After a ten year gap in my formal education, writing the literature review was a challenge.  I’m glad to have gotten through the first draft, however, and I believe it will be easier the next time around.  And if not easier, at least I hope to improve with each attempt.  Also, there definitely were some lessons learned during this first draft that I believe I can build on in the future:

• Struggling with theory – Finding a theoretical foundation for my study was  one of my biggest challenges.  I did find a few that interested me, but finally settled on Weidman’s Model of Undergraduate Socialization.  In the end, developing an initial understanding of this theory might be one of the most important things that I take away from this class.  I really like this theory, and I could see basing other studies, including my dissertation, within this framework.
• Not reading enough early on – I read a lot of the literature surrounding my topic.  Or at least it felt like it at times.  But in hindsight I needed to read more, and sooner.  Lesson learned.
• Organizing my literature review – Figuring out what to include, and in what order, was a challenge.  I will definitely benefit from the feedback for this draft, because as thoughtful as I attempted to be, I’m sure there were disorganized or jumbled passages.  And I can see now how a literature review for a dissertation can be so long!  I was confused at times with how much or how little to include, when there is so much literature on certain topics.
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative – Since I haven’t taken any methods courses yet, I struggled early on with how I would approach this study. By the time I started my literature review, I had settled on a qualitative study, but I’m not sure if I would choose the same in a year or two.  I will really benefit from taking my methods courses (even if I am nervous about Quant!). It is difficult to create a study without a strong grasp of methodology.

In addition to learning more about a great theory, I enjoyed learning more about academic resilience, academic buoyancy, positive psychology and student achievement.  While I may not stay with the exact same topic through my dissertation, there was a lot here that I really could build on in the future.  And Dr. Gayles was right – it is much more enjoyable to approach my research from a positive standpoint!