Jan.

31
“Reading Journal Articles”

1. What do you need to do to prepare to read a peer-reviewed article? Ask

your professor for guiding questions or key topics to keep in mind while
reading(can guide while reading and note-taking).
- Find an environment to focus in
- Think about why that reading was assigned, turn headings and topics
into simple questions
- Background information(context)
2. What should you do while reading a peer-reviewed article? Annotating/
Paraphrase, don’t over-highlight, only the Main Ideas and Supporting Details
3. What should you do when you finish reading a peer-reviewed article?
Revisit the article later, short summary, Answer questions, explain and discuss
with a friend

Not many people can read an article and immediately be able to fully
comprehend it. However, there are things that can be done to facilitate in the
comprehension. These strategies can be implemented in all parts of the
reading; before reading, while reading, and after reading to maximize the
understanding of the assigned material.
In Passages into College Writing: Listening to the Experiences of
International Students, Jason Schneider provides ways to “prepare” to read a
peer-reviewed article. Some preparations that can be taken prior to reading a
peer-reviewed article are to ask your professor for guiding questions to keep
in mind while reading, finding a distraction-free environment, reading any
context, and thinking about the purpose of the assigned reading (Schneider,
“Passages into College Writing: Listening to the Experiences of International
Students). In addition to the pre-reading phase, Schneider also gives tips on
what to do while reading a peer-reviewed article.
Schneider re-iterates what most English or reading teachers say to do
when reading anything; annotate and paraphrase. In addition to these
suggestions, Schneider also advises reader to avoid habits of excess such as
over-highlighting as this can be counterproductive to the purpose of the
actual highlighting. Schneider says to basically only annotate or highlight the
Main Idea and Supporting Details. The strategies do not stop there, after
reading the peer-reviewed article, there are things that can be done
post-reading the peer-reviewed article.
One of Schneider’s suggestions is to revisit the article after fully reading
it, and write a short summary in addition to responding to any questions that
are given as part of the reading. Another effective strategy that can be done
is to discuss with a friend, as this discussion can offer another point of view on
the reading, something that can expose details that might’ve been
overlooked.
To summarize, there are many things that can be done pre-, in-, and
post-reading to maximize comprehension. Although they may be tedious,
these strategies will definitely help us understand the reading. Despite all the
darkness that may arise from the frustration that might come with doing
what could be called “excess work”, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A
shining beacon emitted by successful comprehension.

“Passages into College Writing: Listening to the Experiences of

International Students”

1. Who published this text (what journal)? The Association of Teachers of

Advanced Composition
2. Is it peer-reviewed and how do you know? Yes, I pasted the title into
EbscoHost and limited the results to peer-reviewed and it came out
3. What is the author’s thesis? Ways in which the experiences of international
students are both similar and different than those of their U.S. counterparts
4. What evidence does the author use to support the thesis? Academic
sources that support the thesis
5. Who is the audience of this article? U.S. students who don’t see that
international students share similarities and differences with them.
6. What are your reactions to this article? I think it’s nice that someone was
able to research this because oftentimes, some may discriminate against
international students for whatever reason. It’s nice to be able to show that
they aren't so different after all

