ETEC 500
Research Methodology in Education
"In seeking answers, more questions are revealed."
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While this course is very necessary in terms of content, it was possibly the least relatable for me personally. This was the case for a number of reasons; I am not new to research and types of research, it was text-based and text-heavy, activities and discussions pertained directly to the readings with little extension, and the major project was not relevant to my context —the course did not take into consideration my previous experiences and knowledge, a key tenet of constructivism.
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I also think I may have been one of few who had had previous experience of the research world, perhaps due to my background in psychology. I got this impression based on the discussions that we had. While the preparation of discussions and activities took considerable time, most of the time I felt there was little for me to gain through these activities and discussions; I was just going through the motions. Generally, classmates agreed with me and my feedback/ responses, which was not conducive to extending my own understanding and learning.
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One other challenge with this course was in its setup. However it happened, it was rife with contradictory information as far as assignments, requirements, and deadlines. I wonder if this occurred because the course had been passed from one instructor to another without time to review the course before its start date. This highlighted for me a challenge in using LMSs; that courses may not be directly shareable and instructors still need time to become familiar with a course before launching into teaching it.
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Discussion Post
I have chosen “Activity 7”, which was a discussion for the artifact for this course. I enjoyed the case study style of the discussions utilized here. It allowed for a more real-world experience of the concepts from the text. While these cases were not very detailed, enough was provided that the contributions of colleagues drew out multiple perspectives, which was valuable. This activity, as it came later in the course, allowed for synthesis across chapters and concepts from the course. I gained more from this activity than some of the others because of this fact. I had to go back and forth to work up a coherent argument/ rationale. This set-up also provided the foundation for the research proposal we would later develop; including the ability to view the study from the viewpoints of various stakeholders and to consider a multitude of factors that might have been missed without the collaboration of a team.
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Where to Next?
References:
Therien, J. (2016). Discussion post: Activity 7. Unpublished manuscript. University of British Columbia.
Audio Clip References:
Lund, C. (1993). A framework for student case preparation. Case Research Journal, Summer 1993, 132-144.
Therien, J. (2016). Discussion post: Activity 7. Unpublished manuscript. University of British Columbia.
Audio Clip References:
Lund, C. (1993). A framework for student case preparation. Case Research Journal, Summer 1993, 132-144.