8/5- Chapter 8 (I think?)

I think we must be behind one day? I know we discussed the chapter 8 material in class today, so I’m going to start basign my posts off what we do in class, rather than the schedule…

Vocabulary:

Casual-comparative- Nonexperimental studies designed to determine cause and effect.

Reflection:

Personally, I was confused on how casual-comparative research is not an experimental form of research…I think of experimental as testing a hypothesis. These kinds of studies are testing a hypothesis or problem statement, they simply have less control over what variables are involved in their study. The preschool example in the book and its impact on first grade achievement  was a good example, but the researchers are still studying a phenomenon. I guess the reseachers are not developing their own experiment or controling for all variables, but I think this kind of research is more applicable to real life. In real life, we cannot control all of these varibles, so I think looking at this kind of research is more applicable to our lives.

8/4 Chapter 8

Vocabulary:

Multiple regression analysis- Combines several predictor variables. This would look at all the  variables that would come together to predict what may happen.

Reflection:

Today, we talked about reliablity versus validity. We came up with some examples in our own lives, such as how to choose a restaurant to go out to, when to clean the house and when to get gas for your car. We talked about reliability being how consistent something is, so when you are looking for a restaurant, how consistent is their foor, service or ambiance? If a restaurant scores high in all of these areas on a review site, or if a restaurant is great every time you go, you will probably choose to go to that restaurant. When you are thinking about cleaning house, what level of dirtiness will force you to clean house, or what are your plans this weekend- meaning are there people coming over? Once you get a certain result, eg. the carpet becomes the color of your pet or in-laws are coming over, you will reliably clean your house. With validity, we are thinking about how valid something is for our purpose. For a restaurant, you think about your mood for a specific kind of food, or whether you are on a diet. Does this restaurant fulfill those needs? For cleaning the house, will cleaning the house make things better? Or do you have time to clean the house? I thought this was a good activity for us to really get a sense of the difference between the terms.

8/3 Chapter 6 & 7

Vocabulary:

Norm-referenced- Interpretations that compare subjects with others, or pretty much identifying the standards you want to set with your research: age group, grade level, etc in a study.

Reflection:

Today, we learned a lot about the math involved in the studies we are looking at, such as mean, median, standard deviation, etc. We looked at different ways that things are measured and how it is important to keep measurements standard in a study, otherwise we have no base to compare our findings to. In the case of the class, we had different types of measurement: nominal, ordinal and interval scales. With nominal, we talked about comparison, such as taller vs shorter. With ordinal, we talked about percentile. Interval scale, we talked about standard scoring, such as quotients. It was interesting to hear how little others knew about math that is so ingrained in my head from my undergrad experience. As much as I was annoyed in undergrad by doing all the calculations that involved these types of numbers, I understand them and know exactly what the studies are trying to show when they discuss these numbers and how they affect the study any given article is talking about

8/2- Chapter 3 & 4

Vocabulary:

Retrieval Algorithms- number and order of documents shown from a search done on the internet. Pretty much this is what determines whether you get 20 or 2000 results back from typing in keywords, and what order those results are shown in.

Reflection:

Today in class, we were in the library learning how to use the resources given to us through SPU and how they can make our lives a whole lot easier than if we simply used the internet ourselves. Within the first five minutes, I realized how much I did not have access to at home, in terms of journal articles retrieved through ERIC because of the way I was accessing the site. It was cool to go through how to go about getting a full text article because that is something I am always frustrated with, though going through SPU will give me more access than google did. I liked that we were given time to practice the skills we were taught, like using ERIC and Measurement Yearbook.

7/29- Chapter 5

Vocabulary:

Stratified sampling- subjects are selected from strata or groups of the population. This was one of the interesting  new vocabulary for me, because I’d never looked at different forms of sampling before. Random sampling was the only way I’ve heard of sampling before.

Reflection:

This chapter dealt with all the different forms sampling that one can use during a data collection for an experiment. Each method has their own strengths and weaknesses. Although each method is valid, one may have more validity than another in any given situation. In some situations, you may need a random sample, but you need a lot of people to participate because the error is higher. In some cases, you may only be able to sample a small number of people, because you are limited by how many people you are able to allow to participate, so proportional stratified may be a better choice. If your study does not require a population to be represented, it may be better to use a quota sampling method because of ease and low cost of sampling, although it may be a little more time consuming. I have never studied sampling in depth, so this chapter was very interesting.

