When I first started learning and reading on this topic I was aware of the dynamics in a way but I did not know how much it can actually be applied to the early childhood field. I am very big on learning new ways and ideas to implement programs and activities to children. I have realized with doing so the children are more likely to express with the families their experiences and the families will want to be more involved.
I have learned throughout the process of this course and research charts that research it self can be overwhelming if you do not know how to evaluate the information. Even with the helpful hints that we have on how to read an article and what information to absorb I personally am glad that we have the opportunity to be able to learn as a group because I still sometimes become lost and use the help of my colleagues experiences to help guide me.
As we continue on this journey is there anyone who has found an alternative way to research and know figure out a better way to go through all of the information that can be provided that is not use to their study?
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI think the way that I have found helpful when going through information is to be as specific as possible when searching. For example, your topic (which is great by the way, I loved it when I was studying it in the last course) is very broad. When researching about this, it may produce a LOT of information that could easily overwhelm you. Do you have a subtopic in mind? That might help to narrow down the results - like looking at the teacher education requirements.
My topic was very general - family partnerships and collaborations. Obviously, if I just researched this, I would get way more than I needed. So, I'm focusing specifically on what strategies have been proven effective for building family relationships. With this focus, I can look for research specifically related to this subtopic, which may help the process of finding research a lot.
Hope that helps! I like your blog too!
Erin
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteErin has good advice to be very specific. I have found when you find an article you like, look at the key words they use, its typically at the bottom of the title page. This will help you in your search to use those key words when looking on ERIC or ProQuest. Also if you find a good article look at the reference page. The in text citing may spark an interest with you, so you can look up that article to see if it has what you need. This is an important topic, I look forward to your posts.
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI am also doing my research on quality and focusing on if a teacher's education level correlates to quality in an early childhhod classroom. Ein is right, you do want to get more specific. You did mention in your post you are into new ways to implement programs and activities for children. Maybe you can research quality and how it relates to different types of curriculum or pick one you like best and research if it improves quality (Teaching Strategies Gold, Creative Curriculum, Emergent Curriculum, etc...). I wish you luck as your design your research simulation and maybe we will be able to use each other's ideas on quality.
Victoria
I am doing my research on education and care as well. I hope that we may learn from eachother throughout this journey. Research can be time consuming; however, as others have stated searching for the main words is a great way to find what you are looking for. You may also try shortening your search as well, the more words that you include the more complex it may be.
ReplyDelete