katakat.com bytes from a participant observer

Yes, it did happen, and I passed the exam. Also, an update on the pigs flying: [sorry the web page I linked this to went away. It was cute, though.]

Mid-January to mid-February was the time for my comprehensive (comps) exam. I had 28 days to complete three questions selected by my comps mentor. It was supposed to test your competency for the field, however, the field being EDUCATION in all its hugeness, the questions covered topics I knew almost nothing about. So I spent most of the time researching. Good to have faculty status at my home institution so I could take the books home from local university libraries!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted here. Lately I've been really into Facebook, so if you want to check on my almost daily activities, feel free to look there. Most of my family is on there too, which is why I got into it. It's like going from zero to TMI in just a few minutes. Otherwise, I just finished my last class for the doctorate on December 14th. Next is the comprehensive exam, which entails 3 questions, 50 pages of writing, and a lot of time. I'll be taking a month off starting in mid-January to to that.

What? Summer's over already? Wait-- I didn't get a vacation. *Heavy sigh* School started up again, and it's been nuts. The projects I was supposed to be working on the past three months were pushed back until late July for reasons beyond my control, but somehow (with a lot of help) I got these about 98% done by Monday 8/25. More tweaking was needed the past few days. So, here's what I learned this summer:

• A video collection requires a lot of time and effort to reclassify and relabel, even with two librarians working on it. This took weeks.

Getting to play with this stuff is the coolest part of my job. Lately the 10+ hour days are getting to me. It's crunch time before school starts up again, leaving about 8 working days to finish all major summer projects.

Click here: LRC Virtual Tour

Another quarter down for the Ph.D. degree. I have at least two more to do, depending on if I take one class or two next quarter (starts in April). Right now I'm in Chicago at a week-long residency, where I get to see fellow classmates and faculty for real. They keep you going from morning until evening, so I'm pretty fried and it's only the second day. I have a few days after the residency to do some fun stuff, so I'm looking forward to that before I go home. Otherwise it's cold here and I'm glad I saved my thermals from those years in the Midwest.

Well, the rigors of the quarter have passed, and I've survived yet another class for the doctorate. It’s been slow going, as I’m only taking one course per quarter; however, it’s a lot easier to focus on one class at a time. I’ve arranged my work schedule to have off at least one week per month, and I’m able to keep up with the coursework that way. So far I’ve taken a course on social change (required), a writing course, an instructional design course, and a learning theory course. All of these courses are completed online only. How do I do this, you ask?