Reflecting on the Culture of Research Using Weblogs

This study explores how weblogs can be used by graduate students in education to build understanding of research culture across course boundaries. Weblogs, used as reflective journals by graduate students in the winter and fall semesters of 2005 in an online graduate course, supplemented online discussions and readings. Graduate students who were not part of the course also kept weblogs that were available for all involved to read. Analysis of the weblogs over the two semesters suggested that students were somewhat uncomfortable reflecting on the web and that they came to appreciate the chronological ordering of their posts. Finding and reading other students weblogs needs to be supported with appropriate design if the weblogs are to support research training.