Excess Citation: Schneider, Jason. “Passages into College Writing: Listening to

the Experiences of International Students.” Composition Forum, vol. 40, 2018,

Many things are often generalized, for example any individual form of martial
arts being called Karate, instead of the name of their actual discipline, such
as Judo, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. International students and United States
students often face the unfortunate same generalizations. In Passages into
College Writing: Listening to the Experiences of International Students, Jason
Schneider does an effective job of using the academic, peer-reviewed writing
format to get his thesis of international student’s experiences and challenges
being overlooked, across to reach his desired audience.
Passages into College Writing: Listening to the Experiences of
International Students is a peer-reviewed article written by Jason Schneider
and published by The Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition in
one of their journals, Composition Forum. The reason that I believe the article
to be peer-reviewed is because I pasted the title into EbscoHost and limited
the results to peer-reviewed sources and it was the first result. Schneider’s
article being published by The Association of Teachers of Advance
Composition, a credible organization, could also be evidence that the article
is peer-reviewed. Furthermore, since this article follows academic writing
format, complete with an Abstract and Works Cited page, the likelihood of the
article being peer-reviewed increases. In addition to the academic writing
format acting as evidence of the article being peer-reviewed, the academic
writing format also enables the author’s thesis to be clear.
Schneider’s uses academic sources to express his thesis that details the
experiences of international students’ sharing similarities and differences with
their U.S. counterparts. Schneider gives the example of both international and
U.S students sharing the same task: an assigned academic writing. However,
Schneider discusses how this task may be easier for U.S. students who at least
know how to write in English, whereas international students don’t know the
language well, and much less can apply it in the academic writing format (2).
Schneider talks about how he hasn’t realized that he doesn’t provide a space
of discourse for students, and therefore is less aware of the challenges that
might be faced by them (1). Because of this, Schneider deeply analyzes the
experiences of international students and uses others’ research to support his
thesis, evident from his extensive in-text citations and “Works Cited” page.
Because of the clarity of Schneider’s thesis, he is able to indicate and reach
his target audience.
There are two intended audiences for this article: both professors and
students who may overlook an international student’s situation. This is evident
from Schneider including the “I realized that I rarely take the time to listen to
my students” part to provide something for instructors to ask themselves the
same question that Schneider asked himself when stumbling across that
revelation (1). Additionally, Schneider mentions how a source details that
international students have to take part in ‘”Triple learning”’, basically
mentioning how in addition to fulfilling their school duties like any student,
international students must learn the English language, understand the
people where they reside in who most likely speak pure English, and be able
to form part of the English-speaking academic community (3). I think it’s nice
that Schneider basically gave readers a taste of an international student’s life
and how challenging it can be. Rather than forming part of his intended
audience, he decided to be the one to point the issue out to them.
In conclusion, in his article, Schneider detailed the challenges faced by
international students, which are commonly overlooked. Because of this,
Schneider is able to portray that he is one of the few who realized the issue,
and is making an effort to combat it. Schneider’s efforts are displayed
through his writing, and, unlike his topic of discussion, they aren’t overlooked

Feb.2
Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a US College
Sample

1. Who published this text (what journal)? Springer Nature, in International

Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
2. Is it peer-reviewed and how do you know? Yes, searched for title in
Ulrichsweb and it was marked as refereed. Also on EBSOhost after limited to
peer-reviewed journals
3. What is the author’s thesis? A test, (FCV-19S, Fear of COVID-19 Scale),
should be issued to assess how a student is responding to the pandemic,
whether additional levels of stress are placed on them for economic
troubles,or their universities closing down, or if the student responds to the
adversity “with resilience”. Additionally, the test is designed to specifically
point out what sort of stress the student is experiencing
4. What evidence does the author use to support the thesis? The experiment
that they are conducting, sources
5. Who is the audience of this article? Researchers interested in how COVID
has impacted students, parents could also be interested(see revelation about
stress in sons/daughters), professors(those who may want to know if the
COVID situation is impacting students or not), maybe even students(to
indicate they are not alone in their stress)
6. What methods did the authors use to answer their research questions?
Case study/experiment, FCV-19S questionnaire was given to students to
assess their levels of stress/anxiety.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had psychological complications in

