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The ZEN of Writing. EDU 2300. Entering a Conversation. This topic is intriguing to you; convey this to your reader. Think of yourself as an expert!. Action Research Projects. General Issues Different from empirical study though employing similar concepts.
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The ZENof Writing EDU 2300
Entering a Conversation • This topic is intriguing to you; convey this to your reader. • Think of yourself as an expert!
Action Research Projects • General Issues • Different from empirical study though employing similar concepts. • Context specific; convenience sample; no generalizability even if study is quantitative. • Don’t take on too much, try to solve the world. Remember the KISS principle. Pick a slice.
Substantive Issues • Introduction • Why is this study intriguing to you? • Explain context of your school http://www.nces.ed.gov/globallocator/ • Research questions • Why will knowing more about this help you and other teachers? • Multiple paragraphs • Should use 1st person
Substantive Issues • Language • Consistency of Terms • Define terms. Although many generically use the term “self-efficacy” as synonymous with perceived sense of competence (Jones, 2000; Smith, 1999; Williams, 2000), Bandura (1982) defines self-efficacy as a self-judgment of one’s ability to perform a specific task in a specific domain. When I use the term self-efficacy, I mean….
Substantive Issues • Literature Review • SYNTHESIZE!! • Giving an overview of what’s been done in the field on this project • Patterns in literature • Rationale for study • CRITIQUE the empirical studies! • Largest section of project
Literature Review • CRITIQUE the studies! • Research questions • Samples/participants • Validity/reliability or trustworthiness • Methods • Data collection • Data analysis • Results/conclusions
Substantive Issues • To help reader, use • Topic Sentences • Transitions • Summarizing sentences or paragraphs • Outline your paper!
Technical Issues • APA formatting • General Guide http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ • Electronic sources http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html • Power Point Guide http://library.villanova.edu/app/Web/userfiles/Images/apa_stylerev012009.pps
Technical Issues • APA citations Although many generically use the term “self-efficacy” as synonymous with perceived sense of competence (Jones, 2000; Smith, 1999; Williams, 2000), Bandura (1982) defines self-efficacy as a self-judgment of one’s ability to perform a specific task in a specific domain. When I use the term self-efficacy, I mean….
Technical Issues • Types of sources • Remember qualitative studies may include numbers (descriptive data). • Quantitative studies assume generalizability if they used a random sample. • You may use > 10 sources. If so, you may use > 1 theoretical paper or literature review.
Technical Issues • Abstract of ≤150 words • Study purpose • Participants/ context • Data collection methods • Maybe data analysis methods • Results (why results will be useful)
Data Collection • What will help you to answer your research question? • Does your question lend itself to a qualitative or quantitative approach? • What is the best way to collect this info? • Who should your participants be? Number? • When could you collect the data?
Data Analysis • Anticipate how and when you will analyze the data. • What makes sense to answer the research questions? • How are you addressing validity& reliability or trustworthiness? • Apply concepts we’ve addressed throughout the course.
Analyzing an Action Research Project • Are the research questions appropriate? • Is the problem researchable? Important? • Is the review of literature adequate? Does the author identify patterns, gaps, contradictions, strengths, weaknesses? • Does the literature review provide a backdrop for the study?
Analyzing an Action Research Project • Does the researcher describe the participants? • Does the researcher adequately describe the proposed methods? • Does the researcher adequately describe the proposed analysis? • Do the research question, sample, methods, analysis, and importance of the results align?
Next Week • Read Orcher Ch 8, 16 • Bring in ages of 8 family members or friends and the mean of those ages • Keep gathering sources for Action Research Proposals • Start working on writing Intro/Literature Review