Bringing some creativity into research

Hi Friend,
Yeah, you got your post in ahead of me this week!  I was away with my dear, sweet daughter yesterday afternoon after work to her first gymnastics competition so mother had to take a front seat to student.

You always tie in your learning in such a thorough way and when I read your posts I feel like I am part of your discussion group.  Thanks for being so detailed and really helping me understand your thinking.  I am wondering if we read the same article?  My group had two articles this week because several classmates found our first article "Arts-informed Research" by Cole and Knowles to be a bit heavy.  I quite liked it and realized that J. Gary Knowles the co-author, was one of my practicum supervisors when I was doing my B Ed at MSVU.  Really made me think that the world is indeed a small place.

Dr. Cranton decided to post a second article, of which she co-authored, entitled "Mentoring arts-based research: a tale of two professors" because she wanted to give us a more practical explanation of arts based research.  I really enjoyed this article because it was in a dialogue format and gave me excellent insight into this relatively new research field.  While you read and were engaged in the discussion of Alzheimer's because of your very personal connection to it, I liked how Dr. Cranton and Dr. Lawrence made the reader see that arts-based research is scholarly and can bring about cultural change.  The examples of research dissertations woven with a connection to the arts is what appealed to me this week.

While I don't claim to be artistic, I do love the visual arts and see this research as very intriguing.  When I was meeting with Dr. Whitty today at UNB I saw a poster on her office door showing the work of a student who is presenting arts-based research and is having his work shown at the gallery downtown.  I will have to get his name from her because I forget it.  It seems like the doors to my educational world are constantly being opened all around me.  The more I read and discuss, the more I learn and connect to!  This is what makes our jobs so draining, yet so invigorating at the same time.

To think that you can present academic research in the form of photos, poetry, drama, and artwork entices me.  I keep trying to decide if my idea of "wondering" in math would be in some way considered arts-based research because of the visual representations I have from students?  Sometimes I think I should be doing a thesis yet, know that I could not take this on at this stage of my degree.  Perhaps at some point I will take some extra courses...

Thanks for broadening my scope of learning today with your post and while we are just weeks away from finishing I am sad to think we will not be chatting in this format for much longer:(

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Sheila

Research, The Arts and Emotion

Hi there, my friend,

Hope your week has gone well. Just think, one more to go and it's March Break. I know you will enjoy a well-deserved break from school and have fun doing some things with your children. I bet they are looking forward to it, also.

Well, what an interesting topic we are looking at this week. I would never have considered research to be related to the arts. What an intriguing idea and it certainly has piqued my interest.

As we know, and as the article states, knowledge assists us to better understand our world and research is done as a means of finding answers to any topic of interest one may have. One tends to think of the findings being presented in a "conventional-looking scholarship" which satisfied the academy but was not able "to capture and communicate the complexity of human experience in all its diversity". Researchers decided to develop a way to represent their findings to reach those beyond the academy, everyday people in order to make a difference. When you think about it, what good are the results of research if the findings are represented in such a manner that the average person in society cannot, or will not bother to, decipher them. As knowledge of what comprises human development grew, it became necessary to expand the strategies for conducting and representing research. Thus, arts-informed research evolved.

Arts-informed research has the ability to advance comprehension of the experiences of people, and the various art forms used to depict this provide an opportunity for better understanding of the ideas to a wider range of people. By making the findings of research more accessible to a greater number of people the more likely changes and improvements in our society will take place. I think, as Suzi Gablik states it is a way that, "...brings head and heart together". Since so much human experience involves emotions and conventional methods of representing these experiences were not sufficient, it only makes sense to have a research method that can incorporate emotion in some way.

I read with great interest the sections discussing Alzheimer's Disease and caregivers as both of my parents suffered with dementia. It was absolutely amazing to me to have data collected from the experiences of caregivers presented in a "45-minute spoke performance". This is ingenious! In what other way could these findings have ever been represented to be able to include the emotions connected with this topic?

Finally, in my opinion, arts-informed research provides a venue for those with an interest in researching, and sharing, a topic that is within their "heart, soul and mind". Without this research form it would not be possible to do this in such an accurate manner.

