Based on some observations Educational Practice cannot rely blindly on research. Both fields have their own goals. According to D.C Philips Research uses statement about what is and Educational Practice uses statements involving "ought to be". For example Research uses statement such as : "X is Y"; "the probability for X to have the feature Y is p". Practice uses statements such as: "Person A ought to do Z to person B". It is logical that from statements involving the use of "is" conclusions about "ought" or "should" cannot be deduced.
Questions involving "is" can be well answered by educational research while those involving "ought to" imply the use of dialogue to solve them. Researchers cannot expect their findings about "is" to be transformed in immediate change without being criticized. Likewise practitioners cannot look to research for prescriptive advice. However practitioners can use the researcher's findings in their dialogue about solutions to practical problems.
Limitations of Research knowledge
Research findings has several limitations. One of them is that results generated from a sample cannot be generalized to all the elements of a population. Some research studies do a few cases and generalization has to be done by considering each of the other additional cases. Therefore practitioners can look to research for advice but they should ask themselves: "Are these findings applicable to my situation"?
Another limitation of research knowledge is that its discoveries are filtered with a certain worldview. Studies about intervention in the classroom may have have high performance test achievement as learning outcomes while neglecting other outcomes such as self-reliance, humanitarian attitudes,etc. Some research studies are done with a certain view of teachers as proved by Lampert's observations. She stated that teachers are considered like "technical production manager" whose role is is to monitor the efficiency of learning. The teacher's role is to apply researcher's knowledge and policies without the consideration of other instructional factors.
Lampert advances a different view of teachers as dilemma managers. This view originated from her own research studies revealing that classroom teaching involves many problematic situations with competing interests that the teacher has to deal with.
Lampert's view of teaching agrees with other professionals who studied professional practice. Donald Schon is one of the most influential of these individuals. His theory stated that a "flawed model of technical rationality" dominates thinking about the relationship between research and practice. He describes the model of Technical Rationality as professional activity consisting in "instrumental problem solving made rigorous by the application of scientific theory and technique".
Shon explained the reason why this model is flawed. He stated that research in the positivist tradition deals with a "stable, consistent reality about which generalizations can be made and applied, whereas professional practice involves "complexity, uncertainty, instability, uniqueness and value conflict."
Schon and many others advise that practitioners have to engage in reflection-in-action, not in the application of research knowledge in order to deal with the "messiness" of their work. One of the chief elements of reflection-in-action "is a kind of experimentation based on the practitioner's analysis of each unique situation they confront."
Schon's model of reflection-in-action doesn't prevent the application of research knowledge for professional action. The implication of the model is that research knowledge should not be used exclusively as a basis for professional action. In fact researchers found that "the classroom is marked more by sameness of practice than by diversity and uniqueness". In fact research knowledge might allow practitioners to be in a better position to accommodate the differences among the constituencies."
The Importance of Basic Research
Some practitioners believe that educational research is too theoretical and too focused on basic processes of learning. They think that priority should be given to applied research based on problems confronted by practitioners. This argument raises questions about the relative value of basic and applied research in education.
While the contribution of applied research to the improvement of educational practice seems obvious an important study in the field of education gives reason for reconsideration of this viewpoint. The remarkable findings of this study are related to the fact that a high percentage of basic research studies was essential to the development of current treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Four types of knowledge that research contributes to education
Description
Many research studies are based on the description of natural or social phenomena by studying their form, structure, activity, change over time, relationship to other phenomena, etc. These descriptions have resulted in important discoveries. For example the observation of different parts of the universe by astronomers have resulted in the discoveries of galaxies and the structure of the universe. These discoveries have subsequently lead to the origin of the universe and its course.
The descriptive function of research relies strongly on instruments for observation and measurement. Researchers spend a great amount of time to develop instruments. Once developed these instruments are used to describe phenomena studied by researchers.
Descriptive studies increase the knowledge of education in schools. Some important books about education are based on descriptive studies for example Life in Classroom by Philip Jackson, The Good High School by Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, etc.
Some descriptive educational studies produce statistical information of interest to policy makers and educators. The National Center for Education Statistics publish descriptive studies in an annual journal called the Digest of Educational Statistics. These published studies about the delivery of education are information available to anyone concerned about the quality of education in schools.
