EDIT 6900: Research Methods in Instructional Technology

UGA, Instructional Technology

Spring, 2010

If you can hear audio, click

If you cannot hear audio, click

If you have a question, click

Lloyd RieberCo-Instructor

Greg FrancomGraduate Assistant

TJ KopchaCo-Instructor

To avoid chaos, if you have a question or comment, click on the “Raise Hand”, but don’t send/speak your message until prompted by me.

Do you have the Online Survival Guide by your side?

Click YES or NO

Link can be found on the class home page

(and in the lower right corner of this window)

Preparing for & Attending the Weekly Online Class

• BEFORE CLASS:– Do all activities by due date in order to be prepared for

the live class (i.e. read chapters, view pre-recorded presentations, listen to podcasts, etc.)

• Check email• Log on to “Horizon Wimba Live Classroom”

– link is on our course’s eLC home page

• Enter “Research Methods in Instructional Technology” Room

• Have “Online Survival Guide” by your side

Four Topics for Today• Testing Horizon Wimba

– Test sending audio (you need a computer microphone)

• Course Orientation– Go over syllabus (course themes,

requirements, etc.)

• Considering What is Research?

• Breakout Room Discussion: Thinking data collection

Course Textbook

Do you have it?

Quick testing of Horizon Wimba audio

Profile Quotes

Pam Amendola

“If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Henry David Thoreau

Profile Quotes

Flint Buchanan

"...the people who achieve their dreams and make the greatest impact in the world – whether athletically, musically, politically, technologically or otherwise – are rarely the most talented or gifted individuals. They are instead the ones who work the hardest, and who are willing to overcome all obstacles to see their dreams through to fruition."

Profile Quotes

Melanie Childers

“It's a beautiful day!”

Bono

Profile Quotes

Melanie Childers

“A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something.”

Profile Quotes

Laura Heilman

“A Cup Of Tea: Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Profile Quotes

Tony Mock

“You know what I hate? Indian givers... no, I take that back.”

Emo Philips

Profile Quotes

Sabrina Rabsatt

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it's decoration”

Jeffrey Zeldman

Profile Quotes

Jessica Wals

“Identity would seem to be the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self, in which case, it is best that the garment be loose, a little like the robes of the desert, through which one's nakedness can always be felt, and, sometimes, discerned. This trust in one's nakedness is all that gives one the power to change one's robes.”

James Arthur Baldwin

Who are we?

• K-12 Educators?

• K-12 Administrators?

• Higher Education?

• Business/Industry?

• Informal learning (i.e. museums)?

• Military?

• Other?

Course Goals

• Participants in the course will become intelligent consumers and proficient users of research. Participants will investigate a variety of research studies using various methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods), with the objective of being able to analyze and apply research in everyday contexts.

The Course in a Nutshell

• Part 1: Learn educational research skills through guided practice and feedback– Research Design Activities (RDAs)

• Part 2: Apply research in an original project– Done individually or in pairs– One or two paths: 1) Propose to do research; or 2)

Apply research by proposing the development of some useful artifact or resource

General Calendar

• January 13 - March 31: Learn Educational Research Skills– Read text & view Pre-Recorded Presentations– Meet online in Horizon Wimba virtual classroom each

Wed. at 5:00 pm– RDAs– Begin course project (individually or in pairs)

• April 1-28: Apply Educational Research– Complete course project

Quick Review of Course Requirements & Procedures

(assumes you have readsyllabus well)

Requirements

• RDAs (30%) • Buddy Feedback on RDAs (5%)• Online Discussions (5%)• Research Methods Knowledge Test

(10%)• Informal Activity – SDC – Systematic Data

Collection (10%)• Research Design Project (individ. or pairs)

(40%)

Research Design Activities• Activities to help you learn fundamental

research skills• Buddy feedback (5%), chance for revision,

then instructor feedback• Completed individually online in a special

workspace programmed by Lloyd• You can use these as starting point for “big”

research project if you wish• 30%, Due periodically (see course learning

plan)

Research Design Activities

1. Identifying a Research Problem and Writing a Research Question

2. Writing a Literature Critique

3. Conducting a Review of the Literature

Literature Searching WorkshopFebruary 17, 2010, 5:00 pm

Michael Law, UGA Gwinnett Librarian

Research Methods Knowledge Test

• 75-item multiple-choice questions, in three sections, covering knowledge and basic concepts from the textbook.

• Must attain 100% mastery to get the points.– No partial credit

• However, you can take these as often as you wish, up to April 14.

Research Methods Knowledge Test

• 75-item multiple-choice questions, in three sections, covering knowledge and basic concepts from the textbook.

