During this course I have learned so much about research. I think the most important insight I gained is how to recognize valid sites for information. This is important for any research. Prior to this class, I had never noticed key words before and just overlooked author credentials. I now understand how these bits of information are important and why they are important.
My ideas of the nature of doing research has changed in that now I know a main idea has to be continuously broken down to a more precise area of concentration. Broad topics are very difficult to research and we need to identify the main idea that we want to investigate and know more about. I think this has been the most challenging for me. I feel that I have overcome this by really concentrating and looking deep into my research question to examine what it is I want to know. With each bit of research I do, I fine tune my expectations even more.
When it comes to planning and designing research, I learned that you have to take it step by step. Research is not something that can be rushed through. It is very tedious and time consuming. This is why it is important to break things down into small manageable projects.
I feel that this course has helped me to become better prepared to do research in the future as an early childhood professional. I feel confident now that I will be able to be successful in research.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Research Around the World
I chose to look at Early Childhood Australia website.
I found this site to be very informative. I really enjoyed learning about the research in practice series. This is an easy to read resource, offering effective new approaches for challenging issues which arise in the care and education of young children. This is a link that I want to explore more and possibly subscribe to.
On this website, I found the following current international research topics:
· Everyday learning about responding to the emotional needs of children.
· Research in practice series: Planning in the context of the EYLF: Powerful, practical and pedagogically sound.
The website allows you to view their newsletter. In the most current issue, there is an article titled Kids Haven’t Changed; Kindergarten Has. I thought this was interesting because as I have read in many other articles and newsletters, this issue is very hot even in the United States. It was interesting to me to learn that this was an issue in other parts of the world.
Another article was about challenges in childcare. This article discussed the decline in childcare workers due to low wages.
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