“In fact, now I come to think of it, do we decide questions, at all? We decide answers, no doubt: but surely the questions decide us? It is the dog, you know, that wags the tail—not the tail that wags the dog.” – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The two courses I'm taking this first term are Finance and Budgeting I and Practical Research Planning and Design I. The Finance course has been a lot of fun, actually, as it revolves around a continuously evolving departmental budget that each week we learn how to make more useful and advanced. I was able to base mine on the financial projections of a hypothetical startup institution offering distance learning online. I'm glad that there will be a second course on it later in my program, and I hope I get the same instructor.
My Research course, though, has been the main event. As the first of a set of courses that directly relate to my research and dissertation, it's been for this course that I've assembled my external committee members and put together a problem statement, which is basically the question that I seek to answer through my research.
I'm pleased to report that my problem statement has been approved! Up to this point I'd been telling people that my research will be on "aspects of vegan nutrition education", which was an erudite-sounding way of saying that I had a vague idea but wasn't really sure. During the course I was forced to refine my thinking, and what I ended up submitting, and which was approved by my nascent committee was the following Problem Statement, with two subproblems:
Problem statement: The purpose of this research is to determine the effect an online course in vegan nutrition will have on a population of vegans and non-vegans knowledge of nutrition.
Subproblem 1: Is an online course equally effective for teaching vegan nutrition to those who are motivated by personal health reasons?
Subproblem 2: Is an online course equally effective for teaching vegan nutrition to those who are motivated by ethical concerns?
Now, this is very basic, and will be expanded and refined as I go on next term. But it's a start, and I'm glad to have it.
And speaking of starts, it about time distance learning got some respect as the equivalent in effectiveness as classroom based learning. Next post: Is that time at hand?