Bring:

• copy of syllabus
• laptops are fine but not required; wireless works better in A1920
  

• Your folder (or make a new one)
• Firstcomers: please arrange room in "horseshoe" style for 15 students.
  

Welcome!

(Re)Introductions
Please jot in your folder:

your advisor; where you work (if); when you plan or need to graduate

• UGA-Gwinnett, old and new - moving plans
  
• Parking, vending
  
• Ratify the agenda for today
  

 What is Research, Anyway? 

• A first word:  Melinda Mae by Shel Silverstein
• Inquiry, problem solving, term papers, literature reviews, research - what's the difference? [mini-group] (Ref: Leedy p3-4; also, idea of "formal research," p. 4)
• What is the effect of research on our lives? Examples: man on the moon; technology; pharmaceutical. Others?  Start paying attention to research in the news.
• What about in education?  What is your perception of the value of research in education?
• Data collection for individual student needs assessments
• Evaluating programs, goals
• Innovations
• Impact of NCLB
• How my own perspective has changed
• Written version
  
• Powerpoint: What is Research, Anyway? (this will permanently be in WebCT)
  
• Context: the three semesters of the Applied Project (AP)
• 7320: choose topic, review literature, first problem statement
• 7340 (fall): refine problem statement, design project, cover basic research methodology topics (in common with M.Ed. students), take first project steps
• 7650 (spring): finish collecting data, write, present, "defend"
  

• Look at end results
  
• Syllabus
• Assignment overviews
• As we go along today, consider due dates. They are still negotiable for a few more days.
  
• Class Jobs

• Sign up for:
• Jobs
• Homework (below)

• Some guidance on choosing a research topic.  Appropriate for everyone, even if you already know.
  
• Cohort 6's ideas
• Emphasize: you can do any educational topic
• Will help you do  Research Interest Assignment
• It is possible to change your mind up through about Christmas.  However, changing your mind after a certain point will certainly result in more work, and may delay graduation (although that would not be the end of the world!)
• Topic choice and focus, for many, is the most stressful part of any research project.
• One Topic Deadline: June 23 (no deliverable). This is a mental due date - a reasonable target for settling on The One.  Still, at this stage, a tight focus may not be possible or even necessary quite yet.  Reading helps you come to the ultimate point of focus.
• Brainstorm some ideas. 
  
• Even if two people choose highly similar topics, this is not a problem.  It would be difficult to duplicate another's AP, even if you tried!
  

The Research Problem

• First there is a problem or a curiousity
• Topic leads to Problem, which leads to the Research Question
• Examples: Becky and the digital divide at her school; Robin and the sagging Summer Reading Program at her school
• Work through one or two as a group, using ideas from brainstormed list
• Problem Statement is the target for the end of this semester
  

• Evaluation as research
• Ideas that are getting tired ...
  
• What are your ideas so far?
  
We benefit from hearing each other share.

Closing

Due dates: we ratified the proposed due dates listed on the syllabus.
We need to leave the room as we found it.

Homework:
Homework is my way of helping you keep pace - try not to think of it as "extra work."

• Assignments: Notebook on June 9.  Research Interest on June 16.
  
• Set up your assignment page, or update the one you have.  Send the URL to the Assignment Page Manager.
• We agreed that the way you mesh your Assignment Page with your Virtual AP Notebook is up to you.
  
• Read all of Farmer.  It's brief. We will refer back to it over and over. For now, it serves as an excellent overview of the coming year.
  
• Start noticing research in the media environment.   How is the research presented in the popular media?
  
• Read Guidelines for the Applied Project.  Print them out and place them on your refrigerator. :-)  
• For your own sanity, begin a Timeline that lists each of the major events left in your program and when you plan to do them.  Make sure to include Graduation in your timeline.  Next semester, this timeline will be a part of several assignments.
  
• The assignments in this class require you to choose a topic fairly soon. Do a lot of thinking about this.

Business

Agenda:

• Today's Main Idea is to talk about topics and finding info about them.  Innoculating you with enough "stuff" to launch your summer's work - since this is it for us as a group until the end.
• Basic time schedule: ratify

What-is-research.html - a few points skipped over last week

Framing Research Problems

Searching: starting out

• Concept mapping your topic using Venn diagrams (overlaps with Framing, above)
  
• You may need to do some searching and reading before you can even do this part.
• Use human resources, too, to help you identify the bubbles.
• Last week we used "information evaluation" as an example.  We listed bubbles (in part) as: information quality/credibility; criticial thinking/higher-order thinking; psychology: memory effects (like the eyewitness memory phenomenon); social pyschology (including groupthink).  Many other areas could be included - the more stuff you find, the more stuff you see the need to gather, it seems.
• As you name the major subtopics related to your interest area, identify the discipline to which they belong.  This identification will lead you to the proper databases.
• Let's do an example in class - using one of your problems.
  
