After finishing my literature review, I think the thing that stands out most was how dense it was. While I have written plenty of research papers before, they were mostly about taking different items and using them to reinforce a position or thesis. Here, the topic was still focused, but the interaction between all the different items was much denser and multilayered. This is probably what gave me the most trouble; I am used to taking research and using it to reinforce a position. Comparing and contrasting it with other research is not something classes require very often, and rarely as densely and lengthily as this paper was.
In the future, I think this will help me tie research together more naturally, relate it more closely. The research I did helped me get a more complete idea of my research question, and the various research fit together fairly organically. As I continue with my courses, hopefully I will continue to find more and new information about how teaching strategies work and can apply to different types of children.
Lipori Research Blog
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Week 7 Ass 2: Annotated Bibliography Reflection
For my bibliography, I tried using some research avenues that we had not had a guided assignment on. Namely, a web search and using the references in other sources. For the former, I think it was a success; I found a government report that fit into my research question well, and even though it was found on the internet its author still lent credibility to it. For the latter, I used a source from that same report, and while it covered a lot of the same things that the report did (perhaps not surprisingly), it covered it in a slightly different way and with a different focus. They helped to cover the more practical/implementation side of my research question, in addition to the data and academic aspects covered by the other citations. This is also good, because it gives my research more utility to non-professionals (like parents).
Several of my sources noted how the complexity of their research warranted more investigation. I think that applies to my research as well. There is still more to learn and investigate, but I think this is a good base to work from.
The full text of my annotated bibliography follows;
How
can teaching strategies help children with unique learning
circumstances—like bilingualism or autism—and which is the best
way to implement them?
Canedo-Ibarra, S.,
Castello-Escandell, J., Garcia-Wehrle, P., & Morales-Blake, A.
(2010). Precursor models construction at preschool education: An
approach to improve scientific education in the classroom. Review
of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education,
4(1),
41-76. Retrieved from
http://www.ecedu.upatras.gr/review/papers/4_1/4_1_41_76.pdf
This study covered
the use of scientific teaching strategies with 6 year-olds. The paper
opens by introducing the concepts and theoretical background. The
body covers the use of a specific strategy (how children interact
with and create “models”; symbolic representations of concepts),
in the context of physical science and the topic of density. It is
very thorough, both in its explanations of things and in its
outlining of procedures. They conclude that while the complexity of
the subject warrants more study, actively including the children in
the learning process helped them understand the concepts better.
While the journal
uses open source technology, it is attached to the University of
Patras; it’s editing staff consist of university personnel, and its
masthead includes The Laboratory of Sciences, Mathematics, and ICT,
as well as the Department of Educational Sciences. Further, the
University of Barcelona funded the original research.
This is a helpful
resource because it uses repeatable experiments to explore the use
and efficacy of specific teaching strategies. Though the researchers
conclude that more data is needed, this conclusion still answers a
part of my research question.
Hune, J. B., &
Nelson, C. M. (2002). Effects of teaching a problem-solving strategy
on preschool children with problem behavior. Behavioral
Disorders,
27(3),
185-207. ISSN-0198-7429
This
is an article that discusses an experiment involving children with
“problem behavior”, and teaching them problem-solving skills as a
study in how it would affect their behavior. A set of children were
selected by their teachers and then given individual instruction
every day, usually in the form of stories where a given character had
to deal with a problem, and the conclusion indicates that these
sessions helped the children develop more prosocial skills.
As
an article from a peer-reviewed journal, this is reliable
information.
This
article helped me better understand my topic by clearly noting the
procedures and the results of the study; though a study/experiment,
it still used discrete teaching strategies and outcomes.
Like the above, the
concrete conclusions do directly answer my question, even if the
researchers note that more information could be gathered.
Kashinath, S.,
Woods, J., & Goldstein, H. (2006). Enhancing generalized teaching
strategy use in daily routines by parents of children with autism.
Journal
of Speech, Language & Hearing Research,
49(3),
466-485. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/036)
This
is an article that discusses an experiment involving helping parents
incorporate teaching strategies into their daily routines. The
experimenters used video tape to record the parents, and the
strategies varied, each targeting some of the children's skills
listed on their academic growth plans (things like dressing, sand
play, etc.).
As
an article from a peer-reviewed journal, this is reliable
information.
The
article is relevant to my research topic because it provides
practical and carefully monitored analysis of teaching strategies in
action.
Robelia,
B. (1997). Tips for working with ADHD students of all ages. Journal
of Experimental Education, 20(1),
51–53.
This
article covers teaching strategies and practical information when it
comes to working with ADHD. It includes things like how to structure
the room, and how to direct behavior and avoid overly stimulating
situations.
While
it is a bit old, it is from a peer-reviewed journal, and is thus
reliable, if possibly a little outdated. It covers a lot of the same
information as the U.S. Department of Education report below.
Like
many of the other sources on this list, this is relevant to my
research question because it shows the practical side of how to
incorporate teaching strategies into the classroom. It also lists a
lot of references, even if it doesn’t go in depth with its
explanations.
Roberts, T. A.
(2009). No
limits to literacy for preschool English learners.
Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin.
This is a book that
discusses teaching strategies and theory in relation to preschoolers
learning English. It focuses on English as Second Language Learners
(ESL), but many of the strategies and theory also apply to native
English speakers/learners.
The book discusses
things like how bilingualism affects children’s learning (Chapter 1
Resources English Language Learners Bring to Literacy Learning) and
what good curriculum needs to include and strategies and topics for
teachers (Chapter 6 Curriculum, Instruction, and Literacy Activity).
The book is recently
published and written by a Professor at CSU Sacramento. Its editors
include numerous professors and other learned individuals, and thus
it is credible information.
This is a useful
resource because it highlights differences between ESL and native
English learners, both in terms in advantages and disadvantages. Many
books often focus on one or the other, and addressing both in the
same text is an outlook I don’t think I’ve seen before. It also
explains several different teaching strategies and curriculum
approaches related to its topic.
U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services, Office of Special Education Programs (2006),
Teaching
children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Instructional
strategies and practices. Washington,
D.C. Retrieved from
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-teaching-2006.pdf
This
article discusses and outlines a lot of different aspects of teaching
ADHD students, including things like common traits of ADHD children,
classroom/environmental concerns, behavioral intervention techniques,
and how to introduce/conclude lessons.
While
the report is written in a fairly practical style, it does use a fair
amount of complex vocabulary, indicating its intent as a
teacher-learning aid. Their conclusion emphasizes that these
techniques and strategies can help all children, not just those with
ADHD.
This
is a report published by the U.S. Department of Education, and while
it does not list a singular author its staff includes multiple
high-level Directors and Secretaries of several different
departments. The reference list is also very thorough and long.
Like
the previous sources, this is a good example of explaining how
teaching strategies work and what they do. While it does not go into
great detail about why these strategies work, this fits with its role
as an instructional tool in addition to being an academic report. It
fits I with my research question thanks to its amount of content, if
not its depth.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Week 6 Ass 2: Academic Integrity
This week's subject was academic integrity. I think that this is a subject that I have a lot of experience with, and most of the readings and preparations were actually fairly familiar ground for me. My entire college career has emphasized the importance of sourcing, averting plagiarism, and ethical use of information, and this week's topics were no different.
As someone who has been plagiarized by other students, I often consider how information is being used in my various papers and reports. Thankfully, we have so many tools available in order to ensure that credit is given properly and appropriately. Informing readers and peers has a lot of rules and conventions, but they are meant to help things be clearer and consistent, rather than more complicated.
Even in this age of free information and anonymous accomplishments, I think it is important to give credit where it's due. As this week's lecture pointed out, even with something like a Creative Commons license, credit is still an important part of academic protocol, and for good reason.
As someone who has been plagiarized by other students, I often consider how information is being used in my various papers and reports. Thankfully, we have so many tools available in order to ensure that credit is given properly and appropriately. Informing readers and peers has a lot of rules and conventions, but they are meant to help things be clearer and consistent, rather than more complicated.
Even in this age of free information and anonymous accomplishments, I think it is important to give credit where it's due. As this week's lecture pointed out, even with something like a Creative Commons license, credit is still an important part of academic protocol, and for good reason.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Week 5 Assignment 2: Guided Search Ass
For the assignment this week, I did a guided search assignment, and ended up annotating an article about different teaching strategies , and how they relate to children with special needs.
One of the new ideas that this article introduced me to was the importance of diagnosis. While having full information is of course important to teaching, it is easy to forget that often teachers need to keep an eye out for indicators; not all students/parents are perfectly informed.
While I originally made my question a bit vaguer because of the greater number of school age over preschool information, this article had some interesting information about toddlers/infants. I think I'd still like to focus on preschool, but it did remind me of some scope I had not quite considered before.
Several of the references in the article related to curriculum and teaching plans. While some of them appear to be very technical, I will have to give them a more thorough look as our assignments continue.
Overall, this week was a lot more productive than the previous ones. Using the subject specific databases made it much easier to find relevant information, and the frustration of some of my previous searches was noticeably missing. Hopefully this trend continues.
One of the new ideas that this article introduced me to was the importance of diagnosis. While having full information is of course important to teaching, it is easy to forget that often teachers need to keep an eye out for indicators; not all students/parents are perfectly informed.
While I originally made my question a bit vaguer because of the greater number of school age over preschool information, this article had some interesting information about toddlers/infants. I think I'd still like to focus on preschool, but it did remind me of some scope I had not quite considered before.
Several of the references in the article related to curriculum and teaching plans. While some of them appear to be very technical, I will have to give them a more thorough look as our assignments continue.
Overall, this week was a lot more productive than the previous ones. Using the subject specific databases made it much easier to find relevant information, and the frustration of some of my previous searches was noticeably missing. Hopefully this trend continues.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Week 4 Assignment 2: Research knowledge
This week we researched scholarly journals. The goal was to locate journals that related to our topic and annotate them/review them.
I think that this week's research finally convinced me that my original plan for a research topic was too narrow. As my assignments have noted, one of the most consistent obstacles/frustrations to finding information was the amount of it available on my topic.
The main difference this week was that I started with very broad/few terms and slowly added more. In past weeks I tended to start with a lot of terms and narrow it after the fact, which didn't always have optimal results.
As I continue to research, I'm hoping that I will discover some thing related to my original topic that are still useful. While it is a bit annoying to have to change one's plans, the amount of research I've been seeing so far doesn't leave me much choice.
I think that this week's research finally convinced me that my original plan for a research topic was too narrow. As my assignments have noted, one of the most consistent obstacles/frustrations to finding information was the amount of it available on my topic.
The main difference this week was that I started with very broad/few terms and slowly added more. In past weeks I tended to start with a lot of terms and narrow it after the fact, which didn't always have optimal results.
As I continue to research, I'm hoping that I will discover some thing related to my original topic that are still useful. While it is a bit annoying to have to change one's plans, the amount of research I've been seeing so far doesn't leave me much choice.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Week 3, Assignment 2: Blog Post
For my book and assignment this week, I chose No Limits to Literacy for Preschool English Learners by
T.A. Roberts. It covers teaching strategies and learning differences related to dual language/English as a Second Language learners. It provided some new information about the interplay and similarities between native English speakers and ESL students, which is relevant to my research topic.
The main strategy that helped most was the importance of the Subject v. Text selections and the importance of search terms. I suppose that these aren't really new strategies or lessons for me, but their importance is something it is easy to forget.
The main frustration was the lack of content concerning my original topic. I had wanted to tie my research into different income levels, but there was nothing available along those lines. As i continue to research my topic, I am hoping that something related to that will still appear, even though it is now clear that there is not enough info to integrate that fully into my topic.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Week 2, Assignment 2; Evaluating Research
For my research this week I studied preschool teaching strategies, a topic which I am certainly familiar with. I wanted to research a topic that I was familiar with, but also don't have as much experience with the most recent research on (since coursework is often a bit behind the latest research). What I learned was that, despite the gaps between some of my coursework and the most recent research, the techniques and skills I was taught are still fairly up-to-date. Of course, the research I chose was not brand-new, but given the pace of research in the field, I do not think that is too big of a detriment to my research.
When it came to the actual search, this is the first time I used Google's advanced search function. The domain limiter was an interesting tool that I wasn't aware of. I have used EBSCOhost many times before, though, so that was not a new experience. As far as evaluations go, the CRAAP system was intuitive enough, and applying it to my sources was a fairly simple process.
After this week's research, I think that I may want to focus my topic on how teaching strategies are used, possibly with dual-language learners (a different course I am taking) or in different income areas (a topic that comes up a lot in my field)
When it came to the actual search, this is the first time I used Google's advanced search function. The domain limiter was an interesting tool that I wasn't aware of. I have used EBSCOhost many times before, though, so that was not a new experience. As far as evaluations go, the CRAAP system was intuitive enough, and applying it to my sources was a fairly simple process.
After this week's research, I think that I may want to focus my topic on how teaching strategies are used, possibly with dual-language learners (a different course I am taking) or in different income areas (a topic that comes up a lot in my field)
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