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Showing posts from February, 2012

Yay! chapter completed...75000 words left

Good learners don't always learn fast. The ability to hang out in the fog, to tolerate confusion, to dare to wait in a state of incomprehension while the glimmerings of an idea take their time to form is another vital aspect of resilience and thus of learning power: slow is often smart. Claxton (1999) What a relief to have completed the Abstract and the Introduction to tweaking stage... and have Pam and Marnee applaud. It seems to have taken an age (well, two years) to get the structure and my voice right. After four weeks of intensive holiday writing and stuck-to-the-desk-Sundays it feel like I'm suddenly coming out of that fog and the ideas that seemed formless for so long now just need a 'cut and polish' to become another chapter. Now for Methodology!

Heather

One of my favourite photos Heather, I miss your love of good books and British film-making, your appreciation of my tea-making and painting prowess; your willingness to read everything I wrote; your adoration of my children and their partners;  your ability to hold up plasterboard with a broom while every-one else wilts; your ice-cream Christmas pudding, pavlova and zucchini soup but not the meatloaf. Most of all I miss your quiet wisdom. XXX

PhD verbs

How many times can you write argued... suggested...discussed in 100000 words without seeming boringly repetitive?  Having a list of verbs in alphabetical order has meant I can browse quickly when stumped and either find the 'right' verb or a different thoughtline might be suggested. I wish I'd done it sooner and of course, surfing a bit I came across a couple of useful websites.  Here's a ready-made list .   Ron Dorn has some good tips on writing papers and a couple of useful tables of a ctive verbs that describe work and  phenomena.

Kel writes...

Wandering through the net, look for a break from the Methodology Chapter, I came across Kel's 'faction' story published on a Swinburne Uni website. Weaving the facts about an incident during WW2 that her grandfather had talked about, she wrote a 'maybe' story. Bill died when Kellie was about 4 so she pieced together this article from newspaper articles, responses to advertisements and talking to returned soldiers.  The story is dedicated to all the grandchildren who didn't get the chance to get know their grandfather.   So proud of you Kel.    Night over Sumatra  http://www.lilydale.swinburne.edu.au/journal/documents/K_Floyd.pdf Article: Advertiser (SA)13th August 1945, p.5