Group+D



Group D:  ** Group Members: Mary Dempsey, Melanie Doucette, Barbara Harrison, Nailah Isoke **

The positive research paradigm is the research paradigm adhered to by positivists. A research paradigm is an agreed-upon set of principles used by researchers (2002, Bassey, p. 37). Positivism is the belief in research that only what can be observed using the senses is reliable (2010, Lee, p. 3). The positivist research paradigm aligns with objectivist theory that asserts that “knowledge has a separate, real existence of its own outside the human mind” (2010, Roblyer & Doering, p. 35); therefore, because knowledge is independent of perception it can be perceived objectively through the senses. The positivist research paradigm is most often used by “hard” scientists such as chemistry and physics (2002, Bassey, p. 37), but it also has its place in educational research, especially in the context of standardized testing (2010, Lee, p. 3). The positive research paradigm is contrasted by Bassey in his chapter “The paradigms of education research” in Readings for reflective teaching with the interpretive research paradigm and the action research paradigm (2002, pp. 37-39). The latter paradigms are more aligned with constructivist thought in that they assert that knowledge differs depending on the perceiver, that nothing is universally sterile in research, and even the most objective researcher influences his work with his choice of language and methods (2002, Bassey, p. 38).
 * The Positive Research Paradigm: **


 * Informed Consent: **

Informed consent is “a legal agreement between researchers and participants” (University of West Florida). It is the researchers’ responsibility, whether in the medical, psychological, anthropological field, etc., to present their research subjects with all known facts about the intended study. Informed consent is relevant in the field of education because educators are constantly trying to improve student learning, and this may involve research with children. Children require parental permission to participate in studies when they are under a certain age (which may vary), or are “considered legally incompetent (as would be the case if a person had a severe head injury, were mentally retarded, suffered from dementia or another mental illness)” (University of West Florida). The definitions of informed consent are constantly evolving. For example, what age children are considered competent, and whether consent is necessary only at the onset of the research or is an ongoing process are debatable issues (2001, David, Edwards, & Alldred, pp.348-349). In order to proceed with legal research, researchers must submit the parameters of their research to an Institutional Review Board (IRB) (University of West Florida). These parameters must contain an explanation of how informed consent will be carried out, if informed consent is necessary to the study. Some educational research may be exempt from requiring informed consent if the research is carried out in a normal classroom environment and with commonly accepted educational practices (2011, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research).


 * Applied Research: **

“Investigation of 'pure' or basic research findings to determine solutions and development of products, techniques and/or technology” (615 glossary). Applied research is necessary within the classroom in order to improve student learning. In teaching, teachers use the results of assessments to adjust their instruction to improve student learning. During my internship I am conducting research on what motivates minority students to learn. As part of my research, once I have collected and analyzed data I will determine strategies to use within the classroom to help motivate students to learn.


 * Field-Based Research: **

“Includes activities aimed at collecting primary data rather relying on published material. Often involves face-to-face interviewing and direct observation” (615 glossary). Field-based research is used by pre-service practicum teachers to evaluate their teaching and learn about useful instructional strategies (Rogers, 1995). I am currently conducting field-based research in a high school technology class for my internship. I am collecting data from student surveys as well as the students’ levels of time on task.

The t- test is one of the most commonly used tests to assess the equality of two groups that are significantly different from each other. T tests are important in educational research because it is a convenient method of comparing two means however ‘it does not tell us the magnitude of the difference of the means” (p.27). Since T tests are not effective for measuring large groups and it only establishes the difference in two groups. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It does not provide the amount or magnitude of the difference in the means which “makes <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">meta-analysis ineffective and hinders the advancement of educational research” (p.25).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">T-tests: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Triangulation is the reviewing of data collected through various qualitative research <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">methods in order to achieve valid conclusions of the qualitative results for a particular <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">construct. Qualitative research methods used in triangulation are interviews, surveys, and <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">reflective journals and or field notes. Triangulation of data assures completeness of <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">findings and/or confirms findings.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Triangulation of data: **