7/28- Chapter 2 (part 2)

Vocabulary:

Confounding Variable- Varies systematically with the independent variable. Sometimes there is a variable that changes only because you are changing another variable. For example, if you are studying two sports teams, the coach is the confounding variable because each has a different way of coaching, and the kids may respond differently.

Reflection:

There are a lot of different variables that you must account for when doing research. It is important you are aware of and understand all the things that can affect your problem. It is important that you account for them in your hypothesis and experimental set-up. There are many variables, and you should always remember that, despite what we learned in high school, there are not only two variables. I did my undergraduate degree in biochemistry, which meant I was pretty much constantly involved in research, whether in my classes, or in research projects with my professors. I am very familiar with this type of material, and it is cool to look at journal articles about educational issues. I am looking forward to using this research in my classroom, and to inform me about current ideas in educational thoeries and strategies.

7/27- Chapter 2 (part 1)

Vocabulary:

Operational Definition- defines a concept by how it is measured or manipulated

Reflection:

Today we discussed sources and types of educational research. For the sources, we talked about four types, and compared them to each other individually: Authority, Research, Personal Experience, and Tradition. We talked about how each of the sources can be looked at as true without question, each with different reasons. We then drew a picture of how we feel that each type of educational research is done and how they relate. We drew a head with four different thoughts, because we thought that each method could be used for any problem, but you need to decide which method is best for the situation. I thought it was interesting that there was quantitative, qualitative, mixed, and everything that does not fit into those categories (analytic). I think analytical is a word that could be applied to all the types of research methods, because you must be analytical to be completing research.

UbD Stage One Reflection

In this week’s module, everyone designed the first stage of a unit, according to the format of Understanding by design. We each  presented the goals of the lesson in different forms, and asked guiding questions that students should know how to answer by the end of the unit. I really enjoyed reading others’ ideas of units, especially when I could relate to the units, and even able to possibly use them in the future, in addition to the one I wrote. This model of planning curriculum is very different from what I was thinking it would be. I have studied backwards planning before, and we would actually write assessments first. I like this way, of looking at goals of the unit first. It really helps a teacher focus their planning so that the students can benefit the most from a direct focus. I really like the idea of essential questions. You can even use them to focus each lesson, to give the students a goal by the end of one period.

I really liked looking at others’ stage 1. It gave me great ideas for what I could do in terms of what kinds of questions I can ask, how I can refocus ideas so that the attention is on why we are studying the material, or how the material relates to their lives. I really enjoyed creating my stage one because it helped me focus how I am going to present the first unit in my physical science class. I was able to come up with nice broad questions that can help guide the freshman into high school science, and how I can focus on why we study science in high school.

Cooperative Learning and Constructivism

In this week’s module, we read and discussed a lot of the strategies that many teachers are relying on in the classroom today. We are emphasizing cooperative learning because we know that practice will help the students learn how to work with others. The career field is looking for future employees that can work with others well, so we want our students to be able to do this. Group projects are a huge part of cooperative learning and I personally like to use them in class often. I think they are a great way for students to set their own goals and objectives and figure out a way to meet them. This helps the students become more independent and able to work on projects without the always present oversight of the teacher.

Constructivism is a very modern approach to education. Many older teachers that I know have a big problem with this method because they feel that it takes too long, and would limit the amount of material that we can cover in a year even more than it already is. They also feel that there is too much of a chance that the students could understand the concepts incorrectly, misinterpret how they can be used, or use them incorrectly out of context. Constructivism is a new concept, and very different from direct instruction. I think it is a powerful tool that we can use, because students are building their own knowledge in their own words. Each student will own the knowledge themselves, rather than feel like they are absorbing the knowledge of others.

7/26- Chapter 1

Vocabulary:

Action Research- Investigates specific classroom problems. This is probably the most interesting form of research dicussed in this chapter. I am very familiar with research, as my background is in science and I have participated in many research projects myself.

Reflection:

In class yesterday, we had a class brainstorm of research ideas in which we were interested. From the board, it was obvious that we each comes from specific backgrounds that lead us to be interested in different ideas, but we all are very interested in helping our students succeed in education. I noticed that many people were interested in issues based around socio-economics, and gender differences. I also noticed that we all were very interested in different types of lesson differentiation, as well as exercise in the classroom. I think our class group is unique, and well-meshed to work together on different rearchable ideas. I am looking forward to working with all the lovely ladies for the next month!