Prediction
Another type of research knowledge is the ability to predict a phenomenon that will happen at time Y from information available at a time X. For example lunar eclipses can be predicted with precision from knowledge about the relative motion of the Moon, Earth and Sun. The next stage of an embryo's development can also be predicted from knowledge about the current stage of the embryo. A student's performance in school can be predicted with a fair amount of precision by an aptitude test administered previously a year or two,
Educational researchers have undertaken a lot of prediction studies for the acquisition of knowledge about factors predicting student's success in school and in the world of work. One of the reasons of doing such research is to provide guidance for the selection of students who will be successful in some particular academic disciplines. For example Universities use the Scholastic Aptitude Test along with other data for the selection of students who are likely to be successful in their academic programs. More knowledge is needed about the level of accuracy of these tests for different groups of students to determine if new instruments are needed to improve the predictability of success in some particular fields.
Another purpose of prediction research is the identification of students who can be unsuccessful in the course of their schooling so that academic prevention programs can be put in place. For example this type of research can be used to solve the problem of school dropouts. The collection of information about students from sixth grade until graduation can provide information about the best predictions. The predictive knowledge can be used to determine sixth graders who are likely to become high school dropouts. This knowledge can be used to develop programs that can help them to be successful in schools.
Educational research has produced a large body of predictive knowledge about factors predicting issues of social importance (examples: academic success, career success, criminal conduct). Several procedures have been developed for doing predictive research.
Improvement
The third type of research knowledge deals with the effectiveness of interventions. Some examples of interventions are: drug therapies in medicine, construction materials in engineering, marketing strategies in business, and instructional programs in education. Many educational research studies are realized to identify interventions or factors able to be transformed in interventions in order to improve student's academic performance. Walberg and his colleagues have summarized the results of nearly 3,000 studies on interventions or potential interventions undertaken for the purpose of improving student's performance on various measures of academic achievement. Such intervention variables are: reinforcement, reading training, cooperative learning, personalized instruction, tutoring, individualized science, individualized mathematics, etc.
Walberg's synthesis of research have demonstrated that educational researchers have found many effective interventions that can improve student's learning. However studies need to be done to improve the effectiveness of these interventions. Research has to be undertaken also to turn potential interventions into actual interventions. For example class morale is not an intervention per se. However when it is used it becomes an intervention to improve student's performance. Various research approaches are used to generate "improvement" research knowledge such as evaluation research, experimental research and action research.
Another approach for the improvement of education through inquiry has become popular in recent years. Cultural studies, a branch of critical theory, is a type of social science inquiry that investigates the power relationships in different members of a society in order to help them to deliberate from different forms of oppression. Researchers engaged in this type of inquiry should state their purpose not as improvement of education but as emancipation of some oppressed members of the educational system. A branch of historical research called revisionist theory also examines oppressive power relationships. These power relationships reflect some strong cultural and social forces that affect student learning.
Explanation
The fourth type of research knowledge, explanation, is the most important one because it includes the three. Being able to explain a phenomenon researchers can describe it, predict its consequences and intervene to decrease or eliminate harmful consequences.
Researchers generally called theories the explanations about the phenomena being investigated. A theory is an explanation of a certain set of observed phenomena in terms of a system of constructs and laws that relate these constructs to each other. In other words a theory is a system that consists of a set of constructs and their relation to each other. For example, Piaget's explanation about intellectual development is a theory. Let's demonstrate it.
What phenomena does Piaget have to observe and explain? He has to observe and explain the behavior of infants and children with respect to their environment. For example Piaget observed how children of different ages responded to a particular task. The children's responses constitute a set of phenomena that Piaget has to explain by establishing a theory.
What are Piaget's theoretical constructs? First let's define a theoretical construct and its two types. A theoretical construct is a concept that is inferred from observed phenomena. It can be defined constitutively or operationally. A constitutively defined construct is one that is defined by referring to other constructs. For example Piaget's construct of conservation can be defined as the ability of an object to have some of its properties remain unchanged while other properties of the object (e.g., substance, length, volume) undergo a transformation. The notion of conservation is being defined here by referring to other constructs (e.g., property, transformation, or length).
An operationally defined construct is one that is defined by specifying the activities used to measure or manipulate it. For example the concept of conservation (constitutively defined above) can be defined operationally by referring to a particular task, for example, putting a constant amount of liquid into different-sized containers and then asking a child whether the amount of liquid remains the same.
Some researchers used the term variable in their investigation rather than construct. A variable is a quantitative expression of a construct. Variables are usually measured in terms of scores on an instrument of measure such as an achievement test or an attitude scale or in terms of categories of construct (e.g., public vs. private schools).
