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Article: Handbook of research on Collaborative Learning (CL) Using Concept Mapping (CM)

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Article: Handbook of research on Collaborative Learning (CL) Using Concept Mapping (CM)

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https://books.google.fi/books?id=L4UedvVyKmAC&pg=PA188&lpg=PA188&dq=tools+to+enhance+intersubjectivity&source=bl&ots=yxKmqHmsxX&sig=7eOC6ult52Z45DjHJRRMZtTfDzk&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjf0vH6rcDWAhWKDpoKHRgUAmoQ6AEILjAC#v=onepage&q&f=false

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A learning diary is a text that introduces the reader to the main arguments and other important points of a course, seminar or an individual lecture through your own remarks and interpretations. In other words, a learning diary reflects your own thought processes, and thus is the result of a "dialogue" between yourself as an active thinking subject and the new information that you encounter and process. You should relate this information to your preexisting knowledge and experiences as well as make connections between issues, relating things to each other and assimilating them into your own broader understanding of the topic in question.

A good learning diary cannot be composed only on the basis of the course materials and your own raw lecture notes. These are just the starting ingredients and backbone - to successfully turn them into a finished learning diary, you must seek out and present the main points and questions of the course that were of particular interest to you, and contextualize them. A learning diary can be understood as something that is a more free-form written assignment than an ordinary essay. In a learning diary, you can more freely choose what to focus on, and can build it up from your own interests - as long as you remember to justify and contextualize your choices!

Depending on the course, you might or might not be instructed to also use additional reading as source material for your learning diary. Usually, you are given reading suggestions during the course, and you should use both your own lecture notes, the lectures' presentations (if available) and the additional reading. You should also take into account what can be drawn from "general knowledge", such as popular opinion, general assumptions and mainstream interpretations. In a good learning diary, you are invited to challenge these often very powerful motives with arguments derived from academic texts and your own thought process.

When writing a learning diary, you can reflect your own process of absorbing and measuring information from a given course, and thus become more conscious of your process of learning. From your learning diary, the teacher will be able to see not only how the factual contents of a course have been understood by you, but also to see examples of what you have judged to be the most thought-provoking and/or important content of that course. In pedagogic terms, you are given the opportunity to closely examine some of the facts presented, to draw conclusions, and to develop your reasoning. In a regular essay, you need to be more careful, but in a learning diary you can even play with the form as long as you make sure that you stay academic enough and offer a decent amount of arguments, analysis and conclusions.

For some courses, you are required to write short texts, e.g. 1-3 pages, on the basis of each lecture given. For some courses, you are invited to leave to less detail or even ignore those sub-topics of a course that you found least interesting or thought-provoking. So pay attention to what the requirements are for each particular course!

1) It is strongly recommended to start writing the learning diary early. At least try to prepare for it by writing down notes already during the course, even though the actual deadline for the learning diary is usually up to 2-3 weeks after the course's last session.

2) When attending a course's lectures/sessions, remember to check if the course materials are accessible on-line. During the course, you should focus on writing notes and remarks about issues that provoke your thoughts - you can always check most of the facts later. Usually, the materials of a particular lecture are available only after it has been given, but in some cases they might also be available a few days in advance.

3) If you are writing a learning diary for a course that includes multiple themes/topics, remember to check is you are free to choose your focus or if you are required to write a short text on the basis of each individual lecture. You might be able to choose to a) write your learning diary about the topic of selected interesting lectures or b) write a "diary entry" on the basis of each lecturer that has been given or that you have attended. Also remember to check if the course has a minimum attendance requirement! As a rule of thumb, the narrower the topic, the more additional reading you need to do for your learning diary.

4) Always try to come up with a title for your learning diary, other than e.g. just a generic "Course name: Learning diary" (or equivalent). The title should reflect those argument(s) and/or conclusion(s) of your text that you judge are the most important and interesting.

5) Always try to include subtitles/headings in your text (even in a short learning diary!), and be sure to include an introduction chapter and a conclusions chapter (they should also be given non-generic subtitles!). If you find it very hard to write the introduction and conclusions, that usually is an indication of a need to work your thoughts a bit further.

6) Unlike for essays, footnotes are not necessary for learning diaries. An accurate list of sources is sufficient. However, even without footnotes, it must be clear when you are making references to your source material (Example: "In her lecture/book/article XXX, professor XXX takes a provocative approach to..."). You may use notes if you wish, but in that case please choose footnotes, not endnotes.

7) Always make sure that your original thought and your own arguments are included in a learning diary. If the text is composed almost completely of references and/or summaries, you can expect to have a low grade or even to fail your assignment.

8) Please pay attention to technical requirements: The paper size should always be A4, the font size is 12 pt, the font Times New Roman or other easy-to-read, standard-size font, and line spacing is 1.5 (not 2.0, for example!). Please use standard margins. The minimum length of an assignment means the minimum length of the text itself, including title, subtitles and possible footnotes and excluding a possible separate title page (the title can also be written at at the top of the first page), and the list of sources.

Any further questions? Please contact the teacher of your course (for courses in the History and Politics of European Integration non-degree programme, please contact Mika Suonpää, misuon@utu.fi).

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A learning diary is a text that introduces the reader to the main arguments and other important points of a course, seminar or an individual lecture through your own remarks and interpretations. In other words, a learning diary reflects your own thought processes, and thus is the result of a "dialogue" between yourself as an active thinking subject and the new information that you encounter and process.

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Guidance on Learning Diary

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GUIDANCE ON THE LEARNING DIARY A Learning Diary is a log or record or journal of your own work based learning in professional practice. It helps you to record,...

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GUIDANCE ON THE LEARNING DIARY A Learning Diary is a log or record or journal of your own work based learning in professional practice. It helps you to record,...