Temika Mccann

August 23, 2014

When I think of Research

As an educator when I think of research, I used to think it was boring but after taking this class I now have a better understanding and I now know how vital it is. Over the last 8 weeks I have learned so much from the class mates and Dr Kien who is an awesome teacher that really cares about her student education.  I have increased and grow in a way that it will be helpful to me and my families that I work with.  I learned the fairness that we need to have when conducting research on children and families. I now have a new outlook on the way that I look at research and I realize that research as to be authentic and valid.

During these last 8 weeks I learned that there are several ways and methods of research. For example triangulation, mixed methods an quantitative and qualitative methods.  I now have a greater understanding about research that will help me on my journey as I continue in the field of early child development. After taking this class I was able to learn that through mixed method you would want to include independent variables dependent to help make the study reliable. I also learned how to make up question about your research and also how to create hypothesis. Research is still fresh and I still have my obstacle that I have to deal with but I am more comfortable than I was when I first started.

As an educator I now look at planning designing, and conducting study I know there is a lot more I need to learn but I feel that I am headed in the correct direction after taking this class.  I feel when planning, making sure as educator we have the current and up to date information that we need when conducting a study and we have to make sure always that our information is valid. It is also very imperative as educators that we our making sure that the participating information is vital and will have a huge impact on a study with their feedback. As you design the study we have to make sure that the study stay fair and make sure that all participant our treated with dignity.

After taking this course has change how I look a research and I learned the importance of research to the field of early childhood field.  This class has been a eye opener and I am so glad to have had the awesome teacher to help me understand this class the way I do Dr. Kien really opened my eyes as well with the passion she have for research has been very inspiring to me .to the deficit model in research and how we should not use one statement of one group and apply them to other groups. According to  Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010) said , it is vital how we look at research and we have to make sure that we are respecting participants and children as we conduct our research.

Over all this class has really motivated me to learn more about research and I was scared at first full of fear but I now have a better understanding how research work and the importance of research in earl childhood. I learned about a variety of tools and methods and how to read research on a higher level and help me to find valid and creditable information to help guide me when looking for specific information on  early childhood topics.  As an educator I would like to take this time to thank all of you guys for your feedback, comment and advice. I really enjoyed this class and this class would not be the way it is without the awesome teacher we had Dr. Kien rocks!

 Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research:

International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw

Hill.