These sure are some very interesting ideas, don't you think? Had you ever heard of this type of research before? Being totally new to me, it has opened up my mind to a huge number of possibilities that I have never before imagined. I think, and hope, we will see a great shift in the presentation of research findings as this strategy catches on. It certainly will make them more interesting and understandable to many people.

Have a great day "digging out"!
"Talk" soon,
Catherine

The Real Deal

Howdy Stranger,
I am not really suffering from the winter blahs I am just knee deep in school and university work.  We celebrate the 100th day of school on Tuesday so I am coordinating this event for 88 students, I had to present PD on Friday and I have a group assignment due on Wednesday which is taking a lot of time.  You know how it goes once you get busy, you just seem to get busier!

Thank you for your detailed post.  You always explain things in such a clear and concise way and I am pleased to hear that you are finding this course fun.  I too am appreciating the learning curve I am on and continually try to make the link between the theory to my practice.  I participated in a webinar on Friday afternoon and my ears perked up every time the word research was mentioned - which seemed to be rather often.  I find I am paying closer attention when this word is tossed into discussions.

I did my action research post on a real action research project that was initiated last year by the VP of one of my schools.  She is part of the NB Leadership academy and she wanted to do an action research project related to technology use and automaticity of basic facts.  Essentially, she is conducting a 2 year study with 12 students and 6 iPads.  Her goal is to determine whether 10 minutes daily of interactive math games online will help to improve timed fact results.  Last year it seemed as though the tech time was working.  This year the results have not been staggering and I think the variable that the school moved into another school is playing a negative part in the results - this is mere speculation on my part though.

My group continues to offer some very interesting research topics.  I find my interest in learning more about ASD students has been heightened by taking this course so I am looking for articles and asking questions to the RTA that visits the school.  I also sneak a chat with Guidance when I get the chance:)

I am making a promise that I will try to get back to more frequent posting so we can keep our dialogue rolling.  I think that our jobs are becoming so demanding that finding those extra moments are becoming less and less.  I often wonder if teachers in other parts of the world seem as busy and harried as I do?  Maybe this is something I should research!  Maybe Dr. Cranton could give us a little insight into what teaching is like in the US...or any other locations where she may have worked...

Happy Sunday Buddy,
Sheila

A Personal Conundrum

Hi Sheila,
I decided I had better get a start on this week's topic. We both must be suffering a bit of the winter blahs as we tend to "talk" to each other before this point each week. I look forward to hearing about your experiences and your "take" on this week's assignment.
I found Chapter 7 an easy read but became somewhat confused when trying to determine which of the research designs, Action, Participatory or Critical fit my Critical Research question, "How do I improve parental support, of struggling students, with their home reading program?" I decided to develop a design which would be possible to implement, and then attempt to determine which design seemed to suit it the best. Well, that turned out to be more difficult than I expected. I was caught between action and participatory research for the following reasons:
Action includes these ideas
1. the researcher (me) is the facilitator
2. the results are intended for immediate use
3. the design is formulated while the research is in progress
4. the information collected is designed to bring about a change
Participatory includes these ideas
1. people from the identified group will assist in the research and will acquire knowledge from their participation
2. the researcher (me) plays an active part, that is I am involved in the discussions, etc.
3. the researcher (me) is immersed in the community/group to seek solutions
4. I am attempting to gather results to solve a problem
At this point, I felt that my design was some sort of a combination of the two, not knowing if that was a possibility, and decided I needed some clarification from Dr. Cranton. Interestingly enough, Dr. Cranton informed me that the distinction between action and participatory research is not always easy to distinguish and that there is a category called "participatory action research" which is a blending, or combination, of the two. However, Dr. Cranton feels my design is of the participatory type, considering points 1-4 above even though aspects of Action research are also present. I am surmising it is participatory due to all of the input I would be getting from parents. (participants)
Well, without providing you with my complete design, those are my discoveries and learning experiences for this week. I continue to read most posts made, in my section, and I consistently gain a better understanding of concepts through these posts and Dr. Cranton's clarifications and comments. It is exciting for me to be finding this course actually fun, especially after being worried about being able to understand the content. I guess this just goes to show us, as educators, when learning is fun it becomes more interesting to the learner and the challenges become ideas to work through, not give up upon.
Looking forward to hearing from you. I know you will have great ideas to add and I always look forward to hearing your point of view as well as about your experiences.
"Talk" soon, my friend,
Catherine

