1. Claire Cooper
Mrs. Lester
Hon Lit/Comp 10
2 May 2012
End of Semester Summative Reflections
1. It is easy to say that during the Digital Text research project, my knowledge of my
topic of choice, Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, has greatly increased. I have
learned a lot about TBI, especially in terms of content. Since we were given a
good length of time to research our topic and dig even deeper into the true
specifics behind TBI, I no longer have as much curiosity as I did before starting
the project. My group partners and I decided to research family coping, advances
in technology, and preventions in which all relate to TBI. During my own
research, I have come to an understanding of the emotions and difficulties that
TBI patients receive. Traumatic Brain Injury is such a serious condition because it
can dramatically alter your brain in areas that you would have never imagined.
For example, soldiers and veterans suffering from TBI are faced with the daily
struggles that not only they haveto face, but also their family and friends have to
face. Personality shifts and mood swings are just some of the many symptoms that
TBI brings. Throughout the project, I have been curious as to what else I need to
know that will help me have an even better understanding about TBI. Though the
project is over, I feel like I have gained most of the knowledge that is needed.
However, I believe I will never truly be able to grasp what suffering from TBI is

2. really like. In other words, only those who suffer from TBI will know the true
impact it has on their life. After all, it is a life changing experience.
2. Throughout every group project, there will be challenges in terms of finding
information, collaborating with your group, managing yourself, use of
technology, and time management. The first couple of days of researching articles
and any other information were rather easy. I began to learn the knowledge I
needed to get an idea of what exactly TBI is. Because the research project
requires more in-depth information, I needed to find better articles that really
reached across most of the information that was already given in most of the
articles I found. To do this, I changed my search terms. For example, in the
beginning I searched, “TBI veterans”, then I later searched, “TBI family coping
and/or strategies”. Also, finding pictures to use on our Voicethread was difficult.
However, Ms. Hamilton taught us how to find more abstract pictures by messing
around with the search terms. Luckily, collaborating with my group was easy
because we all kept in touch through Gmail in which kept most of our documents.
Managing my own work was easy also. However, I do wish I kept my work more
organized since I had a lot of paper work to keep up with. Netvibes, Gmail, and
other websites and databases made it easier for me to better manage my
information. Time management played a big part throughout the project. Mrs.
Lester and Ms. Hamilton made it easier by giving us calendars with what we were
doing on what days along with deadlines. Also, the online calendar that Ms.
Hamilton kept updated every day helped greatly as well. She posted links to

3. anything that was necessary in order to make our project easier and more
organized.
3. There were very few difficulties that I came across while working on the Digital
Text research project. Keeping up with all the new requirements in an easy and
organized way I found to be the most difficult. Though Mrs. Lester and Ms.
Hamilton walked us through almost everything, I felt as if my head was spinning
every day, which caused me to stress out on all the deadlines. However, I realized
that this was only going to prepare me for the upcoming years. So I did my best to
push through the struggles by asking Mrs. Lester and Ms. Hamilton any questions
I had. I believe the whole process of the research project was rewarding. Not only
have I gained knowledge in the overall information and content of the project, I
have also gained knowledge in my computer skills. I now know how to easily
upload links, photos, documents, and widgets. Working on the Digital Text
research project allowed me to excel in my computer skills, which will be helpful
for similar projects that will be given to me in the future.
4. Reading both All Quiet on the Western Front and Purple Heartgave me a good
insight as to the life of a soldier. All Quiet on the Western Front showed me the
impact that war has on a single soldier. The book was very descriptive with
specific feelings and emotions that the soldier dealt with. My mind was definitely
broadened after reading All Quiet on the Western Front. The war book I chose
was Purple Heart, written by Patricia McCormick. Purple Heart was extremely

