If you are like most Div III students, your committee is telling you that you have to focus your topic more, that the project is too big as it stands. You might be wondering how a more focused project will allow you to still hold onto the larger issues that brought you to your Div III.
For a written Div III, you often begin with an introduction that lays out the bigger “problem” or issue. This is where you write about the big ideas. It might take a few pages to do that. Since you are dealing with a large problem at first, you’ll note that there is more than one way to approach it (that is why it is a big, unstructured problem). Keep in mind that you can’t solve BIG issues in one project – not in any project, but especially one done in, say, 7 months (we’d be willing to have you stay longer, but you’ll probably want to focus instead).
So, you’ll have to figure out your purpose. This is where you funnel down from the big issue and figure out your research questions or specific goals of the project. You’ll select methods that help you accomplish that goal or answer those questions.
But don’t despair, after you are done you bring what you learned back to bear on the larger issue in your conclusions or generalizations section or chapter. You didn’t fix the whole problem, but you’ll have something important to say about the problem. This is your contribution to the larger understanding.
If you are doing a creative project, you still might be doing so because of a larger issue or unsolved problem (maybe about how to accomplish something). You will still have your methods and your take on the issues with your own creative contribution.
A student recommends an app called “Habitica.” It helps them to improve their work habits and their self care. Habitica turns your goals and to-do lists into a social media-supported game. See if it would help you.
Below are notes and audio from each participant. You’ll find tips and an idea of what you might expect from: Laura Wenk (CS), Anne Downes (CASA), Bonnie Vigeland (Library), Michele Hardesty (HACU), Jane Couperus (CS), Kim Chang (CSI), Chris Cianfrani (NS), and John Slepian (IA)
3 classes of work = 35 hrs a week aka a full time job
What does that look like?
Not just on the Computer
Time meeting with your committee.
Talking to Peers.
Researching.
Piloting
Creating
Finding a placement for you work if applicable.
Talking about your work.
Giving and getting feedback.
Etc.
More on Div III
This is about the process as much as the product. Learning about and from the process (it is a year of learning) – don’t think you need to use everything you read or write or do in the Div III product.
Take a breath.
Ann Downs: CASA all things DIV III
(She/Her/Hers)
None of you have done a Div III before and we are aware that it requires a specific skillset that you have been working on but it has yet to be put all together. When you aren’t sure or don’t know what to do always ask for help.
Ask for help at any point of your div be it starting, where to go, how to approach it, all the way to the logistics.
You need to be doing 2 advanced activities.
-3 documents (link or post)
– Best Practices for Div III
-Workshop
-Div III Calendar
CASA does not have to be a scary place. There are a lot of people here to help you through the Div III journey and don’t hesitate to ask for their help!
Bonnie Vigeland: Research Librarian in Humanities and Film (She/Her/Hers)
There are 4 research librarians here to help you!
All they need to know is what you are interested in or need help with and they can assist you. Part of their jobs is to continually be learning through reading, watching, listening etc. They can point you in helpful directions as well as strategize research methods.
How to best contact the Research Librarians?
Email to make an appointment. Mention what you are interested in and what help you are looking for.
Michele Hardesty: Associate Professor of U.S. Literatures/ Cultural Studies
(She/Her/Hers)
Find Community with fellow Div IIIs
Create a routine
Envision the year ahead with your committee and setting deadlines
Look at your year in chunks
If things don’t feel totally right in the start, that’s okay! It takes time.
Tripp: Recent Div III
(He/Him/His)
Self Care
Do a little bit of work everyday
You will have on and off days and that’s okay
Jane Couperus: Associate Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
(She/Her/Hers)
Faculty can learn as much from you as you from them. Sometimes you’ll be the expert!
Bring in accountability from outside sources if you are struggling with deadlines.
Build in slack time for moments that derail you from your Div. Having a packed calendar with no wiggle room might lead to things not being done if something comes up or takes longer.
Make other goals that help you learn about the process of your Div vs. only the product.
Your Div is a single project. If you hate it at the end that’s okay. You’ll have other bigger and better projects in your life.
COMMUNICATE. COMMUNICATE. COMMUNICATE. If you don’t tell your advisors what you are doing then they don’t know what is going on especially when you need help.
Eat, Sleep, Play.
Did you eat your normal amount?
Did you get enough sleep?
Make time to play. Have fun. Relax.
Abby Hanus: Recent Div III/ Alumni Fellow
(They/Them/Theirs)
First steps in self care is recognizing yourself and that you deserve care of yourself and from others. Asking for care along with accepting it takes acts of bravery within yourself. Learning care was a huge part of the divisional process for Abby. Communicate with your committee. Tell them when you are struggling because their role is to support you.
Kim Chang: Associate Professor of Cultural Psychology
(She/Her/Hers)
Seek community
Read widely
Talk widely
Scoping a project: making your div a manageable size
Cycles in your Div III
Div III seminars are really helpful
John Slepian: Five College Associate Professor of Art and Technology
(He/Him/His)
Div III is weird. If you are weirded out its normal.
Chances are your div III will be great. But it won’t be the most amazing thing ever. Chances are your Div will just be a good part of college and you will have more projects to follow.
Do something you like doing. You are getting up everyday and doing something, make sure you like it or you won’t be successful in it.
