Graduating - May 19

Well, it's done.

After speaking with my adviser today, she approved my last and final course (Programming II equivalency) and is submitting final paperwork for graduation.

I'm graduating. May 19.

It hasn't really sunk in yet -- I don't quite know what to do with myself.

So dear readers, my final post will be after May 19th with photos of said graduation ceremony. And then it will be goodbye, for this blog has fulfilled it's role.

MA Thesis and Project - accepted!!!

Can you believe it? I'm done with the MA thesis and project! I just want to cry.

My adviser complimented on my work and asked permission to share my MA project with other students as a model project! Wow, I can't believe it?

I'm so happy.

Draft 2 (final?) - submitted

Quick note - revisions to MA paper submitted last night. Hopefully this will be the final draft. Now to focus on Java certification. Deadline is April 30.

Feedback - Draft 1

Well, the initial feedback from draft 1 arrived in my inbox yesterday. She "really liked" the paper (whew!), but can't open the flash files I sent. I rushed to meet a deadline and didn't have time to convert to an earlier more compatible format. Then she ended up being out for a week :-} There were of course, some very valid questions on sections of my argument/thesis, and other minor edits. Overall - a day's or so of work.

What I'm really curious about is how she will react the actual 'games' once she's able to play them. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, I keep thinking she'll take it all back and say "it's not good enough."

I'm having a hard time believing that this paper/project is worthy because it really didn't turn out like I wanted or expected. But I know that I had to do it the way I did it to get it out of my system. This particular design is something that I had to try. And now I have a better understanding of the limitations of content and form. I have a better understanding of why I struggled with this so. Even though intellectually I thought I understood what makes a better instructional design, the old teacher-centric models on how it ought to be done keep seeping back in. Conditioning and retraining of the mind are not so easily done. Not so easy to change the way you think; not so easy to change your metaphors.