Day 6 -
Nov 15,
2008
9a-12n, Room 113
Problem Project Team Presentations
Guests: EDIT 7340
End of Cycle 5
Business (would prefer to do this last,
or fill in gaps with)
- Reflection instructions
- Spring Dates: 1/24; 2/7; 2/21;
3/14; 4/18; mostly 9-12; will provide exact schedule in January. Feb 21
will probably be Ed.S. only.
- Internship questions? Text
(?)
- Course Evals : new system. Watch for instructions.
- E-Permission and Research Permission forms: in WebCT. I'll
check on submission, but will not open them til after grades are
submitted.
- Advisement Forms: update, date
If you arrive early: go ahead and load or access your
presentation on the system.
Contextualization:
- Solving real problems
- "Proving" that you make a difference
Presentations (requests for batting order taken anytime):
Ideal: 10 minutes. OK: 15 minutes.
We'll survive a couple of 20-minute presentations, but just barely.
1. Andrew & Shawn
2. Allyson, Amanda, Brittany - Help Wanted
3. Karen, Carrie, Jennie
4. Titus
5. Earl
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Beth & Jessica
What would you add to the
"big
idea box" we started with?
Wrap-up
Planner
Last Word
9:00-11:00, Room 118
First
Day Blog Message
9:00
Gathering
Wear your nametag!
Welcome
Special welcome for
"new"
folks
Overview of today
Advising Sheets: distribute, update, take up (for those still using
paper ones)
If you're planning to work as a team this semester, this is the day to
settle membership!
Introductions and Re-Introductions
Schedule for today:
10:00 breakette; 11:00 - 1 Dr.Clinton/EDIT 6400 w/ lunch; 1-3: EDIT 7340
Breakette around
10:00
EDIT 6900 Orientation
|
research evangelism
problem-solving
healthy dose of skepticism
knowing that you make a difference
SLM research,
research names, and current trends
|
The syllabus; goals; assignment
overview
Planner: shift to
fewer meetings; much more online/independent work; projects and cycles
(with embedded learning activities)
Our class web
site
How this class interlocks with EDIT 7340
Food
Your First Assignment: SLMS
Interview
Things to sign up for:
- No TAs this year (amidst austerity doom and gloom). I need
everyone to take on a volunteer job.
- Jobs
(voluntary)(important!)
- SLM Research
Star Exhibition
- We need a Manager.
- Stake your claim on a name - they will
disappear fast.
Where is everything?
You will have it all if you:
- Do the things listed on the Planner (calendar is there, too).
SLM/Grad school dates are listed on the calendar.
- Watch the Cohort7 Blog for class-specific news and topics
- Monitor your email for SLM-L (rare), WebCT emails, direct
messages from me or classmates. You can also have the blog come to your
email.
- Watch for WebCT notifications. We will set up private
Discussion Boards for each team. You can use this to "talk" to each
other, keep track of Q&As, post questions to me about your project.
(If you have a question for me, alert me somehow - I won't necessarily
watch these carefully or at all.)
- Know your way around the 6900 website and WebCT. I'll use
WebCt for private things and Delicious to organize - but will always
put pointers to and from.
Reminders:
- It's best to use your UGA email for most course-related
activities, including listserv addresses. Fewer bounce, junk-mail
problems. If you prefer another account, remember to have your
UGA forwarded to it automatically.
Groupwork opportunity: We will probably need both hours for
orientation, and then it will be Dr. Clinton's turn. Plan with
your group whether or not you want to stay after awhile to start
discussing strategy.
Sep 13
9a-11a; Intern Session 11-12
Room 113
Due (dropbox): SLMS Interview
End of Cycle 1
Launch of Problem Project
followed by Groupwork (see below)
9:00
Gathering
- Wear your nametag! (We have a guest coming)
- Welcome
- Overview of today
6900's need to choose their problems
Allow 1 hour
Process:
Phase 1: Choose a problem.
Find one or more problems that commonly occur
in the administration of media centers. You can do this by
reading
library media journals, or by interviewing a practicing media
specialist.
Problems should be directly related to media center administration, but
the scope of possibilities is extremely wide. Topics included in the
syllabus
are acceptable.
This was done during
the SLMS Interview.
Bring your problem to
class today
and be prepared to share. We will formally list these, and
discuss their merits.
You may choose the same problem you brought to class, or any
other. No two groups should pursue exactly the same problem, but
this is hard to do even if you try.
10am:
Guest speaker: Beth Clark, M.Ed., Cohort 6 alum (EDIT 6900
survivor from last year!)
11am:
Internship
session
End of Cycle 2
9:00 - 12:00:
online
- Wimba (archive available: see WebCT/6900/Wimba)
due:
Researchable Question
(RQ)
Topics: Synthesizing Lit; Critiquing if time; Group time after lunch
(optional)
Still trying to get in touch with:
AnneMarie, Bill, Clarissa, Earl, Kristie, Shawn, Titus, Vivian
Remember to archive!
While waiting for class to start: pull up links on this page in
different windows
9:00
- Overview of agenda
- A few minutes to add finishing touches to RQ if you need it -
save til group time if possible
Reactions to Beth's presentation?
