Applying Educational Research A Practical Guide EdAd 692 Research in Educational Leadership

WHAT DID YOU DO THIS SUMMER?

Chapter 1 Using Research to Improve Educational Practice 1. The Nature of Educational Research 2. The Benefits of Educational Research 3. Applying Educational Research to Practice 4. Characteristics of Research 5. Quantitative and Qualitative Research

THE NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

What is Educational Research?  The collection and analysis of data in order to develop valid, generalizable descriptions, predictions, interventions and explanations relating to various aspects of education. (Gall, Gall & Borg, 2005, p.3)

Inside the Black Box “In terms of systems engineering, present policies in the U.S. and in many other countries seem to treat the classroom as a black box. Certain inputs from the outside -- pupils, teachers, other resources, management rules and requirements, parental anxieties, standards, tests with high stakes, and so on -- are fed into the box. Some outputs are supposed to follow: pupils who are more knowledgeable and competent, better test results, teachers who are reasonably satisfied, and so on. But what is happening inside the box?” (Black, Wiliam, 1998)

But what is happening inside the box ?” Pupils Teachers Resources InputsOutputs More knowledgeable and competent students Better test results, Teachers who are reasonably satisfied Black Box What Research is trying to find out!

Purposes of Educational Research Explanation Description Prediction Intervention Text Purposes

Purposes of Research  Descriptive Research: To make careful, highly detailed observations of some educational occurrence. Example synthesis of research on learning to read includes findings that good readers process every word.  Prediction Research: To determine whether data collected at one point in time can predict behavior or events that occur at a late point in time. Example – data collecting characteristics of young children to predict dropout rate

Purposes of Research  Intervention Research: An experimental method used to determine whether a specific learning can be improved by a specific intervention. Example – a leader engages in a leadership behavior that facilities the work of the adults in the building.  Action Research: Is a form of disciplined inquire that has reemerged as a popular way of involving practitioners, teachers and supervisors to better understand their work. It can be as simple as raising a questions about some educational practice and collection information to answer the question.

Purposes of Research  Explanation Research: To explain individual or group behavior. This is a cause and effect relationship. Example students socioeconomic status (the cause) is invoked as an explanation of student’s academic achievement (the effect)

Basic and Applied Research  Basic Research – To understand the basic processes and structures that underlie a specific behavior. In medical research – making advancements in explaining the occurrence of certain diseases (the observed behavior) by understanding gene composition (a basic structure)  Applied Research – To develop and test predictions and interventions that can directly improve a practice. In education the development and testing of a new reading strategy to help students increase fluency would be an example of applied research

THE BENEFITS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Benefits of Educational Research  Some educators have a difficult time seeing how educational research benefits practitioners and students.  One of the reasons it is difficult to claim that research has benefited educational practice is that its influence is rarely direct.  Can you think of an example of where educational research has effected a practice in education? NCLB  I return to the black box – How will we ever improve our profession if we do not use educational research to document what is in the black box.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

Postmodernism  What do the scholars of postmodernism believe?

Shared, Precise and Publicly Accessible  Social science researchers have developed concepts and procedures to help them conduct studies of high quality.  Blind review – Reviewers do not have access to authors  Peer review – Reviewed by other researchers  Progressive Discourse – Can offer criticism about a particular research study – if it has merit – the criticism is listened to and accommodated.

Replicability of Findings  Researchers must make public the procedures by which their findings were obtained.  Replications – when other researchers conduct a similar study to see whether they obtain the same results.

Refutability of Knowledge Claims  A standard for testing knowledge claims developed by Karl Popper (1968) is generally accepted among social science researchers.  Refutation – a process by which the theory is submitted to an empirical test that allows it to be challenged and/or disapproved.  Example – classroom management

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Quantitative and Qualitative Research  Quantitative Research < involves the study of samples and populations <relies heavily on numerical data <uses statistical analysis  Qualitative Research <makes little use of numbers <relies heavily on verbal data <subjective analysis

Qualitative Research  Qualitative Research <makes little use of numbers <relies heavily on verbal data <subjective analysis

Preparing a Research Proposal  Purpose of the Study – What do you want to study. You should be able to state the purpose of your study in one sentence.  Research Questions – What are the questions are you are trying to answer? <Do elementary and middle school teachers made different types of instructional changes after receiving MCA scores?

Preparing a Research Proposal  Literature Search/Review – This is the first step in the process. Intense reading around the topic you with to study.  Research Design <Quantitative Study  Variable and measures <Qualitative Study  Aspect and perspectives  Data Analysis - Findings

Ethics and Human Relations  The federal government requires that most research studies involving the study of humans need to be evaluated by an institutional review board (IRB) before data collection can begin. 

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