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My most burning question about this course at this time is: Is it common to find recent research that contradicts other recent research? If this does occur, how do you decide which research to abide by?
So there may be a better answer than this, but in marketing there comes a time when you just have to do the thing and measure for yourself. Research first, but every market (and i imagine every population) is a microcosm. Often results will very for minute reasons. I suggest depending on the situation doing a quick A/B test. This means try both in a smaller controlled setting. Go with what seems to work best and record your results. Then perhaps try the A/B again and again with different variables. Sometimes you might be biased towards an answer that you like better and the more often you test the thing the less biased you will become.
This actually makes me think of a specific study that had previously been brought up in a few of my undergrad courses. The research looked at the idea of “power poses”, which suggested that if you position your body in a certain manner it will have an effect on how powerful you feel and how powerful you are perceived to be by others. The author of the study was Amy Cuddy, and her two co-authors were Andy Yap, and Dana Carney. Cuddy lives by this research and swears it to be true, but her co-author Carney does not believe the effects are “real”/a.k.a statistically significant. The concept of power poses is very controversial, even among those who worked on the study together.
So, I guess it all boils down to how much research supports one finding or the other. It’s also important to look at things such as sample size, participant demographics, the credentials of those contributing to the study, etc. Some studies say they find things statistically significant, even though their findings aren’t always able to be replicated, which suggests that nothing was truly found… Because if you can’t do it more than once, it doesn’t count.
This is not necessarily in regards to the original topic, more the example research it self.
I actually watched a special on TV in Japan about doing “power poses”. Though I am embarrassed to admit, since then, every time I go into an interview, have to give a presentation, first day of school, etc, I have my own special “power pose”. That paired with a couple of deep breathes really help me!
The one burning question I have at this time is: I noticed a ton of professors during college heavily involved in research/publishing works and what not. Think this course re-sparked my fascination with research, but was curious if there are a fair amount of educators in elementary-high school doing research/publishing work? Also, how does one overall balance time between teaching, working on researching and publishing, and overall life?
That’s an interesting question. Within the past four years of working alongside both middle and high school teachers, I don’t believe I have ever met a teacher who spends their abundance of free time (because we all know that educators have all the time in the world) working on publishing or conducting a study. But, the majority of teachers I have worked with have always researched ways they could incorporate new things into their classroom, how they could better teach a subject, whether a text/article had been beneficial towards the learning curve in other classrooms, etc. So, they were always staying proactive when it came to bettering their teaching style, but never really conducting research of their own.
I am sure there are a ton of brilliant teachers out there who manage to do it all, I have just never met one.
I worked for a professor who has been part or author to many articles in Peer reviewed journals, and I would say balance came with assistants. :-). He did a lot of meta-analysis projects and utilized some of the students who worked for him in the lab to look for articles that would confirm or refute his hypothesis. I probably spent 15-20 hours reading journals on a specific topic with a specific set of standards, and I was only looking up Authors A-E. Other students took on other authors. We would all pool our data and he would finish the paper. He spent more hours than all of us on each topic, but was able to use our assistance to help balance the load. I actually really enjoyed it, and learned a lot from the process.
That is a good question! I have aspirations to write and publish works relevant to the field of teaching. It seems like a natural fit. Especially since teachers have Summers off. I just don’t hear of many teachers who currently teach doing such things. Is it a time management issue?
Are there any tips for making sure that the action researcher doesn’t taint their own tests? Like I imagine that just being so close to the issue makes it difficult to not have bias. I understand that you can continue testing to rule out bias, but it seems like the common factor in all results would be the researcher. So if there are tips (besides continuing to test) to better protect yourself from influencing results I would love to hear them. In a lab situation you’re not directly interacting with your subjects and it seems like there is less opportunity for results to be influenced.
Example: let’s say you put up a sign because someone (Steve) is complaining about traffic flow and the constant hassle of people asking directions. Steve has a vested interest in the sign. Often people don’t read signs so people continue to ask directions at this choke point where Steve works. He finds it distracting. Steve then requests new placement for the signs. You do it for them. Steve seems to stop complaining about the traffic. Now is Steve no longer complaining because, the traffic situation is fixed?.. Or does Steve feel listened to, and no longer wishes to push the issue? I would say problem solved if Steve is no longer complaining, but is the problem solved? Do you continue to push the issue if you don’t see a difference in flow yourself? What do you do given the fact that you are not as close to the situation as Steve, but you might have observed better flow with the original placement. Is your obligation to help Steve move on, or should you actually fix the problem? By pushing the issue you might alienate the person, and in the end sign placement seldom accounts for whether or not people pay attention. When do you say good enough? I don’t know. It is just a thought experiment.
I’m worried that once I start researching my topic and getting all my resources I might want to change it right when spring semester starts. Is there a specific due date to pick a research topic? When’s the last time we can change our research topic? How will I know if it’s the right topic for me?
I seem to have those same questions?
Here is my burning question. What would I do if I get deep into research on something (5+ hours) and then you decide it isn’t something you want to research on anymore? Or if you realize your topic is too broad, or too specific when you are that deep?
