Things to do each week
The suggestions of what to do each week are just that, suggestions. They are designed, along with the notes for each week to scaffold your work in the course.
Before things begin, this speech by David Foster Wallace is a useful opener for the course. His This is Water speech is directed at graduates from a liberal arts college in the US. The core of his arguments can be easily mapped over thinking about the research you are planning. It is an opportunity to think on your, and I include myself in this, default settings.