Week 8 Blog Questions Answered

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course? I have learned that while doing research, it is important to be remain as objective as possible which is hard for me when conducting observations; therefore, I know that it would be hard for me if I was doing actual research. Other insights include the fact that there are different ways of doing research. I was only aware of the two that are the most prevalent. I was exposed to the mixed method of research through my reading.

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed? In my opinion, research can be a tedious job--proving and disproving hypothesis can be time-consuming. I have always been weary of doing research because there are so many steps to consider and if you don't know what you are doing, then of course, that could pose a problem.

What lessons about planning,designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn? The planning of the research is the most difficult for me. During the planning stages, there are a couple of things that has to be done before designing any portion of the research. For the most part, I learned that I must identify a problem or a topic. The problem has to be one that is researchable. Sometimes it helps to see if the problem or the topic chosen has been researched before. If it has, that information may be used as a resource. After that, a hypothesis should be formed a research proposal is constructed.

What were some of the challenges did you encounter? The one thing that challenged me was the hypothesis. I had to reword the hypothesis. I also had to determine which method would render me the best results. I also had to constantly keep in my mind that subjectivity is the key factor. It is all about the facts and not emotions.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional has been modified? Of course, my perception of becoming an early childhood professional has been modified because I never realized that there was a great deal to take under advisement. I didn't take into consideration that there was so much research in this particular area of education but then again, if we are to get the besdt practices, then there has to be a great deal of research.

"Analysis of International Websites"

The international website that I chose to explore was http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au. This website was interesting to me because it dealt with early childhood in Australia. It is not everyday that we hear about Australia so I felt that it was necessary to expose some of the great things that was found on the website. Some of the hot topics that were featured were code of ethics, best practices in early childhood education, and teaching through play. Of these hot topics, the one that I think is important and is a topic that plague most of today's classroom is the teaching through play topic. Teaching through play is important because it is one of the most beneficial ways in which children learn. If we take the act of play out of the school system, we are doing the children a disservice.

The new insight that I gained was centered on the concept of emotional and social skills and how it contributes to the overall learning experience of the child. "Emotional skills are about learning to manage and express feelings appropriately. Social skills are about relating to others." In the classroom, I think that if the child's emotional and social well-being isn't on the level that it is supposed to be on, then there will be problems in the classroom.

The other noteworthy thing that I learned--not really learned, but it sparked my interest because code of ethics is important in the job and in a school setting. Obeying the code of ethics helps to keep us in line so that we can continue to serve our students.