Hi!
I think if you’re taking 5+ hours to decide on what to research, maybe try listing out what you’re interested in or curious about. In the beginning, I think it’s normal to be broad with a research topic, but I think if you think deeper and try to get into more details you can find a research topic you’d enjoy. Also, you can always take a short break from researching to refocus and refresh your mind, that always helps me out.
I’ve shared that experience before. Sometimes unaware, I’m looking for a specific answer, or a shared idea, to my research topic. Five hours later, I don’t find it, and I conclude that I chose a terrible subject to write on. So, I’ll go out, get inebriated, and wake up the next day with a fresh new idea. Never worked and I’m too old for that now. I probably didn’t start as broad on the topic as I should have. Sometimes an idea might pop up by skimming over a couple of research article abstracts.
In middle school I decided that I would do a 20 page paper on carpet baggers. I found very little and my teacher was not helpful or sympathetic. I did not do well. So now I do 5 hours of research upfront. I am certain Todd is more sympathetic than my middle school teacher, but I think having a good substantial topic is good enough. We are trying perfect methods of research so that we can apply it to questions we may encounter when we are in the field. I am also stuck between ideas, and I am sympathetic towards everyone here who is looking for a great topic… But at the end of the day, I would rather have something interesting to practice with. Something with plenty of information to draw upon. I have a second idea that I would rather do but it seems like it wouldn’t help me practice researching academic papers. I am thinking about proposing both to Todd and seeing what he might think. Also I saw my middle school teacher naked. It was a class field trip and he showered naked infant of everyone… Not sure if that is ok.
**”showered in front of everyone” not “infant”… my infant was driving me crazy, clearly. :,)
Honestly, my most burning question at the moment is: what am I going to choose as my topic for this class? There is SO MUCH to choose from and so much that interests me that it is difficult to choose. I have never been the best at being decisive (which is something I need to work on), so having such a vast majority of options gives me a bit of anxiety. Any ideas? What are you all planning to choose as your topic?
I was feeling the same way after our Monday’s class. There are so many topics to research that it can be overwhelming. The way I choose a research topic, I think about my past experiences in education and reflect certain events or situations in my life, hoping it’d spark a specific topic. Maybe you’ve observed something in a class and you’re wondering why that had happened. For example, I work in a low income preschool and I see a lot of behaviors, some from past trauma. I’m curious about the students who have dealt with trauma, yet they have no behavior issues and are excelling at school. That confuses me, because I assume that students who have gone through negative situations can cause behaviors at school? I hope this little tip helps you out and gives you an idea.
For me, I narrowed down my topics by thinking of specifically annoying problems I had to deal with as a student, or as a teacher. At least I’d be picking an issue that was both interesting and personal. I may even be able to find a solution to the problem. I remember that my math track was decided in middle school, which resulted in me taking super easy math throughout high school. That was annoying, and maybe a good start point to come up with a research topic.
I also thought about things that might have hindered my learning during middle school/ high school years (and even throughout college). Choosing a research topic that is personal and beneficial to future teaching seems like a good idea. However, I am also aware that it will be easier have biases when researching, so will have to keep my mind extra aware of them.
Coming from an educational background in accounting, qualitative data feels like a foreign concept. Yet, due to my working experience as a teacher, I know that qualitative research, and data, is very important in the educational field. Teaching theories come from qualitative research. Questionnaires are given out to the parents, students, and staff to evaluate every aspect of the school’s operations. This information is then used, by those in charge, to make decisions or to evaluate if I’m a good teacher. So, my burning question is, what are the inner workings of qualitative research? Is the qualitative data relevant to its intended purpose?
My burning question came earlier today. My question was: Can my research articles be on a subject I have already researched?
I wrote my application essay on Career Technology Education and though interesting, I am considering researching a topic I feel more passionate about. Art Therapy. I feel the research would be more stimulating for me.
My topic may change. Who knows?
I think you should research more about Art Therapy! It sounds like it might be something you want to learn more about and if it will be more stimulating, I think you should go for it!!
I too was thinking about doing Art Therapy! I think there’s SO much to learn within that topic and though I ultimately decided to go with something else, should you decided to do art therapy, I will be completely invested and interested in your findings.
I absolutely think you should go for it! I worked in a SPED private school and I can say, the lack of knowledge of therapeutic methods is a big deal in Oregon. Art therapy, music therapy, and others are very effective when done in a knowledgeable way. The problem is so many people have never heard of these kids of therapies. More power to you I say!
My burning question about this class at this moment is what type of research to elementary and secondary education teachers part-take in that makes them more competent educators for their students?
I am not sure about the answer to this one.. but I imagine that it is a lot of independent research into topics to better help there students. I can imagine a teacher researching both, but maybe more qualitative.
I really like your question because it can be interpreted different ways. In terms of Qualitative vs Quantitative research, there’s support that qualitative is more beneficial in education and thus is a great way for individuals to be competent educators.