Let's continue about proving that the explanation of Piaget about child's development is a theory. Other constructs in Piaget's theory are the stages of intellectual development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations and formal operations.
What is the law that relates the stages of intellectual development? First, let's define a law. A law is a generalization about the causal, sequential, or other relationship between two or more constructs. "Piaget proposes the law that these constructs are related to each other as an invariant sequence: the sensorimotor stage is always followed by the preoperational stage; the preoperational stage is always followed by the concrete operations stage and the concrete operations stage is always followed by the formal operations stage".
Uses of theory
Theories serve several purposes. First they identify commonalities in isolated phenomena. For example Piaget identify the effects of sensorimotor intelligence on many infant behaviors. Theoretical constructs identify the universals of experience in order to make sense of that experience. Second the laws of a theory allow us to make prediction and to control phenomena. For example certain astronomic laws enable astronomers to make predictions about eclipses and other phenomena in the universe. The laws of a theory of learning allow special educators to make interventions that lead to positive changes in student behavior.
Approaches to theory development
The two main approaches of theory development are: grounded theory and scientific method. In grounded theory the constructs and laws are grounded in the set of data collected. In other words the constructs and laws dreved from the immediate set of data collected. The usefulness of constructs and laws are tested in a subsequent research.
The other approach is called scientific method. It consists by formulating a theory and then testing it by collecting data. The process unfolds in three steps.
1. One formulates a hypothesis
2. One makes deductions of observable consequences of the hypothesis.
3. One tests the hypothesis by collecting data.
Example of Theory testing
The three steps of theory testing are demonstrated in a study of self-attention theory led by Brian Mullen. This theory focuses on self-regulation processes that occur when an individual projects his attention on himself. Some manifestations of these processes are self-consciousness and embarrassment at work. One of the functions of self-theory is to explain the effects of groups on individuals. The theory states in part that when individuals are in groups they become more self-attentive as the size of the group decreases. This can be explained by the fact that when the size of the becomes smaller individuals can focus their attention more on themselves in relation to the group and therefore tend to follow the standards of the group.
The first step to test the validity of this theory is to formulate a hypothesis, which is a tentative proposition about the relationship between two or more theoretical constructs. "In Mullen's study, the hypothesis is that individuals would be more self-attentive in smaller groups than in larger groups" (Educational Research, an Introduction). The two theoretical constructs stated in the hypothesis are group size and self-attention. They are formulated in the hypothesis in inverse relation to each other meaning that as group size decreases self-attention increases,
The second step in testing theory is to make deductions of observable consequences of the hypothesis. This process of deducting requires the existence of a real or simulated situation. In this perspective Mullen was able to obtain transcripts of 27 high school discussions of which size varies. Self-attention was operationally defined as the multiple uses of first person singular pronouns (I,me) by students when they talked in the discussion groups. The measure of group size was done by counting the number of students in each discussion group. Mullen was able to define and measure each construct stated in the hypothesis by using the available data.
The third step in testing a theory is to collect empirical data and determine whether they support or reject the hypothesis. Mullen counted the number of students and the number of first singular pronouns stated by the students in each discussion group using all the data available to him. Mullen uses the correlation method to show the relationship between the two sets of data obtained by counting the number of students and the number of pronouns. The result of the statistical analysis was: a higher frequency of first-person singular pronouns was encountered in the smaller groups than in the higher ones.
The hypothesis was supported by available data. Therefore that part of the theory corresponding to the is hypothesis is reinforced. This increases confidence that the theory provides a valid explanation on how people act in social situations.
Several weaknesses arise from the scientific method in spite of its power to test hypothesis. "One of them is that the researcher may deduce inappropriate observable consequences from the hypothesis, and thus make an inappropriate testing of the hypothesis".
The other weakness is very difficult to overcome. "Any observable result potentially can support multiple, sometimes conflicting theories". Therefore a researcher can never prove a theory but can only support it.
Many research studies are based on the description of natural or social phenomena by studying their form, structure, activity, change over time, relationship to other phenomena, etc. These descriptions have resulted in important discoveries. For example the observation of different parts of the universe by astronomers have resulted in the discoveries of galaxies and the structure of the universe. These discoveries have subsequently lead to the origin of the universe and its course.
The descriptive function of research relies strongly on instruments for observation and measurement. Researchers spend a great amount of time to develop instruments. Once developed these instruments are used to describe phenomena studied by researchers.
Descriptive studies increase the knowledge of education in schools. Some important books about education are based on descriptive studies for example Life in Classroom by Philip Jackson, The Good High School by Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, etc.
