Each month we will write a research reflection for our course. Here is September's questions and answers:
- How did your participation in course activities this month contribute to your understanding of action research (specifically) and the role of research in educational technology (generally)?
- Most of my understanding of Action Research comes from the readings of Stringer and the previous students’ research papers. Reading the papers is very enlightening for what we will be doing this semester. I especially enjoyed the student paper on Franklin Covey Online Training. This was of particular interest to me because I teach online. The sessions that JMG Solutions purchased through Franklin Covey are a lot like the online sessions that I teach because they are already made. I don’t actually construct any curriculum for my courses and the Franklin Covey ones are already constructed too. This is important because these courses are difficult to differentiate. Students can take a completely different course if they want to be differentiated but for the most part all of the students are exposed to the same curriculum.
- What preconceptions about research have you changed because of your learning this month?
- I started the month with thinking research was what we do in school. We read books, articles, and papers and pull together the research that the authors have done. We use this research to come to our own conclusions about whatever we are researching. This is the typical research paper that we write in school. Action research is much different. We actually conduct the research ourselves this time. I have started to think that action research is much like the science experiments that we conduct. We start with a question that we want to answer, we conduct research, and we come to conclusions. The only thing missing from action research that is in a science experiment is a hypothesis. However, it seems that the literature review could be a piece of this hypothesis since we are doing research to see what our study might reveal.
- How have you relied upon networks - with peers, via social media - to advance your learning this month?
- I relied on my group members to help me write the research proposal. I was also able to bounce ideas off of them in discussions. I like what LaDawna posted on one of our discussions. It was a bunch of arrows arranged in circles. These circles are a lot like what we are doing for our research project. We write the proposal with a certain intended outcome. When we go over it again with our guild we might change what we want to research. Then we go over it again when our professor reviews the proposal. Then, as we conduct research our findings may not reveal exactly what we thought. And finally as we write a final review of the findings we have to reflect and see what our strengths and weaknesses were in our research.
- Ask yourself a question about your research activities, and provide a meaningful answer.
- I am curious what part of this course I will enjoy the most. I usually don’t like working in groups – especially online – so that will be an interesting experience. So far I have enjoyed just doing research for my games in learning project. I have always liked the prospect of using games in learning so this is enjoyable to me. My favorite article so far on Classcraft. It is a game to use in the classroom that is similar to a role playing game. I wish this had been around when I was teaching in the classroom. Okay let’s be honest, I wish it was around when I was learning in the classroom! Classcraft can be found at www.classcraft.com. It is really worth checking out.
- What are your enduring curiosities about (action) research, and how might you pursue these interests?
- I’m really interested to see what other things are out there to teach with games in the classroom. As previously stated, I was intrigued by Classcraft but I’m sure this isn’t the only option out there. I am interested to see what other platforms are out there and how successful they have been in the classroom. I’m also interested in looking at simulations versus games in the classroom. It seems like simulations get a bad reputation but I have just stared using them in my biology courses. This is the only way that my online students can actually experience anything close to a lab setting in their homes. I’m curious to see the effectiveness of a simulation type game versus a game focused more on fun like Classcraft.
- I’m really interested to see what other things are out there to teach with games in the classroom. As previously stated, I was intrigued by Classcraft but I’m sure this isn’t the only option out there. I am interested to see what other platforms are out there and how successful they have been in the classroom. I’m also interested in looking at simulations versus games in the classroom. It seems like simulations get a bad reputation but I have just stared using them in my biology courses. This is the only way that my online students can actually experience anything close to a lab setting in their homes. I’m curious to see the effectiveness of a simulation type game versus a game focused more on fun like Classcraft.