Nils McGee
I teach high school biology at Pomperaug High School. You can reach me at nfmcgee at gmail.com.
First Reflective Essay
Being a science teacher, one of the major focuses of our curriculum, and the major recurring skill that we assess, is the ability to use and explain the methods used in science. The basic principles of research involve a formal common sense. We make observations, organize them, and make generalizations about these observations. This seems most similar to the “action research” model. We then try to explain why these observations are true by developing a theory. The theory provides a causal framework that implies hypotheses that can be tested through controlled experiments.
I am most interested in learning what the theoretical framework is that is being tested. For instance, if there is research that shows that using smart board technology results in an increase in student ability to identify relevant information, then what is the causal explanation for this? Can we generalize this explanation to more effectively use other methods besides smart boards? I want to know “why” something works. This could help explain why certain methods work under certain conditions, but not others. I really liked the framework presented in chapter two of the e-learning text as an explanation for causality.
I am also very interested in finding out which e-learning methods work, and which don’t work. In our school, there is a constant push to use technology in the classroom, but there is no training in the use of that technology. It appears that our administrators, parent groups, and community think that technology will be the silver bullet of education. If we don’t know which methods work, and which don’t work, then we will fail in our endeavor, money will be wasted, the technology will be dropped, and we will fall further behind.
It has been a long time since I did surveys of research, and I do not know how to access journal articles from the university library. The last time I legitimately did this involved books that had keywords that identified abstracts in another book. I know it is a lot easier now. I would also like to learn methods to simply perform research in the classroom that minimizes confounding factors.
Second Reflective Essay
After taking this course, I have found the answers to many of the questions I had at the beginning of the class as well as many new questions that arose during the class. I feel much more confident in my ability to use research to support or reject the use of technologies in the classroom, and my basic knowledge of technologies available for use.
Reading the text, and assigned articles, along with performing a literature review, has been extremely beneficial. The text provided good principles for design when using specific e-learning methods and technologies. The text and readings both provided support for the uses of methods and technologies, as well as providing the theoretical framework for why these methods should be effective.
The principles for using learner control versus program control were enlightening. I am reflecting on how I could improve the design earlier computer-based instructional units to incorporate these principles. The principles for using practice were also important for me to understand how and when to incorporate practice into my teaching. Critical thinking is part of almost every schools mission statement. It was nice to see the research on critical thinking and the evidence that critical thinking skills are context specific, which supports the development of content area specific strategies instead of a school-wide one-size, fits all strategy.
Being exposed to research on a variety of different technologies has provided many examples of best practice, and identified some technologies where the research is too limited for conclusions to be drawn on the use and best practice for technologies. Techniques for asynchronous e-learning will be very useful for me. Wiki's are the one tool that I think will have the greatest impact on my students' ability to collaborate effectively. Identifying that most Web Quests and Virtual Field Trips are not suitable is also useful. The context for their development doesn't usually match my requirements, and their quality in my subject area is low. If I want to use these technologies, I will have to develop my own, or heavily modify existing ones.
I feel much more confident in my ability to read and understand research. Doing a literature review forced me to do extensive research on experimental design and analysis to understand the conclusions and validity of the research. Prior to this course, I would not have thought that the gold-standard for research is a double-blind random assignment experimental design. After analyzing the research in the literature review, I have a much higher opinion of well-designed quasi-experimental studies. Using the University's library search engines will make it easier for me to assess other technologies as our district plans to implement them. Understanding how to design a research study has presented some difficulties. If I am to perform a valid study, the amount of work is much greater than I would have anticipated. I think that I am now capable of designing and conducting valid research, although I would still need the help from people who are experience in statistical analysis.
First Reflective Essay
Being a science teacher, one of the major focuses of our curriculum, and the major recurring skill that we assess, is the ability to use and explain the methods used in science. The basic principles of research involve a formal common sense. We make observations, organize them, and make generalizations about these observations. This seems most similar to the “action research” model. We then try to explain why these observations are true by developing a theory. The theory provides a causal framework that implies hypotheses that can be tested through controlled experiments.
I am most interested in learning what the theoretical framework is that is being tested. For instance, if there is research that shows that using smart board technology results in an increase in student ability to identify relevant information, then what is the causal explanation for this? Can we generalize this explanation to more effectively use other methods besides smart boards? I want to know “why” something works. This could help explain why certain methods work under certain conditions, but not others. I really liked the framework presented in chapter two of the e-learning text as an explanation for causality.
I am also very interested in finding out which e-learning methods work, and which don’t work. In our school, there is a constant push to use technology in the classroom, but there is no training in the use of that technology. It appears that our administrators, parent groups, and community think that technology will be the silver bullet of education. If we don’t know which methods work, and which don’t work, then we will fail in our endeavor, money will be wasted, the technology will be dropped, and we will fall further behind.
It has been a long time since I did surveys of research, and I do not know how to access journal articles from the university library. The last time I legitimately did this involved books that had keywords that identified abstracts in another book. I know it is a lot easier now. I would also like to learn methods to simply perform research in the classroom that minimizes confounding factors.
Second Reflective Essay
After taking this course, I have found the answers to many of the questions I had at the beginning of the class as well as many new questions that arose during the class. I feel much more confident in my ability to use research to support or reject the use of technologies in the classroom, and my basic knowledge of technologies available for use.
Reading the text, and assigned articles, along with performing a literature review, has been extremely beneficial. The text provided good principles for design when using specific e-learning methods and technologies. The text and readings both provided support for the uses of methods and technologies, as well as providing the theoretical framework for why these methods should be effective.
The principles for using learner control versus program control were enlightening. I am reflecting on how I could improve the design earlier computer-based instructional units to incorporate these principles. The principles for using practice were also important for me to understand how and when to incorporate practice into my teaching. Critical thinking is part of almost every schools mission statement. It was nice to see the research on critical thinking and the evidence that critical thinking skills are context specific, which supports the development of content area specific strategies instead of a school-wide one-size, fits all strategy.
Being exposed to research on a variety of different technologies has provided many examples of best practice, and identified some technologies where the research is too limited for conclusions to be drawn on the use and best practice for technologies. Techniques for asynchronous e-learning will be very useful for me. Wiki's are the one tool that I think will have the greatest impact on my students' ability to collaborate effectively. Identifying that most Web Quests and Virtual Field Trips are not suitable is also useful. The context for their development doesn't usually match my requirements, and their quality in my subject area is low. If I want to use these technologies, I will have to develop my own, or heavily modify existing ones.
I feel much more confident in my ability to read and understand research. Doing a literature review forced me to do extensive research on experimental design and analysis to understand the conclusions and validity of the research. Prior to this course, I would not have thought that the gold-standard for research is a double-blind random assignment experimental design. After analyzing the research in the literature review, I have a much higher opinion of well-designed quasi-experimental studies. Using the University's library search engines will make it easier for me to assess other technologies as our district plans to implement them. Understanding how to design a research study has presented some difficulties. If I am to perform a valid study, the amount of work is much greater than I would have anticipated. I think that I am now capable of designing and conducting valid research, although I would still need the help from people who are experience in statistical analysis.