Reflection
What do you now understand about landforms that you did not know before?
I did not know that mud volcanoes existed, or that they could potentially be harmful! I also didn't understand the complexity and interconnection of so many different types of landforms. I had to think critically in order to understand why lots of mud volcanoes occurred in subduction zones. Initially, I thought that there was no reason. However, upon thought, I realized that natural things that make conditions favorable for mud volcanoes are fault lines, rapid deposits of sediments from igneous volcanoes, as well as seismic activity, all of which occur more frequently in subduction zones!
This project taught me to appreciate the complexity of the little (or big) landforms around me. :)
What did you learn from the process of completing the project itself?
This time I tried a new approach which has worked out for me:
- After the assignment was assigned, instead of immediately picking a topic (like what I usually did) I researched different landforms to find something I was interested in learning. I didn't want to get bored as I was doing my project, because I tend to research with more detail if I find my topic intriguing and fun!
- After finding the coolest landform ever, I properly read over the requirements to make sure that there was adequate information on the web to help me complete my assignment. Usually, I would read my rubric WHILE I researched, so I constantly found myself in situations where the due date was in 2 days, and I was stuck on a part. This time, since I read the requirements prior to assessing if I could find adequate information, things went more smoothly. Another advantage of this method is that, as I briefly search for information, I could save all possible helpful website URLs. This technique essentially made me complete my research without me even realizing!
- Finally, I would verify my choice on Moodle
- I would then give myself 2 days to piece together my research into a website. I need one day to organize my information into paragraphs. I need the second day to ask potential clarification questions, complete my reflection and my references, caption pictures, and spell-check if time remains.
This method worked much better for me than the "cram it all in 3 days and hope for the best" method. I felt much less stressed. However, through this experience, I did learn that I need 3 days, not 2, to piece together my information. This is because I had never considered that "surprise events" could delay my work schedule. Because I didn't budget extra time for possible surprise events, my project was three hours late in submission, but it's a good learning experience so I can improve next time.