What
insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
After taking this course, I have gained a basic
understanding of what research and research design is. I learn that research is
a tool that we can use to get to know the new understandings, insights and
knowledge of issues in the early childhood field; I learn that though
conducting a research is a complex process, it will make a positive difference
in children, families and the early childhood field; I learn that high-quality/ethical research should be "ethical,
purposeful, well designed, transparent, contextualized, credible, careful,
imaginative and equitable" (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford,
2010, pp.10); I learn that we
should adopt design approaches accordingly, whether quantitative design,
qualitative design or mixed-method design, to best meet the needs of the
research, the researcher and most importantly the participants; I learn that in
early childhood research, any means, methods, or designs should do no harm to
participants/children; I learn that some considerations, including power
relations, deficit models of research, homogeneity and reflexivity, should be
taken to ensure equity in research design; etc..
In what ways have your ideas about the
nature of doing research changed?
I would consider issues in early childhood field
not only from the perspective of being an early childhood teacher but also from
that of being a researcher.
What lessons about planning, designing, and
conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
I have learned some lessons about planning,
designing and conducting research in early childhood. About planning, there are
some steps to follow to ensure the research is " informative, ethical,
meaningful, persuasive and significant ", including selecting a topic,
searching and reviewing the literature, formulating a specific research
question, designing the research, collecting data, analyzing data; drawing
conclusions and writing research reports. While planning, some ethical issues
should be considered, such as informed consent from participants and children, maintaining
confidentiality about children and their families, the risk/benefit equation,
cultural issues. About designing, I learn that we should narrow down our topic
into a researchable questions; we need to consider "what is to be
researched, how, when and where the research is to take place, who will
participate, what data will be collected and how these will be analyzed" (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford,
2010, pp.110); I learn some important terms regarding research design, such as
experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs, non-experimental designs,
independent variables, dependent variables, extraneous variables, etc.; I learn
about quantitative design, including the four common assumptions--objectivity,
reliability and validity, reductionism and generality; I learn about
qualitative design and the way to collect data, through observations,
interviews and so on; I learn about what equity means in research. About
conducting research, though I learn about the research process and the research
design issues, there is more for me to learn about in action.
What were some of the challenges you
encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?
The challenges that I encountered during this
course are as follows. It is quite difficult for me who is non-native English
speaker to understand some complicated concepts, terms and contents in this
textbook; It is also quite challenging to put what I have learned into
practice-- making a research simulation. As for these challenges, I read over
and over again our textbook and searched on the internet to find out ways to
understand our textbook better and try to internalize and output the knowledge.
What are some of the ways your perceptions
of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this
course?
Thanks to this course, I start to treat myself as an
emerging researcher, who would try to make a positive difference in children,
families and the early children through viewing children from the perspectives
of being a research as well as an early childhood professional.
Last but not the least, I would like to say "THANK
YOU" to my instructor and my colleagues. Thank
you, Dr. Todd, for giving us detailed comments on our posts and assignments,
for offering your valuable insights and advice to better improve my
understanding of this course and for your understanding of my personal
situations and giving me extension. Thank you, my colleagues! Throughout this
course, your discussion posts and responses deepened my understanding some
issues that are challenging for me; you helped clear my vague understandings
and offered some insights that I did not consider before. Thank you for having
you in this course and good luck to everyone in the following courses.
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.
