Category: EE

In the end my biggest challenge was definitely conducting my experiment. I thought I could complete it in one week, but in reality it took closer to three, due to having to rebuild the experimental setup several times. I was collecting data quite last minute before the summer and would have definitely preferred a less stressful last couple of weeks.

Writing the essay itself, I allocated two weeks before the initial submission just to sit down each day and spend a solid block of time finishing writing up the essay. I am definitely proud of my essay and the research I have done, since the articles I have read have broadened my knowledge of swimming beyond just the topic of my essay. The article by Barbosa and co. has been my most insightful source by providing large amounts of in depth information to serve as a starting point for my research, and multiple other useful sources through its citations.

159 words

Having submitted an initial draft of my essay, several points have come up in the process of writing it. Conducting my experiment did not go as smoothly as planned, since the set up was not perfect and initially did not seem to work how I had intended it to. Yet after doing more planning and testing, I managed to refine the set up and experiment to collect the data I wanted. Researching for information to support the experimental findings was at times hard because not all seemingly relevant sources were in fact recent or accurate.

My supervisor and I have discussed the relevance of my sources and how this evaluation could be mentioned in the essay itself. In addition, we have decided to change the structure in order to make the essay easier to read. We have also evaluated my refined research question from the last reflection and the changes made to the experiments.

Word: 154

Today has been a productive day. Although I do not have much actually physically done, I have been able to narrow my topic, plan my experiments, and order the necessary materials for them.

I learned that what I had previously planned to do for my experiments would not work, so I thought about it and changed some of the components to them.

I am proud of where I have gotten to in terms of the process. I having enough research that I will be able to write my first 1000 words before the deadline, and I have an idea of my experiments so that once the tank arrives, I will be able to start collecting data.

My next steps will be writing the introduction/first 1000 words of my EE, and collecting my data. After this I will be in a strong position to finish my whole EE during the summer.

 

When starting this research process, I knew I wanted to do something to do with swimming and mass. Since my idea was very broad, I started researching broadly at the advice of my supervisor to help me narrow down my focus. It has been difficult conducting research due to the specific words needed within searches to find relevant information. However, as I have progressed, I have learned that the references cited for an interesting article can be very helpful and useful for further research. By discussing my research with my supervisor, I have now narrowed my focus to factors that affect drag, and how that affects swimming. At the moment, I plan on conducting three model experiments to support the theory I have researched.

Words: 124