Activate Week 9

Chapter 11 - Historical Research 

I know that history is the past. History is two seconds ago, it is yesterday, and it is 100 years ago. History has a major affect on the present day. We are who we are because of events that happened in our past. Many books have been written about historical events. Books are also written about personal historical events - history that has impacted one particular person or a group of people. 

History research looks to analyze the events that have happened in the past and researchers also look to see what we can learn about those events. They study how one event affects the next. History researchers may have a different interpretation of an event. A person's view of the event can affect how they feel about it. If a person has a particular interpretation of an event or they wish to discuss the event with others, they may choose to write their thoughts down or collect information from others to learn more. 

I wonder how we can use historical literature and the historical research of others to help our instruction. 

Chapter 15 - Narrative Approaches 

I know that a narrative is a story. Authors have many different reasons for writing a narrative.  Narratives are written to share a lesson, to entertain us, or it can teach us new things. Authors get inspirations from personal experiences, dreams, or a creative imagination. 

Narrative research looks to understand the events of a story. Narratives help researchers understand human experiences. Each human has different life experiences and therefore each human has their own personal narrative. 

I wonder how narrative research can be used to help our students understand narrative literature and write their own narratives. 

Week 8 Activate

Chapter 13 - Meta-Analysis

Ok, I am going to be honest. I had to look to see what meta-analysis meant! This is the combination of many studies, usually conducted by different researchers in different contexts, in order to analyze a certain educational topic. I can see this as being a valuable way of conducting research because a researcher is able to compare the various studies and analyze differences. The researcher can analyze why those differences occurred. A school's area, the teachers, the families of the students, socioeconomic levels of the students, etc can all affect study results. I think it would be helpful to be able to study results from schools from multiple areas.

I am curious to see how meta-analysis is used in the field of education and how I can benefit from it as a future reading specialist.

Week 7 Activate

Chapter 3 - Content Analysis

Content is the area of study. I know that there are four main content areas that are taught at an elementary school - Social Studies, Math, Science, Reading and Writing). I know that content can also be specific to a subject or also a book. Each book has its own subject and area of focus.

I am guessing that content analysis analyzes the content of different literature. The content of books is a determining factor in whether the student will achieve comprehension when reading the text. Depending on the complexity of the text, the student's reading level, and his/her background knowledge, the student may or may not be able to understand the reading.

I wonder how I can use my new knowledge of content analysis to help my students understand the content that they read.

Chapter 6 - Discourse Analysis

Conversation needs to be an important component of any classroom. Talking with others allows students to expand their thinking, ask questions, answer questions, and understand other points of view. Talk is not only a great way to learn, but it is a good way to socialize. In the age of technology, we cannot loose face to face conversation. This still needs to be a prominent part of the educational world.

I am thinking that discourse analysis looks at oral language in the classroom and how this language can affect classroom performance. I am unsure if discourse analysis refers to both teacher and student conversations or just student to student conversations.

I am curious how discourse analysis research supports the use of conversation in the classroom.

Chapter 7 - Discourse Analysis

Discourse can also be written. Written literature allows you to see into the mind of someone you have never met. You can also explore new worlds and expand your mind or your ways of thinking. The way a text is organized and the content of a text affect if one is able to understand and learn from the text.

I think that discourse analysis looks at the ideas of the text, the words used, and how the text is written. The genre, the purpose, and the individual writer's style all make a difference to how the text is written.

Discourse Analysis of written text seems to be an important area of study for teachers and students. Understanding why a text is written a certain way can be helpful to increase understanding of the text.

Activate week 6

Chapter 5 - Virtual Ethnography

I know that ethnography is the study of humans and their cultures. I believe that virtual ethnography would refer to online research methods that are used to study people. The digital age has given us so many more methods that researchers can use to discover information. Before the internet, researchers would find out information through the phone, mail, or in person. Now, we can ask someone who lives across the world a question over the internet and get an answer almost immediately. The virtual world has opened up the possibilities for education research.

I wonder in what was researchers are taking advantage of the internet and how it has changed virtual ethnography.

Chapter 8 - Ethnographic Research

I believe this would refer to the study of one's culture. In particular to literacy, culture can have large affect on a child's literacy abilities and progress. Some cultures put a higher value on literacy than others. Also, if the child was not born in an English speaking country or to a family who speaks English, that can possibly contribute to the child struggling to complete literary tasks in English.

