on comparing her college experience to that of Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Learning about oneself is always a worthy goal and I hope she continues to strive to do so even after leaving her current class.

Working on giving constructive criticism was also something Mali sought to do this semester. After reading her comments for her peers from both her first and second projects, I feel that her ability to criticize the work of others has indeed improved. Now, if she could only apply that same skill to criticizing and revising her own work.

For her current class Mali really wanted to produce a final project that was something she could be proud of. As I have said, that project is not yet complete. I do, however, have complete faith that the project she produces will be something worthy of her pride. Hopefully she will take the time to give the project the amount of time it deserves and produce both a professional and satisfying product.

When we last saw Mali she had the goal of writing with the intention of producing the best product possible. I think she has really tried to embrace this goal. There is definitely still room improve on this though. Mali has tried to write with a good final product in mind, but she still views requirements as goals. For example, word counts dominate her thoughts as she is writing. If she could just get over this hurdle and learn to write first and count later she would improve by leaps and bounds.

Working on revising skill is still something Mali needs to work on. She has put a good effort into improving in this area. She has improved somewhat especially when comparing her revisions of project one to those of project two. However, she needs to learn to ask for the help of others when revising. A second opinion could go a long way when making improvements to her projects before submitting a final copy.

Her goals, to not stress over assignments and to enjoy her class, were satisfied when we last saw Mali at mid-semester. Mali has satisfied this goal but I fear she may have taken it too far. I think she became a little too relaxed and should have been thinking a bit more about assignments. A little bit of stress isn’t such a bad thing. There were times at which Mali really should have been stressing more than she was. A little bit of stress may have pushed her to do those assignments she skipped and to work harder at completing assignments on time. Oh, well. There’s nothing she can do about it now. Perhaps next semester she will show a little more concern fro the assignments given to her in her classes.

At this point in the semester I predict that Mali will end up with a final grade of B. She is just short of a C as it is with several large assignments yet to be turned in. Hopefully once everything is turned in and entered she will have accumulated enough points to finish with a B.

Wrap up

We have watched our subject over the course of the semester. She has grown in many areas while staying virtually the same in others. It has been interesting watching her working on this project or that while other times completely blowing things off. She has proven to be a strange but worthy subject. I know that she will continue to learn and to grow and change personally. I think it would be interesting to revisit her at the end of the next semester as she prepares to enter the real world. I am interested to see how she will fare outside of the school setting when she joins the job force. Perhaps you will join me for another episode where we can again delve into the life of Mali.

Observers Notes:

While watching the subject in class I followed her to a place they call the Littlefield House. They walked through the bottom floor of the house while their professor explained things to them. Their professor is quite an odd fellow himself, quite worthy of further study. I observed him attempting to kiss a carving! Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Below are some pictures I took while observing the class’ excursion.

I also followed Mali as she joined the class on a trip to the Tanaguchi Oriental Gardens. What a beautiful place. Mali must have thought so as well. I managed to obtain a picture that she herself took while at the garden. I also managed to snap a shot of her as she was deep in thought contemplating the garden.

Another interesting place I followed her to was the home of her professor. All of the students of the class gathered on the professor’s ranch for an array of strange rituals. You may not believe me, but I have the pictures to prove them. The students participated in some kind of odd greeting with the animals. They kissed a pig on the ear and two donkeys on their snouts. One student even attempted to ride the pig! After dinner Mali joined a classmate in some sort of regression therapy where they played in a child’s sandbox.

One last photo I got was of Mali and her partner Brandi making a presentation. The reached a point at which they were to reference a certain photograph. When they found that that photograph was no where to be found, they proceeded to engage in a very odd dance. Perhaps it was a ritual to conjure up the image. If so, it didn’t work.

Photographs: