Research had always been a topic that cause squirm among the lots of us. I know it had made me squirm one too many times. Since I took the course that focuses on research, I find that it is essential for all of us to practice and build our research competencies. We often become uncomfortable with research, because we do not have extensive knowledge or resources to utilize. After taking this course, the ideas I possessed of the research changed from prestigious to common. What I meant by that is the fact that research often accompanies an image of a person with certain status and intelligence to perform research. However, I learned that any one can perform research as long as s/he has the goal and motivation to complete the entire work.
Research requires careful plan and detailed designs. Research certainly takes time to develop. One has to be able to visualize the focal point of the research. Otherwise, it flops. Planning, designing, modifying, or maintaining research absolutely requires a lot of organizing skills. One has to be willing to remain abreast of the progress until it reaches completion. The challenges I encountered while learning about research were being able to comprehend qualitative and quantitative. Understanding how a method functions takes addition efforts. Also, it takes a lot of practices and extensive knowledge to determine which approach to pursue and develop solid research.
At last, learning abut research helped me understand how important it is to develop ideas and verify the results that may or may not improve Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood professionalism, and many others that are involved in Early Childhood Education field. Our lives are constantly undergoing the changes. Therefore, it is necessary to appreciate and show gratitude toward the researchers who work hard to find proofs that can easily change our lives for better or worse.
I now understand what you meant by "research changed from prestigious to common". Indeed if you view it as something with status and intellegience, going through the process in this course everyone now sees it as a common practice. We have all learned a whole lot and I wish you all the best in your future course. Thank you for all your support in discussions and blogs.
ReplyDeleteI always thought of "real" research as daunting. I enjoy learning about things I find interesting, but thought of research as something far beyond what I do. This class has simplified the whole research process and made the daunting task seem so much simpler. I actually am using the model we used here to do some science research projects with my children at home this summer and am thinking clearly about applying this design to the work my students do this fall.
ReplyDelete