• Must attain 100% mastery to get the points.– No partial credit

• However, you can take these as often as you wish, up to April 14.

Informal competition!Let’s see who get the best completion rates!

(Like in golf, fewer is better.)

Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place!

Research Design Project

• Worth 40% of course grade• RDAs can be used as starting point• Design a research project individually or in

pairs• Can take one of two paths:

– 1. Proposal to do research– 2. Proposal to do development

Build or do something to solve a problem or improve a situation

• Either way, the proposal must be based on, and supported by, existing research.

Research Design Project

Imagine this situation…

Research Design Project

• Two Parts:– A 2-page executive summary;– Presentation lasting absolutely no longer

than 10 minutes.

• Must provide a persuasive case backed up by existing research evidence

• Due April 28

Planning on Applying to a Ph.D. Program?

If so, please feel free to discuss with me an alternative project of actually

proposing (and perhaps doing) a small-scale research project and writing a formal research proposal and report.

An Excellent Part of a Ph.D. Application!

Informal Activity

SDCSystematic Data Collection

• An informal, (hopefully) enjoyable activity designed to give you first-hand experience collecting research data

• Your Task: Go and research something of interest to you!

• Report on it informally in writing

• Give 5 minute oral report

• 10%, Due: April 14

Informal Activity

SDC IdeasSystematic Data Collection

• Personal Finance

• Family

• Health

• Gardening

• Nature

• Pets

• Sport

Literature Searching WorkshopFebruary 17, 2010, 5:00 pm

Michael Law, UGA Gwinnett Librarian

Questions?

• Is there something about the course structure, procedures, or requirements that you do not understand?

“Hold the Toasts”

Let’s choose the person to briefly summarize this week’s podcast…

…but first, let’s consider a fair procedure to do this.

“Hold the Toasts”

Let’s choose the person to briefly summarize this week’s

podcast.

“Hold the Toasts”Take away points

• Why drinkers earn more than non-drinkers; Authors (economists): Bethany Peters & Edward Stringham

• Results– 10%-14% higher income for social drinkers– Those who drink alone don’t seem to benefit– “Tip a few, advance your career!” “Drinking alcohol can lead to fatter

paychecks.”• Authors’ explanation: Increased “social capital” comes with drinking with

others, and this networking leads to more career opportunities.• Rival Hypotheses

– Funded by Liberterian Reason Foundation; possible bias, but one can not conclude this without more data

– Correlation does imply causation– Maybe some third unknown factor is the cause: Something other than “social

capital”– Reverse causality: higher incomes “cause” people to drink in social settings, or

simply people who can afford to drink socially naturally earn more money.• It is likely that people who own an iPod earn more money than those who

don’t: Will buying an iPod lead to more income?• Similar result: Religion and earnings; Hmm, drink at church?

I think reading ability depends on how big your feet are.

Do you agree?

What is Research?

Are You Prepared?Quick Quiz!

Characteristics of Research

1. Research originates with a question or problem.2. Research requires clear articulation of a goal.3. Research requires a specific plan for proceeding. 4. Research usually divides the principal problem into

more manageable sub-problems. 5. Research is guided by the specific research problem,

question, or hypothesis. 6. Research accepts certain critical assumptions.7. Research requires the collection and interpretation of

data in an attempt to resolve the problem that initiated the research.

8. Research is, by its nature, cyclic or more exactly, helical.

8. Research is, by its nature, cyclical or, more exactly, helical.

Math & Science Fairs!

Annual Georgia Science and Engineering Fair

Researcher Bias

Relationship Between Being Religious and Being Moral

• 76% of 25 cities with most dangerous cities crime are in Red (republican) states.

• 62% of 25 cities with the lowest crime rate are in Blue (democratic) states.

• “In fact, three of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. are in the pious state of Texas.”

“Needless to say, these results strike so hard at the standard claims of greater moral virtue among the religious that there has been a considerable surge of further research initiated by religious organizations attempting to refute them…”

Break-Out Room Discussion

• What are the main topics that should be included on a survey of IDD students?

Possible Topics

• Online vs. Face-to-Face?

• Differences between American and International students?

• Needed changes in the IDD curriculum?

• Overall future directions?

• What else?

Break Out Rooms

Room 1• Amendola• Boyle• Brew• Buchanan Room 2• Childers• Garmany• Heilman• Hernandez

Room 3• Kwon• Liu• Miller• MockRoom 4• Rabsatt• Robinson• Wals• Walters

Questions?

• Go ahead and enter question in message field, or…• Click and wait for my prompt to speak.

To do list• Follow the Course Learning Plan!