students around the world. However, students respond differently to the
complications, some earning an additional level of stress, and some
responding with resilience. In “Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a US
College Sample” Catherine Perz et al. discuss how a scale can be used to
determine if a student has been affected or not and at what level.
“Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a US College Sample”, is a
peer-reviewed article published by Springer Nature in their Journal of Mental
Health and Addiction. The article can be assumed to be peer-reviewed
because if the title of the article is searched up in Ulrichsweb, a database that
provides tons of information on the article, including whether an article is
peer-reviewed, the peer-reviewed article indicator is present on the article.
Additionally, the article follows academic writing format, in which its thesis is
crystal clear.
In “Validation of the Fear of Covid-19 Scale in a US College Sample”
Catherine Perz et al. talk about their thesis of how a test should be issued to
determine if students are suffering from additional stress caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic, or if they respond to the adversity with resilience (1). The
way that Perz et al. are able to support their thesis is by mentioning how they
have read and built up on research that noticed students were struggling with
stress as a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic. One example being when
Perz et al. quote DePaul University who detail that student life ‘” became more
unpredictable and stressful”’ (2). The method used by Perz et al. to answer
research questions was by carrying out a study in which they gave 237
participants the “Fear of COVID-19 Scale” (FCS-19S) (3). The study found that
58% of participants reported at least mild anxiety in the past 2 weeks,
effectively proving their thesis of students gained an additional level of stress
because of the COVID-19 pandemic (Perz et al. ,5) This study provides useful
information for a variety of audiences who may be interested in seeing how
COVID-19 has impacted students.
There are many intended audiences for this article, but they all fall
under the same group; those who want to find out about the effects of
COVID-19 on a student’s stress levels. There are researchers who specifically
want to find out how COVID-19 affected students mentally, parents who could
be interested in seeing how COVID-19 affected student’s mental health, and if
there sons or daughters are also affected, in addition to students who may
want to see that they aren’t the only ones coping with stress.
All in all, Perz et al. analyze a serious ongoing issue that may not be
getting the exposure it requires. They are able to come up with a solution that
could provide insight into what exactly is causing stress, which can lead to a
solution being found. As Kurt Lewin once said, “No research without action, no
action without research.”

Feb.3
More Than Inconvenienced: The Unique Needs of U.S. College
Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

1. Who published this text (what journal)? Health Education & Behavior
2. Is it peer-reviewed and how do you know? Yes, plugged title into
EBSCOhost, limited to peer-reviewed journals, came out. Also Health
Education & Behavior website points it out to be peer-reviewed in “about the
journal”
3. What is the author’s thesis? That COVID-19 has presented many
insecurities and challenges to students, and there are things that institutions
can do to help them mitigate these obstacles
4. What evidence does the author use to support the thesis? Suggestions,
other sources
5. Who is the audience of this article? Institutions of higher education
6. What methods did the authors use to answer their research questions?
Managing their long-standing college health surveys which provide them
info, reading other researchers and researches

Writing about issues is everywhere, what’s rare is writing that has the
suggestions to combat these issues. This is what makes “More Than
Inconvenienced: The Unique Needs of U.S. College students During the
COVID-19 Pandemic” stand out from millions of other peer-reviewed COVID-19
articles. In this article, Alyssa Lederer et al. discuss the challenges faced by
institutions and their students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how
these challenges can be overcame.
“More Than Inconvenienced: The Unique Needs of U.S. College Students
During the COVID-19 Pandemic” is a peer-reviewed article published in Health
Education & Behavior. The reason that this article can be assumed to be
peer-reviewed is because if the Health Education & Behavior website is
visited, under the “Journal Description” tab, it reads “Health Education &
Behavior (HE&B) is a peer-reviewed, bimonthly journal…”. Though a clear
thesis is often hard to maintain in a peer-reviewed article, Lederer et al.
manage to do so.
Specifically, the thesis of Lederer et al. is that COVID-19 has presented
many insecurities and challenges to students, and there are things that
institutions can do to help them mitigate these obstacles (1). As evidence to
support their thesis, Lederer et al. quote other sources. For example, Lederer at
al. mention that “’in 2019, almost a quarter of college students had been
diagnosed or treated for anxiety or depression in the previous 12 months’” (2).
To answer their research questions Lederer et al. “manage their two
long-standing college health surveys” which provide them info, and read
other researchers’ work who show results proving their thesis (1). For example,
Lederer et al. detail how students who relied on meal plans at their
universities, lost access to these commodities since most universities closed
down during the COVID-19 pandemic (2). The reason that Lederer et al.
specifically detail how it was that students were affected specifically, from a
university resource, is to nudge at universities to make an effort to help
students who are facing challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The target audience of Lederer et al. is institutions of higher education.
This is evident from the Abstract, which mentions “We provide several
recommendations for institutions for institutions of higher education to
mitigate these obstacles, including engaging in data-driven decision
making…” (1). The entire article provides ways for universities to combat the
challenges that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.
All in all, Lederer et al. provide good suggestions for institutions to follow
in order to recuperate from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. As Albert
Szent-Gyorgi once said, “Research is to see what everybody else has seen,
and to think what nobody else has thought”. In addition to thinking what
nobody else has thought, Lederer et al. share suggestions nobody else
would’ve thought of.