4. relevant to my topic of choice of the research project. Matt Duffy, the main
character of the story, suffers from a TBI he received while fighting in the Iraq
war. The book really inspired me to want to learn more about what it is and how
you can cope with it. Our cohort Fishbowl discussions had little influence on my
choice of topic to research for the digital research project. I know of other people
who were also interested in researching TBI and it inspired me to want to learn
why it is such a major issue.
5. I believe that reading the two books and reading non-fiction articles will have the
most lasting impact on me. Reading the books was like getting a small taste of
war. It only led me to crave for more in-depth and real information behind war
and what the war brings to soldiers, veterans, and civilians. Studying the issue has
had a major impact on me. It has made me more aware of how fragile, yet how
violent war is. It is obvious that war is dangerous, but it is also obvious at how it
brings life changing experiences to the soldiers and families. Soldiers are so easily
touched by what the war has in store for them.
6. Reflecting on my work the last eight weeks, I think I did well on finding out what
information is most important and most needed for the project. Communicating
with my two other partners helped me to find out what information I needed to
add or take away. It is hard to point out one specific thing I am proud of because I
am most proud of the overall work and effort I put forth into the making of this

5. project. I am also proud of the effort my partners brought because I know they put
forth just as much time and commitment into this project as I did.
7. The most difficult challenge I came upon was the exact organization of
everything, including uploading the proposal, organizing Netvibes, and keeping
up with everything in the right order. I handled these challenges by looking over
the calendar every day to make sure I was on time with where I was at in the
project. Asking Ms. Hamilton for help was also helpful since she easily stated
what to do and how to do it. She made every step clear and easy to understand.
8. I think I improved in researching the right information and getting used to the
websites and sources that Ms. Hamilton provides for us. I have definitely learned
a lot during this semester. I always think that whatever we do, it will be more
difficult than it actually is, but it turns out to be just the opposite. Ms. Hamilton
and Mrs. Lester always try to make it as easy and as simple as possible. I feel
more intelligent and confident in my research literacy skills. Not only did this
semester teach me a lot, but also this whole school year taught me to have better
computer literacy skills in which I believe will get me on the right track for
upcoming years. I believe that I demonstrated growth in was 2.1.4 Use technology
and other information tools to analyze and organize information. I have learned a
lot through using Netvibes, Easybib, Wikispaces, and other websites that made it
helpful for my project. I also demonstrated growth in 2.4.3 Recognize new
knowledge and understanding. Researching TBI caused me to recognize and

6. understand more about how serious the injury is on the lives of soldiers and
veterans. I mastered in 1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for
new learning because after reading All Quiet on the Western Front and Purple
HeartI became interested in learning more about soldiers and their injuries. I
gained knowledge in areas of the emotions and thoughts that soldiers deal with. I
also used 1.2.7 Display persistence by continuing to pursue information to gain a
broad perspective. At the beginning of my research I gathered enough of
information that would help me to better understand TBI. However, I still yearned
for deeper details that would me have more commentary for my project. I believe
the most important skill I acquired was 1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden
and deepen understanding. Working with two other group partners made this
research project easier because it gave me the opportunity to collaborate with
them over information and any questions I had. We also discussed over the
articles we gathered which helped us to understand more about TBI.
9. The process of composing a Voicethread enhanced my learning process in this
unit of learning and inquiry. Each step in making the digital text was a learning
experience. I had to teach myself how to become accustomed to the way things
worked. I learned that once Mrs. Lester or Ms. Hamilton went through a portion
of how to do something for the project I had to pay close attention because one
missed step could mess it all up. The Digital Text research project also helped my
whole learning process. It forced me to dig deeper into articles and find meaning

7. behind the given information. This project also taught me how to find the articles
that would help me out best.
10. My group decided to use Netvibes for our project. Netvibes helped us to gather
our information into all one place. It was a great way to stay connected and
organized. We even found pictures using Netvibes. I also uploaded some of our
articles into Netvibes, which made it easy to locate. In the future, I would most
likely use it more often than I did during this project. I believe that now that I
know how to use it, I will be more confident when I use it next time. I also plan
on using Netvibes next year in my classes. Looking back at my Netvibes, I
believe it says that I am open to learning, yet I need to look for and add more
information to anything that is needed.
11. I will most likely be using similar skills in digital literacy, analytical reading and
writing, and research in American Literature and Composition next year. The
organization methods I used for this project seemed to work out quite well so I
plan on using that for next year. During my research, I plan on using specific
search terms that will help me find up to date articles that contains large amounts
of information and examples. I also plan on reading “in between the lines” like I
did during this research project. Understanding what the author is trying to get
across is important because it helps you with what you are trying to reach across.