It might be that when you would do a smaller project, say for a course, you could read or engage with visual pieces and then write or create your own piece in a number of hours over a few days – you might have remembered much of what you read or thought when you viewed a piece of work and could incorporate those ideas in your writing. DON’T TRY THIS IN DIV III.
You are doing a sustained project and your thinking will change as you engage with new sources. Yet, your most powerful writing and thinking will be right as you read a new piece or see a new piece of art for the first time. WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU READ AND SEE WHEN YOUR IDEAS ARE UNFOLDING. That is how you can get power into your writing.
So, read and then write about that piece – read and write, read and write. Even stop and write as you read – what is this author/artist saying? How does it connect to what I already know and believe? What questions does this raise? How is it similar or different from what another author/artist said or did?
You are not writing a Div III at this moment. You are writing about ideas in order to get at what you will ultimately want to say. Eventually, you will be ready to write across the pieces you are producing and you can use some of what you wrote in these small pieces. They will have more power and detail than what you would have been able to recollect later – and you won’t have to go back and find the article, chapter, book, where you found that idea (go to the October 17th workshop in the library on managing your research). Even if you have a Div III that is an artistic production of some sort, you want to track your ideas as you have them.
Besides writing when ideas are fresh and capturing the appropriate detail, reading and writing right away means you will never suffer from having a blank page! Plus, you can set a goal for yourself about how many pieces you can read and write about in a week. You can share that writing with your committee and they can engage with the ideas with you – helping you think about what else to read and how to focus your thinking.
It can be difficult to get yourself to the library, to a coffee shop where you like to work, or even to your own desk. The social environment often exerts a stronger pull. So — ask a friend along. Make dates for working along side a friend. You don’t have to be working on the same topic.
Making work dates also holds you accountable for the time – the time you plan to get to your workplace, and the amount of time you will work before taking a short break together.
Work does not have to be isolating. It can be the reason to get together. Invite someone today!
It can be difficult to actually meet your deadline if you don’t have one. Div III is likely larger than any project you have ever done before. It requires many smaller deadlines that build to a final product.
By now, you might know fairly well what you want to produce by May (or by December). You can do a backwards plan for the whole of your Div III or just for this semester. Since a Div III is big and it really gets done in pieces, I am going to suggest starting with a backwards plan for the fall.
First, talk to your Div III chair/committee about your goals for the semester – what do you want to complete? (You might have already done this – so you are ready for step two).
Second, create a calendar working backwards from, say, December 11th (the last day of classes for the fall semester and the due date for faculty progress reports). Write the dates for submission to your committee of completed works, drafts or pilot pieces. Having deadlines for each piece holds you accountable to yourself and to your committee.
Third, check with your committee about whether your calendar is reasonable, doable, and see whether they suggest any alterations. Your calendar might have dates not only for your work, but for when your committee will give feedback on your pieces.
You will come to a revolving door kind of period, where they are reading and giving feedback while you are drafting, composing, creating the next part.
Get more work done in 25 minute increments – take 5 minute breaks in between.
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that can help you get more work done in a realistic way – without burning out. But what do tomatoes have to do with it*?
The Pomodoro Technique uses a 25-minute tomato timer to help you stay on track. Watch a video about the technique, read some tips, and use an online timer or download a Pomodoro Timer app.
You can use the technique to get started (“O.K., I’m having trouble getting started, but I can just see how I am doing after 1 Pomodoro”). Or you can use it to extend your work time (“Yesterday I wrote for 3 Pomodoro’s in the morning; today I am going to do 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon”). Or, you can use it to work in spurts and get short breaks (“I keep sitting and working too long; I’ll take a stretch break after 1 Pomodoro”).
Soon you’ll be asking friends: “how many pomodoros did you work today?”
*After a while you might realize that this could work with any fruit or vegetable timer 🙂
Div III students sometimes seem to revel in being stressed. It almost seems contagious. Yes, Div III poses some new challenges. But maybe you could learn to enjoy those challenges. Be excited by all you will learn – not only about what you are studying, but about yourself and each other. Being able to manage a big project is something not everyone gets to learn in college! Figuring out how to work backwards from a deadline will serve you in life. Knowing how to get work done in the spaces between things is an important skill. You are in control of whether this feels like bad stress or interesting challenge with the potential for growth.
Do you feel self critical about your writing? Do you suffer a bit from perfectionism? Writing should be a way to get you to new ideas, but you can’t use it as a tool if you are constantly editing yourself or second guessing. Try developing a practice of free writing. When you free write, you write continuously for a set period of time (say 7 minutes, or 10, or 15 minutes) without regard to spelling, grammar, or even to where you ideas wander. You just keep writing without stopping.
If you free write about your current thinking, you might find that it gets you closer and closer to hitting on the ideas and concerns that will really drive you in your Div III work. The writing itself might not be something you use in the Div III, but it will be useful to your Div III. It will help you know where to bring your writing or your creative work.
Library Carrel Applications will be available from Wednesday, August 19th at 9AM – Wednesday, September 16th at 4:30PM. You can apply at: hamp.it/carrel
Click on this link for more details and the application: https://www.hampshire.edu/library/carrel-request-process
If you are like most Div III students, your committee is telling you that you have to focus your topic more, that the project is too big as it stands. You might be wondering how a more focused project will allow you to still hold onto the larger issues that brought you to your Div III.
