1. Teaching and Mentoring Student Researchers Part 2: Scientific Research Dr. Nancy Allen College of Education, Qatar University Dr. Gene Jongsma Education Institute, Supreme Education Council Ms. Tarfa Al-Naimi Education Institute, Supreme Education Council

2. Research Skills Development Unit Scientific Research Definition: Given a topic or question, systematically investigate that topic to discover new information, facts, or principles. Example: Is the drinking water in Doha homes safe? Advantages: Teaches students how to create new knowledge; empowers them to study issues that are important to them Disadvantages: Takes a lot of one-on-one or small group instruction; and not all students are interested

3. Research Skills Development Unit 1. Shaping students Idea and get the right research questions 3. Analyzing data 2. Collection data 4. Reporting and Sharing Ideas Research Steps

4. Research Skills Development Unit Framing Research Question Activity # 1 Let us try to shape some ideas

5. Research Skills Development Unit Where to get answers to the research question? Internet (World Wide Web) Library (books, journals, magazines, printed materials) Local resources (museums, ministries, medical centers) Experts Family members How to get answers to the research question? Questionnaires (Surveys) Interviews Observations Experiments

6. Research Skills Development Unit What is Data? Data may consist of numbers, words, or images, particularly as measurements or observations of a set of variables.

7. Research Skills Development Unit Data Collection Tools Watching: Videos Photographs Observations Examining: Experiment Tests, examinations Taking Samples Tools for Questioning: Interviews Surveys and Questionnaire We can classify the tools like the following : Reading and Writing : Read about the topic Diaries Journal

8. Research Skills Development Unit Some Common Data Collection Tools Questionnaire and survey Interview Observation Experiment

9. Research Skills Development Unit Questionnaire It is an instrument consisting of a series of questions for gathering information from respondents It is used to reach more people. Questionnaires and surveys usually used to collect two types of information: – Factual information – Attitudes and opinions

10. Research Skills Development Unit Interview Interview is used to collect data about : – Attitude – Opinions – Values – Beliefs Advantage of using interviews – Used for specific in depth information Disadvantage of using interviews – It consumes time.

11. Research Skills Development Unit Observation Observation means you use your senses to collect information about something (objects, people and events). Naturalistic versus Participant Observation Photos Video Taking notes Observational checklist

12. Research Skills Development Unit Experiments Experiments are different from other types of research because experiments try to establish cause- effect relationships. In doing an experiment, the researcher hopes to show that one thing causes something to happen. Independent variable is the thing you are studying Dependent variable is the thing you hope to affect Examples: Which cleaner works best on windows? Which fertilizer makes plants grow better?

13. Research Skills Development Unit How to choose the right tool? 1. Look at the research question 2. Decide what type of information you need 3. Ask, which data collection tool can give you that information? You can use more than one tool

14. Research Skills Development Unit Why our school is not clean? Observe what students do at different times Interview students Have students complete a questionnaire Interview workers at the school Does exercise improve students’ learning? Observe students before and after exercising Interview the teachers Interview the students Have students maintain a journal or diary Collect examination scores before and after What tools should be used for these research questions ?

15. Research Skills Development Unit Activity #2

16. Research Skills Development Unit Sampling Before start collecting data, choose a sample. What do you mean by sample!!

17. Research Skills Development Unit Sampling sample: A sample is a smaller part of the population. Researchers often do their research on a sample of the population. Example: What do students think about the school uniform? Possible samples: Primary? Preparatory? Secondary? Girls? Boys? Grade?

18. Research Skills Development Unit Analyzing the Data Summarize data in table Present the data in Graphs and Charts Interpret the data... What does the data tell you?

19. Research Skills Development Unit Example ! Analyzing a Questionnaire What do students think about Uniform? Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Don’t Agree or Disagree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree The color of the uniform is suitable

20. Research Skills Development Unit What to do with Data ? Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Don’t Agree or Disagree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree The color of the uniform is suitable  Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Don’t Agree or Disagree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree The color of the uniform is suitable  Student #1 Student #2

21. Research Skills Development Unit Summarize data in a Table Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Don’t Agree or Disagree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree The color of the uniform is suitable 67133 Number of students who chose each option.

22. Research Skills Development Unit Present the data in Graphs and Charts

23. Research Skills Development Unit Interpret the data What does the data tell you? Most students like the color of uniform – 65% of the students like the color Some students do not like the uniform’s color. – 30% of the students do not like the color

24. Research Skills Development Unit Reporting Research Writing a Research Report A research report is essentially telling a story. – It tells the story of how researchers came to do their research (the introduction), – It tells how they went about it (the methodology), – It tells what happened (the results), – It tells what the findings are (the discussion), – It tells what we can all learn from this (the conclusions).

25. Research Skills Development Unit Purpose of the research report To tell how the idea came up The research process The methods used to collect primary data Where secondary data were collected The method used to analyze data The benefits of the research Report, discuss findings and how they can be applied

26. Research Skills Development Unit Organization and structure of the research report The research report consists of many parts. These parts are presented in a sequence that begins with title and introduction and ends with references.

27. Research Skills Development Unit Basic structure and organization of report Introduction: Why did you do this study? What did you hope to find out? What was your research question? Methods: How did you do this study (Procedures)? How did you collect your data? Who was included? When and where was the study done? Findings: What did you find out? Summarize the data in tables or graphs Discussion/Conclusions: What do the findings mean? Do the findings answer your research question? What are the implications of your findings? References: A list of references for any work you have cited

28. Research Skills Development Unit Different type of reporting There are many ways of reporting research Formal written report Power Point presentation Video documentary report Audio documentary report

29. Research Skills Development Unit The importance of sharing research results Students should have a chance to share what they found with their friends, teachers, principle and parents. Their recommendations should be taken seriously and be considered as valuable contributions. It will be a great encouragement if the students participate in making decision in the school and in solving problems in their community. It is not just about teaching students research skills, it is about teaching them how to play effective role in community.