I want to thank all my colleagues who have posted comments on my blog. Also what a great job we have all done the past eight weeks. I have really enjoyed reading about and learning about the research process. I know the past eight weeks have been busy for me but I feel that I know have the knowledge to design a research outline and follow it through.
- What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
- The major insight that I have gained about research from taking this course is that there is a lot that researchers needs to take into consideration before they can start a research study.
- In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?
- Before taking this course I knew that research was a lot of work and time consuming, but what I didn’t realize is how many different approaches there are for doing researcher.
- What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
- With help from the assignments and the text reading, I have learned a lot about the research process. “Regardless of approach, there is a series of steps – from selecting a topic through to writing the final research report – that must be followed to generate research that is informative, ethical, meaningful, persuasive and significant” (Naughton, Rolfe, Siraj-Blatchford, 2010, p. 32).
- What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?
- Some challenges I encountered were learning how to really narrow down and define the research question, decide on the type of design I wanted to use and data collection methods I wanted to use.
- What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?
- As a result of this course my perceptions of early childhood professionals have strengthened. I feel that even though research might sound scary to some, early childhood professionals have the resources and passion to make significant changes in the field with the help of research studies.
References:
Naughton, G., Rolfe, S., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research. New York, NY: Open University Press.
Alison,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I was surprised at all the different angles there are to research. I also agree with you that research can be challenging and daunting at times. However, if changes in the early childhood field need to be achieved, it is important that we do research to show why and how we can make a difference. I think you state it well when you say that this class has strengthen your believe in the importance of research. I also think that this class has opened my eyes to what is needed to be a successful researcher.
Allison,
ReplyDeleteThere was something that you said that really stuck out to me. You mentioned research sounding a little scary, this class has made it not so scary. I feel like I can look at a research paper and really gain insight from the document. Thanks for your insights, they were great.