How I will or will not use the components of this course in my work and/or education:

Now that I have been introduced to both quantitative and qualitative educational research, I can see the difference between the two. When looking at different research studies to reflect on my own practices as a teacher, I am now able to see what procedures an author followed, find the results, and see what the significance of the study. I am not sure I will produce my own research studies, but you can never say never to what may be in the future. I can now see what kind of critical thinking goes into producing a research proposal. Learning the skills that go into research studies I am now able to evaluate published articles and try to find data to support any practices I am interested in doing in my classroom as a teacher. After reading a research article I able to evaluate the article, and design my own. If I was ever asked to evaluate my practices using evidence-based research, I would now be able to find and use peer-reviewed journal articles to help collect data to support my practices. Also when attending professional developments or county-wide staff meanings, and being told data to reflect our success in different areas (AYP, SOLs), I can now have a better understanding of the statistical techniques (such as measures of central tendency, standard deviation, and correlation) being used to explain that data. As a teacher ethical principles are always something to think about when making a decision about a situation that deals with any person. When it comes to researching any person, it’s also important to keep these principles in mind. Overall this course was a good experience as an “eye opener” to what is and what goes into educational research.

This reflection is from the 16 components of this course:

~ Introduce the fundamental terms, concepts, and designs characteristics of both quantitative and qualitative educational research.

~ Learning and application of skills that will enable you to design your own research studies and critically evaluate published research articles in an effort to encourage data-driven reflections.

~ Evaluate the methodological procedures that an authored followed.

~ Evaluate the results that were reported.

~ Evaluate the practical significance of the study.

~ Ability to comprehend common research designs, methods, and procedures.

~ Communicate the research results clearly, concisely, logically, and in a coherent manner.

~ Read and critically evaluate scholarly journal articles as well as design your own research investigation.

~ Compare and contrast quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods approaches to research.

~ Explain what experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental research designs entail and describe their application to different research questions.

~ Explain descriptive statistical techniques such as measures of central tendency, standard deviation, and correlation.

~ Explain the ethical principles that pertain to research involving human subjects and research conducted in educational settings.

~ Select a research problem and formulate appropriate research hypotheses and/or questions.

~ Conduct a review of educational literature from texts, journals, and computer library databases.

~ Write a coherent synthesis of such literature as it relates to the research problem.

~ Prepare a viable research proposal.