Action
Research Cycle Graphic
link
Next assignment:
PPP Draft
Topic:
Synthesizing Literature
- The best time to do a lit review and why to do one in the first
place
- Levels of lit reviews:
- "exhaustive" (no such thing) or exhaustive
as possible
- justifying the study
- framing the study
- none
- Everyone should include lit review methodology
- the story of your search
- What kinds of things should you include?
- Studies - always
- Studies "lite"
- Conceptual or theoretical pieces - sometimes
- Prescriptive pieces, models for "how to do
x" - sometimes
- Anecdotal pieces - less so
- Figuring out what topics to look
for (discussed a bit in Framing
Problem
lesson)
- Venn diagram
- Use class examples?
- How do you begin to organize, make
sense,
and synthesize them?
- Highlighting and annotating
- Coding
- Thematic organization
- Handling quotes and citations
(keeping track
of them)
- Outline
- Thematic organization is better than
"beads
on a string" (where you report study after study with only a rough
attempt
to organize them). Diagramming, sticky note organization very helpful
here.
- I would rather read a
well-synthesized, thematically
organized review of three studies than a string of 100 beaded studies
- Write or otherwise package for readers
- This class:
- Other situations:
- Narrative: the good and the bad
- Outlines with complete-thought bullets
- Graphic organizer with audio
- Technical aids: word processor;
EndNote, Zotero, or the like; Inspiration;
folders, Google Notebook; GoogleDocs, spreadsheets, highlighters, paper
piles, sticky notes,
whiteboard, mirror with erasable marker, red folder method....
Critiquing along the way:
- Use Leedy
& Ormrod's checklist
- Analyze first (what kind of a source is this? purpose? method?
results?)
- Do results overreach? over-generalize? Are recommendations
grounded? (common problem!)
- Are assumptions warranted or reasonable? (common problem!)
- Follow through on any negative reactions you experience
- Usefulness? Was this study worth its resources? (another common
problem!)
- OK to applaud the value you find as well
- The Critique assignment
- C7
Critiques
If time, Group Time
by 11:30: Wrap Up
Planner
Looking Ahead:
- We are setting up private Discussion Boards for each team.
- I plan to have your RQs graded by 10/4.
Data collection techniques are like
recipes
- you need several in your box.
9a Advisement, both groups (Dr. Hill and Dr. Clinton)
Topics:
Ethics
Techniques
Time check
Regardless of your AP or PPP design, these are basic
research techniques that you all need to know how to do.
Today's scenario:
Bulldawg Elementary School has
been using AR forever. No one remembers how
or why it started. Every year, a big chunk of the budget goes toward
buying the tests, supported titles, and software updates. In
addition, it takes a tremendous amount of volunteer, parapro, and your
time to manage the program. On the other hand, circulation is
extremely high - and reading scores are generally above average at this
school. Here at the end of your first year at Bulldawg, are
wondering if this level of support for AR should continue.
What might several researchable questions be, in this situation?
We'll use this realistic scenario as context for exploring the
following data collection techniques.
- Surveys, pre/post-tests,
questionnaires
- Write 2-3 sample questions
- Leonard's
handout (In case the Word version in WebCT wouldn't work for you)
- Surveys in general
- Online surveys: Google Forms is a new one
- Questions in micro-detail
- Pilot with a similar small group (but don't use these
respondents again)
- Differences: surveys, tests, questionnaires
- Pre- and post-test parallel but not identical (to avoid
maturation effect)
- Question format will determine quantitative/qualitative
analysis techniques
- Interviews: use
Stephanie's presentation in WebCT as basis for discussion
- Focus Groups
- Kind of like interviewing, but with a group
- You need someone to manage and someone else to record
- Best case: audiotape plus have a notetaker
- Efficient: more data for the time allowed
- Make sure everyone gets to talk.
- Consider group effects
- Biggest drawback of focus group is social "bias" -
participants naturally editing their responses because of others in the
room.
- OTOH, the brainstorming effect may set in - where ideas
build upon ideas and the sum becomes greater than individual parts.
- Transcription can be very challenging - identify of voices
can get tricky. Will take much
longer than 1-on-1 interviews.
- Practice, if time
- Document/Content Analysis
- Thoroughly consider any research situation for documents that
already might exist.
- Examples:
- web pages
- browser history logs from public computers (or private,
with permission)
- emails - with permission
- policies
- children's drawings
- existing student work of any kind
- texts of any kind
- test scores (ethical cautions apply)
- notes
- photographs - lots of possibilities here (students taking
photos; photographing media center activity ...)
- journal entries (including self-journaling)
- advertisements
- just about anything that already exists and can be
harvested ethically/legally
- Analysis will vary according to the type of document data.
- I think this avenue is under-utilized!
- Other techiques relevant to
your situations?
Lunch
Groups split, 1 hour: Ed.S. stay to hear Karen; M.Ed. go out for
groupwork (no rooms reserved - fend for yourself)
12:30 Karen Garner
Putting it All Together - from an AP Survivor
2:30-3:00
- Exhibition: comments - 7460 discussion board; use Wimba Classroom
in 7460
- Exhibition page
- Send link to Allyson:
allyd22@yahoo.com