** Abstract: ** An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline. In education, research articles are often used by professionals in the field to find informational purposes. If one is to search through hundreds of articles for a specific topic it is often very useful to read the abstract first to narrow your search more quickly. Reading entire articles to find one that works for you would be an impossible task. Abstracts always appear at the beginning of the articles they summarize and are often used by students to more quickly locate what they are searching for in an article(The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

** Literature Search: **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">﻿ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> A literature search involves searching for published material on a specific topic in a systematic and exhaustive manor. The material that may be collected can include but is not limited to research reports, published papers, and books (Google Search, 2011). Students at any age may conduct a literature search for a variety of assignments where information seeking is a requirement. The previous term, abstracts, are very often what students will read first in their literature search to determine if the literature they are looking at corresponds with the topic they are searching for information on.




 * Week 11 **

Epistemology is the theory of human knowledge. It is concerned with the origin, structure, methods and validity of human knowledge. It deals such mental phenomena as thinking, perceiving, knowing and understanding. There are several schools of thought or theories on how knowledge is gathered or attained in humans. __Schools of Thought__ **Empiricism:** the theory that the only source of knowledge acquisition is experience. **Positivism:** an extension of empiricism. It claims knowledge is derived from experience, but it also believes that nothing is innate and that only that only measurable knowledge is worthwhile. **Apriorism:** This school of thought believes that knowledge is innate.
 * Epistemology **
 * Understanding how students gain knowledge is very important as a teacher. This understanding allows teachers to tailor lessons to maximize their student’s learning. It is also important for students to be able to assess and understand how they themselves build knowledge. Knowing when you know something is very useful when learning something new and studying for assessments. **

Encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own usually through experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error. This method of learning through exploration sounds very much like a student-centered class room. Students discover and solve problems on their own and therefore are responsible for taking and active role in building knowledge. The teacher acts as a facilitator in this type of class room and many of my classes now have curriculums that promote this type of learning environment.
 * Heuristics **

“Topics, tensions, dilemmas, issues and challenges that characterize and affect learning and educational policy and are worthy of further investigation” (615 glossary). During my internship I have been focusing on minority students’ lack of motivation to learn as an educational research issue. Lack of motivation to learn in minority students affects their potential to obtain passing grades. As a result of conducting this research I am hoping to find ways to motivate not only minority students, but all students to learn.
 * Educational Research Issues:**

“Fixed format interview or questionnaires, in which all questions are prepared beforehand and are put in the same order for each interviewee” (615 glossary). Fraser (2010) used questionnaires to establish teacher views on Continuing Professional Development and the effectiveness of teaching science (p. 88). As part of my action research for my internship I used questionnaires to determine students’ beliefs about intelligence. The questionnaires allowed me to understand how each student viewed intelligence and how that affects their performance within the classroom.
 * Structured Interviews or questionnaires:**

**Measurement Error:**
====When data are not measured precisely, it is generally treated as a measurement error problem. Measurement error impedes the ability of educators to assess the academic achievement, or growth in achievement, of individual students and groups of students. Although test measurement error does not complicate the estimation of how a range of factors affect student learning, the errors in measurement have implications when judging the sizes of those estimated effects. It is necessary to account for measurement error meaningfully and equally important to account for test measurement error when estimating how other intervention affects student achievement. Ways to prevent measurement error: • Collect better quality data in the first place. Make questions as clear as possible. • Measure multiple indicators of concepts. When more than one question measures a concept, it is possible to estimate reliability and to take corrective action. • Create scales from multiple indicators of a concept. The scales will generally be more reliable than any single item would be.==== Action research is an approach founded on the gathering of evidence on which to make informed rather than intuitive judgments and decisions. Its purpose is to bring about development in practice by analyzing existing practice and identifying elements for change. It encourages researches to think about the practice as a way to carry out professional actions, what we do as well as why we think we should do it.
 * Action research**

**Likert Scale:**
A Likert scale is a response measurement tool that asks a subject to respond to a list of statements (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, p. 57). The Likert scale offers more information than simple yes/no questions, which may be appropriate when, “knowing about such matters as the magnitude of a particular need or the degree of satisfaction with program services may be important” (Darling, 2002, p. 186). Typical responses include: Strongly agree/agree/no opinion/disagree/strongly disagree; or always/most of the time/some of the time/rarely/never. Likert scales typically have five response options, but can have fewer or greater options as well. There should typically be an odd number of responses with a neutral response in the middle and a balanced number of responses on either side of the neutral (Darling, 2002, p. 186). Likert scales can be used in the classroom in order to measure a student’s reaction towards a classroom event. Likert scales could also be used to determine a student’s study habits.