I think that this type of research would seek to provide answers to how a student's culture affects their literacy performance, which can be very valuable information for teachers to understand.

Chapter 2 - Case Studies

I am familiar with case studies because I am currently conducting one in my Applications of Assessment class. I conducted reading assessments with a fourth grader, Samantha, and then analyzed the results of the assessments. I had to compile the information gathered from Samantha's assessments to write a report on her current literacy abilities. The purpose of the case study was to identify a student's strengths and weaknesses and figure out possible ways to help the student improve.

I know that there are different kinds of case studies. I wonder what other purposes researchers use to conduct a case study and how teachers can use this information to improve instruction.

Activate week 5

Formative and design experiments - Chapter 10

A formative assessment is one that is conducted in the classroom and is part of normal routine. It is not something that is taken in a strange environment or with new rules. I am guessing that a formative experiment is one that is conducted in an authentic environment. I would think that these type of experiments would yield accurate results because the experiment is not anything out of the ordinary.

I am unsure, but I think that a design experiment is one that is more typical of a normal experiment that is more controlled.

I wonder what type of experiment is more common with educational research and which type of experiment that researchers prefer to use.

Mixed Methods - Chapter 14

I am guessing that mixed methods is a type of experiment that strives to answer a research question by using multiple research methods.

I wonder what the history of mixed methods research is and what would encourage one to use this methodology. I wonder how we should decide which methodology to use.

Activate week 4

Survey research - Chapter 18

We can find out answers to questions through survey research. It seems as though survey research is a type of experiment. We start with a question and then conduct surveys to find out what, how, or why. I know that there are many different types of surveys and we have to have certain rules that we follow when conducting them. We have to make sure our sample represents the population and the question(s) that we ask make sense.

I wonder how we can make sense of survey research and use it as a tool for improving instruction.

Affective instruments - Chapter 12

An instrument is the tool used to make something happen. Affective deals with feelings. In this case, we want to discuss feelings toward reading and also motivation to want to read. Therefore, an affective instrument (I believe) is used to find out a student's feelings about reading and their reading abilities, and also their motivation and engagement when asked to read.

Motivation and feelings toward reading are a couple areas that have been overlooked until recently. We underestimate how important the affective aspects of reading are. We assess student's on the cognitive aspects of reading often, but we should put a greater focus on affective components. Feelings towards reading can affect their comprehension of the text.

I wonder how affective instruments can be used to improve reading instruction and how valid these instruments are with the results.

Activate Week 3

Experiments and Quasi-Experiments

An experiment always starts with a question. An experimenter is searching for an answer. Sometimes, they have a prediction for the answer, called the hypothesis. The experimenter will manipulate a variable in order to try to reach a conclusion. Throughout the experiment, the hypothesis may be changed and sometimes, a definite conclusion is not reached. It can take many experiments and tests in order for experimenters to make a conclusion. The more tests and experiments conducted with the same conclusion, the more likely it is that the conclusion is one of value.

Experiments usually have participants randomly assigned to each group. Groups will have a different characteristic that the experimenter is trying to measure. In a quasi-experiment, I believe that the grouping is not random. The experimenter may place people in groups in order to make groups statistically even.

I wonder if experiments or quasi-experiments are better to use when conducting an experiment on an educational issue. I see the advantage of having the groups more "even" so possibly get a more trusted result.

Activate - Week 2

I am going to do all my active blogs on the different topics of discussion first, and then fill in with my reading information. 

Correlation / Regression

In reference to my knowledge of math vocabulary, a correlation refers to a relationship between two scores or events. A correlation can be either negative or positive. A correlation coefficient determines the direction of the relationship.

A regression represents scores decreasing over time. Two events that have a negative correlation will show regression.

I think of a graph when I hear these terms. A positive correlation graph will show both the x-axis and y-axis numbers increasing. For example, a graph showing test scores on the y axis and the month of the school year will have a positive correlation if the test scores are increasing over time (what we want to happen). On the other hand, if test scores are decreasing over time, the y axis (test scores) will decrease while the x axis (time) will increase.