Week 4 (Feb.15,06)

Frame Research Questions

Agenda for Today

Sharing life (5-10 minu).Frame and refine you research questions (60minu).Steps of doing research; Format of a research proposal; Draft#1 (30mini).Article types (30).

Sharing life The worst moment Weirdness of life - an idea, a feeling, an

incident that you feel is hard to understand…

Someone or something that made you sad or mad

One moment of your classroom Anything else

Agenda I

Frame and Refine Your Research Questions

Frame your Research Question Form a group of 4/5 people Share with the group your observation

“what I’ve learned last week about teaching?”

Frame your question by completing the 3-step research question sheet (10)

Report to the whole class (20)

A Research Question: What’s Wrong? (5.2) Do LD/ADHD students engage in

meaningful discussions during literature circles?

How to fix this? What are the core principles of framing a

research question?

How to Refine the Research Question? Do LD/ADHD students engage in

meaningful discussions during literature circles?

Four core principles: Ask only real questions Avoid yes/no questions Eliminate jargon Avoid value-laden words or phrases

Research Questions: Researchable? (5.1) Should philosophy be included in the high school

curriculum? What is the meaning of life? Is God good? Are children happier when taught by a teacher of

the same gender? Does high school achievement influent the

academic achievement of university students? What would schools be like today if World War II

had not occurred?

Characteristics of good research questions Group work guidelines

What does your guideline mean (researchable, feasible, clear, significant, ethical)?

Give one bad example and then tell the class how you are going to fix that?

Characteristics of good research questions Group#1: Research questions should be

researchable Group#2 Research questions should be

feasible Group#3: Research questions should be

clear Group#4: Research questions should be

significant Research questions should be ethical

(later)

10 Qualities of a good research purpose and/or research question

1. It is grounded in a theoretical framework.2. It is builds on, but also offers something

new to, previous research.3. It has the potential to suggest directions

for future research.4. It is a purpose or question that the

researcher is sincerely interested and/or invested in.

5. It addresses directly or indirectly some real problem in the world.

10 Qualities of a good research purpose and/or research question

6. It takes ethical issues into consideration.7. It clearly states the variables or

constructs to be examined.8. It is not biased in terminology or position.9. It has multiple possible answers.10. It is simple, or at least manageable.

Refine your research questions

Agenda II

Research ProcessResearch Proposal/Report Format

Steps of in doing a research study (2.3) Preparing a proposal describing the study

to be done and its significance (Course Project).

Collecting and analyzing data. Writing a report of the completed study.

p.18

Components of a Research Proposal Jigsaw

Format of a Research Report/Proposal (3.4)

Abstract

Introduction Review of the literature Methodology Findings (Research Report) Discussion (Text/body – 15-20 pages double spaced)

ReferencesBibliography

Appendices

Introduction Components (Draft #1) Background Information Problem Statement Study Purpose Research questions Rationale/Importance of the study Definition of terms

10 annotated bibliography

(http://web.cortland.edu/shis/education.html)

Article Types Qualitative research study Quantitative research study Mixed method research study Case study(“Hard research”/empirical study – through

observation or experiment) Commentary Book review Review of the literature/research synthesis Definition article How-to (Solution Set-up) article

The articles you have found (group work) The article you’ve found – what type? Hard/empirical research? Find one empirical research in your group

and recognize the following components What is the purpose of the study? What are the research questions

For Next Week –Library Time Get a good mastery of literature search

skills so that you are able to do search for your proposal writing.

Prepare 10 entries of annotated bibliography (which will also be the bases of your literature review draft#2 (10+5)).

Out of the 10, at least 5 needs to be empirical research; at least 3 needs to be action research.