{"id":4888,"date":"2026-06-20T06:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/?guid=cf5f3b9582e0d7edf2a8ed331af4cf35"},"modified":"2026-06-20T06:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:57:18","slug":"zoom-sessions-assignment-1-instructor-contact-and-a-strategy-if-youre-feeling-overwhelmed-by-research-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/zoom-sessions-assignment-1-instructor-contact-and-a-strategy-if-youre-feeling-overwhelmed-by-research-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoom sessions, Assignment 1, instructor contact, and a strategy if you’re feeling overwhelmed by research options"},"content":{"rendered":"by Amy Zidulka.  

Hello, All,\u00a0<\/p>

Hope you are all having a good weekend. Perhaps, some of you had the chance to attend an event for National Indigenous Peoples Day yesterday. As always, the event at Royal Roads<\/a> was busy, beautiful, meaningful and fun. It's truly one of the great events of the year. Here are some updates and reflections.\u00a0<\/p>

Zoom Sessions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

-The upcoming zoom session,Tuesday, at 5 pm, will run one hour, until 6 pm (not 90 minutes.) It will be an interactive session, for you to discuss and reflect on the class content and how it applies to you.\u00a0
<\/p>

-If you were unable to attend last week's zoom session, please view the recording:\u00a0https:\/\/moodle.royalroads.ca\/moodle\/mod\/zoom\/recordings.php?id=897204<\/a><\/p>

-If you would like to attend the Zooms, but the day\/time is the barrier, let me know and I can create a poll to see if there is a better time for everyone.\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0Assignment #1<\/strong><\/p>

As I get to know you a bit, I have concluded that I would like to adapt Assignment #1. The goal of the assignment--for you to consider the readings and focus on an area of relevance to you--will remain the same. However, as I learn about how some of you feel some trepidation as you re-enter academics, I would like to add greater structure (the assignment, as written is quite open-ended). My hope would be that an adapted version would allow you to more easily channel your critical and creative thinking into the content at hand.\u00a0The adapted assignment will add precision to the guidelines, but will not change them.\u00a0<\/p>

I will have an adapted assignment ready by tomorrow<\/em>. I realize that making changes to assignment guidelines can cause stress. I am doing this because I think it will better serve most class members. Please know: (1) The goals\/work of the assignment will remain the same, and if you have started your work will still apply and (2) You can use the original assignment, if you choose, and you will not be penalized in any way.\u00a0<\/p>

Instructor Contact<\/strong><\/p>

I love hearing from you! Please don't hesitate to reach out: amy.zidulka@royalroads.ca<\/span><\/p>

That said, I do sometimes miss emails. (I am teaching another class right now, which will be transitioning into a full-time residency, so it is a bit of a hectic time.)\u00a0<\/p>

If you email me, and do not hear back within one business day, could you please write back and give me a nudge? <\/em>I always feel grateful when someone does that. Thank you in advance.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>

What Is My Research Focus?: An Action Research Lens to Considering this Question\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As I speak to each of you individually, I am noticing some common themes. You are unsure what you would like to focus your research on, which not only is normal. It is a good thing! You are entering into a new program, a new world of ideas. It is good to explore, and it would be premature to decide too quickly on a focus. On the other hand, you are feeling some pressure, both because you know that within the coming months, you may need to make some decisions and because sitting in ambiguity is emotionally hard, and also can lead to paralysis. (My grandmother used to tell a cautionary tale of the donkey who starved standing between two piles of food, because they couldn't decide which was the better one to eat.)\u00a0<\/p>

If you are in this situation, I would suggest taking strategic zoom in\/zoom out approach. For a set period (e.g. a couple of weeks), zoom out--give yourself the freedom to explore and read broadly. Then for another set period, zoom in and adopt a \"research direction 1.0.\" Choose a direction that seems interesting to you and go down that rabbit hole, without constantly asking if you should be going in another direction. Then, come up for air, and zoom out again. In so doing, you are actually\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

In taking this approach, you would be adopting an adapted version of the Action Research process outlined in Chapter 7 of your readings. In this case, your research question is, \"What do I want to research?\"\u00a0<\/p>

\"Action<\/p>


<\/p>

When you are zooming in on a focus, you are making a plan. You are then acting out that plan by doing the research on that topic. After you engage in focused engagement on that topic, you will zoom out by observe and reflect on how you feel and what you want to achieve: Was this interesting to you? Do you want to go further down this path? Is this the path that will lead you where you want to go, personally and\/or professionally? Then you start the cycle again, either by tweaking the original plan, based on what you've learned, or by zooming out even more and exploring a completely new area of focus.<\/p>


<\/p>

If you have not set up an individual appointment, and want to, please don't hesitate to send me an email.<\/p>

Have a great weekend! Amy<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0
<\/p>


<\/p>

<\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Amy Zidulka.  Hello, All,\u00a0Hope you are all having a good weekend. Perhaps, some of you had the chance to attend an event for National Indigenous Peoples Day yesterday. As always, the event at Royal Roads was busy, beautiful, meaningful and fun….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-instructor-posts"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4889,"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4888\/revisions\/4889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca\/lrnt522\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}