Ct201 Week 1 Reflection

As I reflect on the first half of the semester in CTCH 821, I can’t help but find myself seeing things around me with my newfound appreciation for the historical perspective. Data is so much more than numbers. Data not only captures the condition of a specific time, place, and population, but it serves as a historical document that can be used hundreds of years from now. Now, when I hear about any current issue in higher education, I don’t automatically assume that it’s a new issue that policymakers and researchers are scrambling to address. More likely than not, the issue is one that has roots in the history of higher education.

My view of what constitutes evidence has expanded from just quantitative and qualitative findings and data. Letters, diaries, transcripts,

Perhaps a researcher or historian will unearth my documents on a thumb drive in the future. Though I value my work, I have never really thought about them in this way before. I am sad to think about all the documents I have shredded, recycled, or even sent to the trash dump because I thought the I would never have a use for them in the future. Looking back, I may have been correct in assuming that I wouldn’t find value in them, but quite possibly someone in the future may have found them to be artifacts of a specific time period, such as my journals from my freshman year of college when the Gulf War started. My mission as a social researcher has been enhanced by this course. No longer do I see the purpose of my research to only be to provide ways to enhance learning outcomes. I feel that my personal purpose now includes a mission that is to preserve and document the stories and experiences of our era. This excites me as my field has become much more useful to a wider audience, as even out of date research becomes valuable as it is preserved to give insight into the historical