First Day of Class

Print out the quizzes and see if you can answer the questions using your notes, lecture, reading, etc. Don't work with others, but feel free to take notes and discuss based upon those questions before taking it online.

Next week meet in the MBH computer lab (rm. 108) for class.


I. Theme is technology in education
II.
III.
IV.

Why is research important?
textbooks don't know everything
programs of instruction - we keep changing programs based on new research
(ie. phonics vs. whole lang.)
who conducts research?
No Child Left Behind Act - scientifically based evidence (very narrow)

How do we know what we think we know?
personal experiences
tradition - also known as tenacity
appeal to authority - ask an expert
a priori knowledge - a hunch, intuition
reason
inductive - specific to general - after we collect the data and try to interpret and apply it
deductive - general to specific - before we ever collect the data

Science as a "Knowing"
Research = systematic process of gathering, interpreting, and reporting information

In this class we're going to focus on the methods and results of a research project (rather than just the intro. and discussion about it). Has a researcher really found what he says he has found? Did he really do what he says he did?

It's up to the consumer to figure out what the implications of a research article will be. It's up to the teacher, for example, to interpret the research and decide how it will affect their instruction in the classroom.
Basic vs. Applied Research
Action vs. Theoretical Research

Are some research findings more easily applied than others?
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research

Quantitative -
posivitist orientation (the truth is out there, and I can find it)
world is a reality made up of facts to be discovered
balck and white, relationships between varieables, cause and effects
detached and objective researchers
goal is to generalize beyond the experiment

Qualitative -
interpretivist/constructivist orientation (there are multiple realities and multiple truths)
world is made up of multiple realities that are socially constructed by individual views of a
situation
understand situations and events from the viewpoints of participants involved
researchers are immersed in situations being studied
Don't necessarity try to generalize beyond the situation because the research is so tied to
the context

Perhaps the best research model is a mix between qualitative and quantitative

Characteristics of both qualitative and quantitative studies:
Research creates info. that should be shard publicly. (whether it's perfect or not, it should be shared - that's the point)
Research findings should be replicable.
Research is used to refute or support claims - NOT to PROVE them. (You can't prove anything and close the book on it. Someone can always come along and refute your claims.)
Researchers should take care to control for errors and biases.
Research findings are limited in their generalizability.
Research should be analyzed and critiqued carefully.

The Scientific Method
1.Problem
2. Clarify
3. Determine the information needed and how to get it
4. Organize the information
5. Interpret the results

This is easier to apply to quantitative than to qualitative

Method of Scientific Inquiry
Objectivity
Control of bias
Willingness to alter beliefs
Verification (through replication)
Induction (generlize beyond specific causes)
Precision (details: timing, order, subject, etc.)

Truth - always working toward it, but will never prove it

How does this apply to research on technology in education?
•Research on process - focus on understanding (psychology)
•Research on product - focus on application (education)