First, I
would like to thank each one of my colleagues who have provided their thoughtful
and helpful posts on my blog and the blogs of others. We have truly formed collaborative
team that support and challenge each other.
When I
think about research, I think about how it has helped to shape our
understanding of the human species. Research helps us explain common phenomenon
and makes connections (Mac Naughton, 2010). Through the course of this class, I
have developed an understanding for the research design process and was able to
practice these step through the completion of my research simulation. The
process requires researchers to considered their research topic through
redefining their question, deciding if the research requires a hypotheses, selecting
a research method, designing the research, reviewing it to ensure that all
ethical considerations have been met, conducting the research, analyze and
review (Mac Naughton, 2010). This was important for me to understand so that
when I read research I will have a basic understanding of the process the
researchers had to take to conduct the study.
Before
taking this class I was unclear on how to conduct research or why it was even
done. Now I understand that conducting research is a very natural process that
we as humans do everyday without even thinking about it. I was able to reflect
back on my experiences as a teacher and identify where I have conducted
research unknowingly. Know I can continue to use this natural form of research
in my classroom but know I can analyze the data collected with more purpose.
This will help develop curriculum, plan activities, and individual academic plans
for my students.
Some of
the challenges I faced during this course, was understanding the terminology in
the text, Doing Early Childhood Research,
to over come this I had to use other articles and information from website to
help me understand the meaning of a few words. I even reached out to Dr. Carol
Todd who helped me address several misconnections I had developed. Taking these
steps help me to build understanding of very complex topics.
Reference
Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I.
(2010). Equity and research
Design. Doing early childhood research (2nd
ed.) (Pp. 177-191). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