However, I think your question is interesting if understanding the “type” of research you refer to as topic-based, opposed to “how” it is researched. In other words, do certain areas of focus and analysis help a teacher to be more competent than others? For example, how beneficial would it be for a teacher to research how to advocate for students in poverty when they teach in an elite school consisting of students from wealthy families? Of course it’d be great information to know, but it would it be put to good use at the school he/she teaches at?
My most burning question is also as Brandon said, what will be my research topic? How specific is everybody getting with their topics?
I am thinking of doing a topic about language learning. Because trends and methods are always changing in this area, would it be a good idea to use newer articles? Which leads me to another questions, from what year is considered (in general) to be new(er)?
Hi!
In regards to your most burning question, I think finding a research topic does take time (it took a bit for me to decide! I currently have two, and still need to narrow it down to one). Not sure if this will help you on your journey of figuring out your topic, but what helped me was thinking back on my personal educational experience and from there I started to create a list of things that I was curious about.
I think in regards to specificity it could go either way. We might not know the specifics until we delve more into our topics, but at the same time, we might have an idea and particularly know what we want to do with it. Overall, I think getting as specific as quickly as possible could help narrow the search for articles. There’s just so much information and resources we can access!
Language learning is an interesting topic for me too! Excited to see how you flesh that out more!
Hi Anzu!
I think the topic of language learning is great for research. There are many studies about this and fortunately, many newer studies. Technology for understanding brain function has developed and advanced over the last couple decades, so research from 15-20 years ago may not show the same results as some of the newer research. With the topic of language learning, I believe you need to really narrow your topic down to just one aspect of language learning. Do you find the learning of the native language or a secondary language more interesting? Do you want to focus on the semantic vs pragmatic grammar? Would you like to learn why some people can learn to speak a language but still have challenges reading? Once you find a particular interest, it should be a little easier to narrow your topic down to a more precise topic. If you have anymore ideas on language learning, please let me know, as I think this is a great topic!!
My burning question is why when I post something, it tells me there is something wrong with the website, haha. No really though…
I have the same question as a lot of others. What am I going to research? I feel overwhelmed because I have so many questions. I have changed my mind already on some questions. I feel like I need to narrow it down to middle school, and probably emotions because let’s face it, it is the hardest years of most of their lives. I am looking at this from a 12 year old me as well (I think anyways that was many many years ago).
It’s not that it is physically difficult or even academically difficult, but mentally. And is it harder now that they live in an age of technology now, where I didn’t? It is an age and stage thing I do get that, but maybe how it’s changed with technology? I don’t know.
I think this is a good topic for what we are going through, because it will force you to do a lot of self reflecting. Something that I think we will be doing a lot throughout this whole program. I believe that if you do some research on this, that you will undoubtedly find technology to be a leading variable in the difference between your childhood and students today. Think of how technology has changed your life since you were a child, and then think of what you might do with today’s technology if you were a kid. What technology did you have as a kid, that is similar to the technology of today, and what were/are its functions? Also maybe ask a parent or friend older than you the same questions, and compare the different answers.
One of my burning questions is how can I be certain that the research that I am using is coming from a primary source and if I use a secondary source how much does that detract from the validity of what I am trying to prove or correlate?
Also, if I have dove deep into my research and decide to change positions what does that mean or entail for me? Are you supposed to start all over again?
Lastly, what do I research??? I always have a hard time honing in on something very specific and usually have my epiphany of what I really should have done after it is too late!
Choosing a single topic to put all of my energy into was a tough decision, as I’m sure it was for all of you. My burning question about this course is how will it provide me with the information I need to succeed in only 4 classes?!
THIS! ^^ Exactly!!
I know at this point it’s an introduction, but having issues digesting and applying, am I the only one? Feel so unprepared and quite fearful!
My burning question is….how narrow/broad do we need to go? I was a RA for a Linguistics Professor at UO a few summers ago and her research on aural perception seemed both.
Is it better to go with what you’re not familiar with or your area of (soon to be) expertise at this level?
Others have asked and I concur…about changing topics. Is narrowing down your topic choice considered a change?
My most burning question at this time is how do I find a research question I am passionate about? I am really struggling. Nothing is quite clicking.
My burning question is can I discuss my biomedical views in regards to children being injured by their vaccines and developing neurological conditions that ultimately lead to them being referred to SPED? My academic question is tied to biochemistry research, which seems like I would be divided between explaining two different areas of research: medical research and education research. Can the two be tied together cleanly or will my paper come off awkward?
My most burning question is about choosing a topic directly associated with math. Should I research challenges and disabilities with learning math, theories on ways to teach math, or if I should focus on student learning in general? Should I focus on teaching styles, or learning environments? Should I focus on research in student’s learning and successes and/or failures, or research on instructor’s teaching?
Topic selection v. what is feasible is quite a struggle. I can pinpoint what I would be interested in, but conducting this type of research would be difficult.
After completing the final, a question arose. Are there formal methods to triangulate quantitative and qualitative data? For example, in our final, the researchers make subjective conclusions when comparing the two forms of data. Are there equations, formulas, or procedures that can be administered to reduce the subjectivity of the triangulation of the data? My wording may be confusing. Maybe I am just confused in general. Seems to be a trend…. 🙂