Week 4 (Feb.15,06) Frame Research Questions

Agenda for Today Sharing life (5-10 minu). Frame and refine you research questions (60minu). Steps of doing research; Format of a research proposal; Draft#1 (30mini). Article types (30).

Sharing life  The worst moment  Weirdness of life - an idea, a feeling, an incident that you feel is hard to understand…  Someone or something that made you sad or mad  One moment of your classroom  Anything else

Agenda I Frame and Refine Your Research Questions

Frame your Research Question  Form a group of 4/5 people  Share with the group your observation “what I’ve learned last week about teaching?”  Frame your question by completing the 3- step research question sheet (10)  Report to the whole class (20)

A Research Question: What’s Wrong? (5.2)  Do LD/ADHD students engage in meaningful discussions during literature circles?  How to fix this?  What are the core principles of framing a research question?

How to Refine the Research Question?  Do LD/ADHD students engage in meaningful discussions during literature circles?  Four core principles: Ask only real questions Avoid yes/no questions Eliminate jargon Avoid value-laden words or phrases

Research Questions: Researchable? (5.1)  Should philosophy be included in the high school curriculum?  What is the meaning of life?  Is God good?  Are children happier when taught by a teacher of the same gender?  Does high school achievement influent the academic achievement of university students?  What would schools be like today if World War II had not occurred?

Characteristics of good research questions  Group work guidelines What does your guideline mean (researchable, feasible, clear, significant, ethical)? Give one bad example and then tell the class how you are going to fix that?

Characteristics of good research questions  Group#1: Research questions should be researchable  Group#2 Research questions should be feasible  Group#3: Research questions should be clear  Group#4: Research questions should be significant  Research questions should be ethical (later)

10 Qualities of a good research purpose and/or research question 1. It is grounded in a theoretical framework. 2. It is builds on, but also offers something new to, previous research. 3. It has the potential to suggest directions for future research. 4. It is a purpose or question that the researcher is sincerely interested and/or invested in. 5. It addresses directly or indirectly some real problem in the world.

10 Qualities of a good research purpose and/or research question 6. It takes ethical issues into consideration. 7. It clearly states the variables or constructs to be examined. 8. It is not biased in terminology or position. 9. It has multiple possible answers. 10. It is simple, or at least manageable.

Refine your research questions

Agenda II Research Process Research Proposal/Report Format

Steps of in doing a research study (2.3)  Preparing a proposal describing the study to be done and its significance (Course Project).  Collecting and analyzing data.  Writing a report of the completed study. p.18

Components of a Research Proposal  Jigsaw

Format of a Research Report/Proposal (3.4) Abstract  Introduction  Review of the literature  Methodology  Findings (Research Report)  Discussion (Text/body – pages double spaced) References Bibliography Appendices

Introduction Components (Draft #1)  Background Information  Problem Statement  Study Purpose  Research questions  Rationale/Importance of the study  Definition of terms 10 annotated bibliography (

Article Types  Qualitative research study  Quantitative research study  Mixed method research study  Case study (“Hard research”/empirical study – through observation or experiment)  Commentary  Book review  Review of the literature/research synthesis  Definition article  How-to (Solution Set-up) article

The articles you have found (group work)  The article you’ve found – what type?  Hard/empirical research?  Find one empirical research in your group and recognize the following components What is the purpose of the study? What are the research questions

For Next Week –Library Time  Get a good mastery of literature search skills so that you are able to do search for your proposal writing.  Prepare 10 entries of annotated bibliography (which will also be the bases of your literature review draft#2 (10+5)).  Out of the 10, at least 5 needs to be empirical research; at least 3 needs to be action research.