**Semantic Differential:**
==== The semantic differential is a measurement device created by psychologist Charles Osgood (Craighead & Nemeroff, 2004, p. 1066). The semantic differential consists of two terms with bipolar meanings (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, p. 57) separated by degrees in the semantic space (Heath & Bryant, 2000, p. 102), for example: ====

Pleasant _ _ _ _ _ Unpleasant
==== The subject would check one of the spaces between the bipolar words in order to indicate his or her reaction to a central concept. The middle space would indicate neutral feelings, while the spaces nearing each bipolar word would indicate increased association with that word (Heath & Bryant, 2000, p. 102). ==== ==== Semantic differentials, like Likert scales, can be used in the classroom in order to measure a student’s reaction to a particular event, for example: a lesson, the introduction of a new concept, or the use of a new classroom technology. It is a useful tool for teachers because rather than measuring achievement it measures attitude (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, p. 61). The teacher can then use the students’ responses to evaluate what has occurred and work towards more positive reactions. ==== = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">References =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Bassey, M. (1990). Three paradigms of educational research. In A. Pollard (Ed.) Readings for reflective teaching (pp. 37-39). New York: Continuum.

2. Craighead, W. E. & Nemeroff, C. B. (Eds.). (2004). //The concise Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science// (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from NetLibrary. 3. Darling, R. B. (2002). //The partnership model in human services: Sociological foundations and practices//. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Retrieved from NetLibrary. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. David, M., Edwards, R., & Alldred, P. (2001). Children and school-based research: ‘informed consent’ or ‘educated consent’? Children and school-based research 27(3), 347-365. Retrieved from Educational Research Complete, EBSCO.

5. Fraser, C. A. (2010). Continuing professional development and learning in primary science classrooms. Teacher Development, 14(1), 85-106. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">6. Google Search. (2011). Literature search. Retrieved from [].

7. Heath, R. L. & Bryant, J. (2000). //Human communication theory and research: Concepts, contexts, and challenges// (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Retrieved from Netlibrary. 8. Kurtuz, R. (2002, January 27). Epistemology: the philosophy of knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.school-for-champions.com/knowledge/epistemology.htm

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9. Lee, C. (2001). Three perspectives on standards: positivism, panopticism, and intersubjectivism. Mid-western educational researcher 23(4), 2-6. Retrieved from Educational Research Complete, EBSCO.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (2011). IRB review of human subjects research: exempt policy. []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11. Oliver-Hoyo, M., & Allen, D. (2006). The Use of Triangulation Methods in Qualitative Educational Research. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35(4), 42-47. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12. Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010). Integrating educational technology into teaching (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">13. Rogers, S. F. (1995, November). Field-based research: When preservice practicum teachers make a difference for themselves and their students. Paper presented at the Thirty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the College Reading Association, Clearwater, FL. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">University of West Florida. Informed Consent Topics. []

14. Somekh, B., & Zeichner, K. (2009). Action research for educational reform: remodeling action research theories and practices in local contexts. Educational Action Research, 17(1), 5-21. doi:10.1080/09650790802667402 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">15. The Writing Center<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">, [|University of] North Carolina<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> at Chapel Hill<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">. (2010). Abstracts. Retrieved from [].

16. Wang, C. Y., Yijian, H., Chao, E. C., & Jeffcoat, M. K. (2008). Expected estimating equations for missing data, measurement error, and misclassification, with application to longitudinal nonignorable missing data. Biometrics, 64(1), 85-95. doi:10.1111/j.1541-0420.2007.00839.x <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">17. Zhang, G. (2009). t-Tests: The good, the bad, the ugly, & the remedy. Middle School Research Journal, 4(2), 25-34. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.