• Searching: Meta-strategies
• Favorite databases, tried and true - yours and mine: start with GALILEO Education database lists (use both K-16 and Adult).  ERIC is great, the oldest and biggest; use the EJ citations, not the ED ones (=ERIC Documents; probably not worth your time in most cases)
  
• Google Scholar from UGA Library page
  
• Reference lists: tracing backwards (specific, older, relevant citations) and forwards (authors who have written relevant articles in the past may continue to write new articles that you can find through author searches)
• Serendipity: if you go the actual library, use the OPAC to identify the call numbers of the most relevant books.  Then look alongside and in the neighborhood near books that seem near to your target.  Online, a similar (but not as satisfying) strategy is to use "more like this" or whatever the database or engine calls it.
• You may safely assume that UGA has almost everything you need.  Ask if you can't put your hands on it.
• It is highly efficient to make a trip to the actual UGA Main Library.  (If we had loads of time I would set up a hands-on session with a librarian.)  Plan your trip beforehand, searching the OPAC and assembling a preliminary list.  Bring your laptop so that you can differentiate between what you might need to copy/check out versus what you can get fulltext online.  You owe it to yourself to check out this wonderful library - it is truly a treasure and awe-inspiring.
  
• Annually, go to GALILEO workshops, put on by their staff. This is the best way to learn about this ever-evolving resource.
  
• Micro-strategies
• Use "Advanced" searching.  This really means "Power-searching." 
  
• Too many hits? Add parameters.  No hits? take off parameters.
  
• Identify keywords, vocabulary, and subject headings within each database - controlled vocabulary will differ between vendors.
• Search multiple databases simultaneously if you can (e.g., EBSCO).  This strategy will help you uncover relevant articles published in other disciplines.
• Once you find one (or more) highly relevant articles, squeeze every drop out of it.  Use its reference list, tracking down any possible relevant article (backwards and forwards).  Use its literature review to give you an overview of your topic area.  Using several different databases, see how the article is cataloged and search out other references that use similar subject headings.
• I invite your applied searching problems for group problem-solving.   Muddle around awhile; if you seem to be getting nowhere, submit your situation as a question.
  

Overview: Synthesizing Literature (selected portions)

• Farmer (pp 37-38) provides a decent overview of evaluating the studies you find.
  
• We will critique formally next semester.  For now, consider the quality of what you find.  If something seems bad, consider: is it totally untrustworthy? Or possibly just flawed but still partially useful?
  

Keeping track: methodology of literature reviewing

• Little checklists for each reference.  Mine: []find (put my hands on) []location (where did I put it?) []cite (add to my master ref list in APA format) []read or skim, with date []annotate, type, extract notes []incorporate notes into synthesis
  
• Tracking systems (you will likely perform several searches over time, or many searches over time, and it is impossible to remember where you've been and exactly what terms you've used.  Every subtle difference in a search can reap vastly different results - track carefully to make sure you've covered the territory, and to avoid retracing the same steps:
• Each search
• Each search term
• Each search parameter/limit
  
• Databases searched
• Results of searches
• Store searches if you can
• Bookmarking (del.icio.us, Diigo)
  
• Spreadsheets (and/or other software)
• Notetaking systems
• The idea of the notecard is still valid, imho: one idea, one card, reference carefully coded on each one.  Transfer this idea to tech tools (or even perhaps 3x5 sticky notes, which would be fun to arrange on a wall)
  
• Spreadsheet method
• Word processor method (type each note sequentially, in the end print it all out, code, sort, order...)
• ISearch two-column format

Muddy Lessons
The whole story - written several years ago for a mixed class.

Assignments:

• Questions so far
  
• Describe the remainder
  
• My vision for July 19
  

Farmer: MAF's marginalia - not much to this

Planning forward

• discussed the possibility of 1-on-1 scheduled appointments for consultation. Class decided against, with the assurance that MAF's "door" is open for help as needed.
  

Talk about your ideas so far

Closing

Check out the SLM Calendar on the 7320 homepage. Woo.