Choosing a Qualitative Research Method

Good morning Shelia,
Well, I was correct in thinking that you would jump on this week's topic before me, and you did. I agree with your comment about "jargon" although this week's chapter was a much easier read than last week's. Thank goodness!
I envy your opportunity to be able to work with students and see them apply ideas we are learning about. I would love to be able to do the Data management unit with my students while taking this course. I think I, too, would observe connections between what they were doing in their research and the ideas we are delving into. That would be really neat.
When I began looking at my Interpretive Research question, "What remedial strategies are in place, at school level, to assist students with anger issues?", I initially though I would be doing Ethnography research as I would be looking at student behaviour within the culture of the school. However, when I studied the choices further, I realized that I would need to discover this information by doing a Case Study. The defining factor for this decision was the text stating that Case Studies are valuable for "exploring an area or practice that has not been well researched or conceptualized" and that it could very well "guide subsequent studies". Since my research would reflect only the strategies of my school, it is most likely correct to assume that this area has not been well researched. To do the study, I would need to gather data through observation, interviews and viewing any documentation the school possessed. The collected data would then be analyzed and interpreted in order to complete a written report. I actually found the process of determining which approach would be the best to implement quite interesting. I hope you will share your question and the type of research yours required.
The topics in my section are varied although most of them deal with issues that I can easily relate to as an educator. That being said, I am gathering ideas from many of them. One thing I did notice, as the posts for experimental or quasi-experimental designs increased throughout the week, was that I was able to use these to assist in in a better understanding and in making my design more concise. This goes to show that we really can and do learn from one another.
Well, I had better end this rather lengthy post. I look forward to hearing from you as we proceed on our educational journey together.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Catherine

Interpreting the Interpretative

Hi Catherine,
I feel much better this week with my discussion post because I think I am finally turning a corner with our course.  While I am still dependent on my textbook, I am actually beginning to see how my research questions could relate to my current practice.  I need to take this approach because I am much like the students I work with, things need to make sense before I can make them my own.  The one thing I find is that you can get bogged down in jargon, philosophy and terminology as a Masters student.  While I am a critical thinker, I remain a practioner and I really feel that Dr. Cranton's supports us as adult learners and wants us to see how this course fits into our everyday practice. 

I am excited to be able to share some of my schooling with the students I am coaching.  The Grade 3 class I am working have just begun their data analysis unit and it is amazing to watch them take on the role of researcher, organizer and interpreter of data.  At a young age, students are encouraged to think critically and make conclusions about their research.  Before this course, I would not have made these connections.

I tweaked my Interpretative design question to reflect problem solving strategies because I just felt that my original question on mental math was too narrow and I lacked expertise in this area.  I was pleased with my design and look forward to reading my classmates posts.

I am still slightly in awe of the people in my group that post late - I think they miss out on some valuable feedback because people tend to get into a mind set for the new discussion topic.  I find myself breezing over their posts because I am not in the moment.  Perhaps I will make this my learning goal for this week - must always strive to do better.

What was your design question?  How are the discussions in your section?  Do you notice any "hot" discussion topic areas?  I learned a lot last week about:

• PECS (communication disorders)
• sensory disorders and special rooms designed for students needing sensory breaks
•  fidgit kids 
•  EAL learners

There is so much out there in our field of education!

Looking forward to reading your thoughtful insights,
Sheila

Verifying Variables

Hi Sheila,

I, too, had to keep referring to my textbook when attempting to complete the 2 activities. Even then I had some difficulty. I am still trying to get my head around the two types of variables. Maybe you can help me. Am I correct in assuming the independent variable is the thing you are changing? By that I mean, offering breakfast to one group and not to another. So breakfast would be the independent variable. From my understanding the dependent variable is what you are measuring or what you are trying to evaluate. So if I was looking at whether or not academic achievement improves for those students who receive breakfast, the dependent variable would be academic achievement.

My section must have the talkers as I found there was lots of discussion from the beginning of this topic. Sometimes when people are unsure of something they will wait to see what others think before they feel comfortable making a statement, or in this case, post. Maybe that's what happened in your section.

