The course Building Research Competencies has been very
challenging. I think more so because I did not know what I was doing. The
insights from the course have given me a better knowledge of what it takes to
go through the research process. I believe the nature of doing research is a
very broad process because it takes the researcher a while to determine what
they want their focus to be. I know personally I struggled to narrow my
question down because I was unable to see the bias in my question. I would say that was my biggest challenge. I also think that was the greatest lesson
learned: the importance to narrow the study down to a question that is
non-biased and gives the researcher the topic they want to research. As a
researcher I continued to reword my question but I also continued to research
my topic to understand it better and to make sure my personal interest or topic was
headed in the right direction.
I see teachers can be researchers in their classroom. As I perceive all early childhood professionals I believe there is
a common goal to care for children and make quality better. I hope as a
researcher they remember their ethical responsibilities to keep children and
families safe and stay personally objective. To always be clear, ethical and give anyone
involved in a study informed consent. I would also hope that the true
professional knows what is developmentally appropriate for children. They follow
the NAEYC Code of Ethics. I know there still can be biases and prejudices. Some researchers or teachers may have their own agendas or
have reasons for making a study/child observation conclude in a certain way. I believe this is the down side of early childhood
professionals in research or in preforming a classroom observation.
Diana, research is more than I could ever imagie. I have observed a reaserch conduct a research study at the center where i work and it looked so "easy". I was not aware till now the in-depth process. I had the same challenge of trying to narrow my research question to a level of accomplishing the results i hoped for but it is still a not a clear as I hoped for a from taking this class. I hope as we contunue on in our educational walk we will gain a clearer undestanding of the research process.
ReplyDeleteGood luck,
Shelia
Diana,
ReplyDeleteResearch can be very challenging. After taking this course I have a better understanding of the research process as well. Each week I learned something new and I gained a better understanding by reading my colleagues blogs and post from the discussion questions. I believe that I can do better when I write a research paper, but I am still not thrilled about research. There is a lot of hard work that goes into research and there are many factors that must be considered. What one thought was their research question could be easily changed by the participants, ethics, or equity. Good luck in your upcoming courses.
Diana, Congrats on finishing the course! I know that many of us including myself have found this class to be one of the most challenging ones to date. I loved that this class not only has taught us the components of research but how to apply them to the field of early childhood and why it's important to the field. I also had trouble stating my research question and had to reword it several times, but with guidance was able to readjust it. Good luck on your other courses!
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