2.23 late post for class 2.20

On Thursday we talk through Watson's paper on surveys.  We used this essay both as an example of one "well done" format for developing a research essay, and a creditable job on using survey research.

During our talk in class we observed that survey work requires relatively large numbers of participants before the numbers become statistically significant.  I pointed out that if you are interested in learning to use surveys, that we might cut your study some slack in terms of the numbers, since the point of this class is to learn to use the methods.

You did a good job identifying content in the different parts of Watson's essay.  In the intro we noticed that she set up and gave a brief overview of what her study would do.  She repeats this information later in the study in more detail.  Here, she identifies the two factors relevant to here study of factors that influence students' self assessments, beliefs in giftedness and whether teachers are effective at teaching, and sets up her focus.  She then reviews what other writers have found related to these two sets of beliefs; this is the "literature review" section.  In our discussion of the methods section, we noticed that not only does she announce that she will do a survey, she describes her participants, and how she designed her survey to assess her participants beliefs with respect to giftedness and teacher effectiveness.

We discussed the content of her data presentation (good job on identifying the key findings).
Do you think she might have done a better job of presenting this data (we didn't really evaluate whether we thought her narrative discussion would have been stronger if it included a few charts or tables - what do you think)?  We also noticed that there were features of her findings that should have been pointed out and explained, either in her dicussion of the conclusions (remember?  the implied conficts in the % students who believed in giftedness AND effective teaching?).

As we said in class, the overall form of this essay worked well, and the design of the survey (and the methods section) were particularly well done.

We spent the rest of the class looking over the assignment sheet for the research project, and discussing the worksheet for developing a research plan.  If you have questions - be in touch.  I have met with most of you, and you all seem to be doing a great job finding topics and working through the steps on the worksheet.

For Tuesday, 2. 25
Blog 8: After working through the steps on the worksheet for the research plan, write up your research plan in terms of the following points.

Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)

Detailed statement of your research question

List of the information you need to gather

A preliminary list of sources

Plan for gathering your information that includes:

·         who/what you will be studying (for example:. students in a College Composition class, how they think about the comments teachers write on their papers)

·         where you will collect your information (for example:. in interviews at Kean University)

·         how many subjects you will study (for example:. 3)

what methods you will use to conduct your study (for example:. interviews, textual analysis, discourse analysis)

Read: Handout on doing interviews.  Sample interview protocol from Hawisher and Selfe.  These were distributed in class. I will leave extra copies in my mailbox - or stop by my office during my office hours.

In class on Tuesday we will work on developing interview protocols.