I have found when reading the posts that the designs seemed to be getting clearer as the week as progressed. This is most likely due to people being able to use previous examples, as well as Dr. Cranton's comments and suggestions, to assist them in developing their own designs. Reading these has made a difference in my level of understanding as well. I found it particularly interesting that some of the best designs were the ones that were the most simple. Why is it we tend to think the more the better, when that isn't necessarily the case? I think I have a better idea of how to create a clear, more accurate Experimental/Quasi-experimental design, although I still may require some guidance.

Hope your week is going well and that some of the ideas you are uncertain about are being clarified.

"Talk" soon,
Catherine

And The Dialogue Halts...

Good Morning Friend,
I agree with your post on the challenges presented with this week's topic and assignment.  For me personally, I had to keep the Merriam text open when I was answering both questions.  I also printed off an example of a class mate's response to help keep me focused and on topic.  I liked my question about the use of math models but actually found that by looking at the 2 designs there were potentially many holes in my question.  So, I enjoyed the exercise because it made me find my flaws and have to think of ways around them.  Initially I wanted to explore whether the long term use of models through out schooling K into high school would make a difference.  This is something I am interested in investigating because I know that at your level (K-2) teachers really promote and engage students with models to help support student understanding.  I find as students progress in upper elementary teachers will do a brief introduction with models but move students too quickly into symbolic and will say things like "now only use the models if you have to!"

One of my good friends is a principal and her daughter struggled with math all through school.  One day Meaghan (the daughter) said to her mom "I wish my high school teacher would let me use manipulatives." She was in Grade 10 at the time.  I do find the intensity of model use decreases and I think there are many variables involved.

Thank you for always simplifying the concepts for me in your blogs.  I appreciate your direct, yet, easy to understand description.  Like you, I seem to do more descriptive research instead of quasi-experimental.  I found this chapter was very scientific in its design.  Maybe this is why I didn't really find it easy to read.

So I titled my blog this week the dialogue halts because in my group there is no real exchange happening.  It seems like everyone is nervous to post and once we get the reply from Dr. Cranton it comes as such a relief.  This is the first week of posting where we are not really interacting with each other.  I do miss the communication though...Usually I have 2 or 3 colleagues that will post immediately after Dr. Cranton puts our new discussion topic up and nobody posted until late Wednesday afternoon.  I guess no one wanted to take the chance of being the first to post in case they were not on the right track.

I do have some friends looking at our blog and voting on the polling question.   As a math person I am impressed with our number of views and hope we can make the 500 mark.  As you continue to do research for your other courses and come across links or articles you think are related just let me know and I will post them for us.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend - it seems as though my weekends feel busier than my weekdays!
Sheila

Understanding Experimental and Descriptive Designs

Hi my friend,

I now see what you mean about Chapter 5 being hard to get your head around. Keep in mind that Dr. Cranton said it was filled with "jargon" and not to get too caught up in it as we will be discussing it further.

At this point, I guess the only thing we can do is determine the meaning of the content the best we can. I found that by breaking the ideas into smaller pieces I was able to get a better sense of what, I think, the author is saying. For example, there are many terms that we are both already familiar with such as sample, randomization, variables, scenarios, hypothesis, etc. Using the meanings I already have for these terms helped me understand them, at least partially, in their relationship to research.

When considering the two types of research presented, experimental and descriptive, I am quite confident in stating that I am more familiar with descriptive research and believe I am doing some right now. For another course I am taking, I have created surveys to determine actual facts about a topic. Experimental research uses predicting as part of its method and the research I am doing is not using prediction in any way. I think I could also say that I am doing casual/comparative research as the information I will receive will hopefully indicate relationships amongst things that may indicate the cause of the issue I am investigating.

When considering the advantages and disadvantages of the two types, it seems like Descriptive Research would be easier to carry out but the type one uses would be dependent on the topic of the research to be completed.

Does any of this make sense? Do you think I am headed in the right direction?

Looking forward to hearing about your thoughts and ideas. Hopefully we can help each other clarify any discrepancies.

Talk soon,
Catherine

Polling Question

Well, I must NOT have admin rights as there is no "Design" listed on my page. You are in charge, Miss Sheila! Therefore, I will ask that you present my question which is, "What is, or would be, your preferred method of sharing academic research?" The choices would be: Presentation, Collaborative Network, Peer-reviewed paper and Public Wiki.
Thanks so much and looking forward to see how people respond.
Enjoy your Snow Day, as I'm quite sure you are.