Week 20 - Introduction to Research in Education

This weeks class notes (Class Notes: Week 20 - Introduction to research in education, n.d.),
we looked at Research. I found Dave Parson’s video to be very helpful in assisting me in putting the whole Research subject into perspective. 

What research is and the roles that it can play?

This is the definition David offered in the video. This is clear and but I was not really sure what they meant about “aesthetic refinement’. But as a guess, it could mean tweaking the way things look.

An excellent definition of educational research is by Morrell & Carroll (2010) "Educational research is not just a way to come up with new ideas about teaching and learning, but most often it is a way to convince us that the ideas we already have are worth exploring - that they are worth buying into" ( p.2).

The basic steps in the research process 

1. Pose a question. 
2. Collect data to answer the question. 
3. Present an answer to the question." (Creswell, 2011, p.3) 

The nature of quantitative and qualitative research

I have always been very confused about the difference between quantitative and qualitative assessment. But I now have it clear in my mind. Qualitative research is exploratory. Quantitative research is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviours, and other defined variables – and generalize results from a larger sample population.

Our Research Question

For the purposes of the Lit Review, our group has chosen to focus on the following question.

"How does the use of SAMR ad TPAK frameworks support the acquisition of literacy using ICT in the classroom."

We have come to this question because it is an area in my practice of working with children with complex learning and behavioural needs and the long-lasting effects on slow literacy acquisition.

Integrating the Principles of Kaupapa Maori Research into your Teacher Inquiry

Addressing the issues surrounding Māori achievement has always been a passion of mine. These principles are very familiar to me and we will definitely take these into consideration when planning for our research. I visited the Katoa Ltd website and found that the potential of Kaupapa Māori is based on six intervention elements or principles:

Tino Rangatiratanga - The Principle of Self-determination

Taonga Tuku Iho - The Principle of Cultural Aspiration

Ako Māori - The Principle of Culturally Preferred Pedagogy

Kia piki ake i ngā raruraru o te kainga - The Principle of Socio-Economic Mediation

Whānau - The Principle of Extended Family Structure

Kaupapa - The Principle of Collective Philosophy

I am going to go out on a limb here, but I feel like it has to be said. The way this has been included in the course notes and assessment reaks for tokenism. It’s like it has been just thrown in at the last minute like - oops - we forgot to honour the treaty. Let's just throw it in at the end. Māori kaupapa should have been and could have been more fluidly interwoven throughout the course. Also - I find it completely offensive to hear Māori words mispronounced in our course material. I will have to ensure that Māori kaupapa is fluidly interwoven throughout our research so that it does not also reak of tokenism.

References

Class Notes: Week 20 - Introduction to research in education. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2018, from 

https://app.themindlab.com/course/release/1297-week-20-introduction-to-research-in-education

Creswell, J. (2011). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. London: Pearson. Chapter 1, Retrieved from: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/9780131367395/downloads/Creswell_C01.pdf

Morrell, D. & Carroll J. B. (2010). Conducting Educational Research: A Primer for Teachers and Administrators. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Retrieved from: https://www.sensepublishers.com/media/187-conducting-educational-research.pdf

Performance-Based Research Fund (2010). —Tertiary Education Commission. Retreived on June, 9, 2011.