What insights have you gained about research from taking this
course?
I have new respect for those individuals who love research
and do it for a living. There are so
many different ways to study and so much to know beforehand. A true researcher must be extremely
knowledgeable about research before learning about what it is he is going to
study.
In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing
research changed?
I know that research is not something in which I want to do
for a living. There are so many
components to learn about from the design process, experiment or not, research
itself, analyzing data, ethical concerns, equity, benefits, and so much more.
What lessons about
planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
A researcher must be very meticulous in every aspect of the
research study. The planning and
designing of the research study is just as or more important than the actual
study itself. The design of the study
plans out each and every part of the study to assure the validity of the
research. The researcher must plan for
validity, for convincing or he is just wasting his time. If the study is not valid, by bias, by
miscalculations, by ill preparedness from the researcher or his team, then the
time it took was a waste.
What were some of the
challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?
I was definitely challenged by reading the studies and the
text, as I do not comprehend well. I
found myself falling asleep quite often while researching definitions and
working on the simulation. However, I know at some point in the coming future I
will be preparing to write grants and knowing how to read research is going to
be a priority. I am excited to have done
as well as I have in this class and have had great colleagues who have
contributed to my understanding – Danita, especially. Thank you all so much for your help during
the last eight weeks – ALL of you!
What are some of the ways
your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a
result of this course?
It was very interesting to learn
the depth and breadth of research done so long ago. I was eager to read many papers from the 1980’s
and 90’s that are so relevant right now.
So many things in early childhood development has already been
researched and new studies are checking the reliability from back then. Even studies from Africa, Ethiopia, and in
Europe, are exactly what we are talking about now in early childhood. Research is essential (not necessarily
experiments), but research studies are essential to continue learning about how
the brain works, about children, and about parents.