Some descriptive educational studies produce statistical information of interest to policy makers and educators. The National Center for Education Statistics publish descriptive studies in an annual journal called the Digest of Educational Statistics. These published studies about the delivery of education are information available to anyone concerned about the quality of education in schools.
Prediction
Another type of research knowledge is the ability to predict a phenomenon that will happen at time Y from information available at a time X. For example lunar eclipses can be predicted with precision from knowledge about the relative motion of the Moon, Earth and Sun. The next stage of an embryo's development can also be predicted from knowledge about the current stage of the embryo. A student's performance in school can be predicted with a fair amount of precision by an aptitude test administered previously a year or two,
Educational researchers have undertaken a lot of prediction studies for the acquisition of knowledge about factors predicting student's success in school and in the world of work. One of the reasons of doing such research is to provide guidance for the selection of students who will be successful in some particular academic disciplines. For example Universities use the Scholastic Aptitude Test along with other data for the selection of students who are likely to be successful in their academic programs. More knowledge is needed about the level of accuracy of these tests for different groups of students to determine if new instruments are needed to improve the predictability of success in some particular fields.
Another purpose of prediction research is the identification of students who can be unsuccessful in the course of their schooling so that academic prevention programs can be put in place. For example this type of research can be used to solve the problem of school dropouts. The collection of information about students from sixth grade until graduation can provide information about the best predictions. The predictive knowledge can be used to determine sixth graders who are likely to become high school dropouts. This knowledge can be used to develop programs that can help them to be successful in schools.
Educational research has produced a large body of predictive knowledge about factors predicting issues of social importance (examples: academic success, career success, criminal conduct). Several procedures have been developed for doing predictive research.
Improvement
The third type of research knowledge deals with the effectiveness of interventions. Some examples of interventions are: drug therapies in medicine, construction materials in engineering, marketing strategies in business, and instructional programs in education. Many educational research studies are realized to identify interventions or factors able to be transformed in interventions in order to improve student's academic performance. Walberg and his colleagues have summarized the results of nearly 3,000 studies on interventions or potential interventions undertaken for the purpose of improving student's performance on various measures of academic achievement. Such intervention variables are: reinforcement, reading training, cooperative learning, personalized instruction, tutoring, individualized science, individualized mathematics, etc.
Walberg's synthesis of research have demonstrated that educational researchers have found many effective interventions that can improve student's learning. However studies need to be done to improve the effectiveness of these interventions. Research has to be undertaken also to turn potential interventions into actual interventions. For example class morale is not an intervention per se. However when it is used it becomes an intervention to improve student's performance. Various research approaches are used to generate "improvement" research knowledge such as evaluation research, experimental research and action research.
Another approach for the improvement of education through inquiry has become popular in recent years. Cultural studies, a branch of critical theory, is a type of social science inquiry that investigates the power relationships in different members of a society in order to help them to deliberate from different forms of oppression. Researchers engaged in this type of inquiry should state their purpose not as improvement of education but as emancipation of some oppressed members of the educational system. A branch of historical research called revisionist theory also examines oppressive power relationships. These power relationships reflect some strong cultural and social forces that affect student learning.
Explanation
The fourth type of research knowledge, explanation, is the most important one because it includes the three. Being able to explain a phenomenon researchers can describe it, predict its consequences and intervene to decrease or eliminate harmful consequences.
Researchers generally called theories the explanations about the phenomena being investigated. A theory is an explanation of a certain set of observed phenomena in terms of a system of constructs and laws that relate these constructs to each other. In other words a theory is a system that consists of a set of constructs and their relation to each other. For example, Piaget's explanation about intellectual development is a theory. Let's demonstrate it.
What phenomena does Piaget have to observe and explain? He has to observe and explain the behavior of infants and children with respect to their environment. For example Piaget observed how children of different ages responded to a particular task. The children's responses constitute a set of phenomena that Piaget has to explain by establishing a theory.
What are Piaget's theoretical constructs? First let's define a theoretical construct and its two types. A theoretical construct is a concept that is inferred from observed phenomena. It can be defined constitutively or operationally. A constitutively defined construct is one that is defined by referring to other constructs. For example Piaget's construct of conservation can be defined as the ability of an object to have some of its properties remain unchanged while other properties of the object (e.g., substance, length, volume) undergo a transformation. The notion of conservation is being defined here by referring to other constructs (e.g., property, transformation, or length).
An operationally defined construct is one that is defined by specifying the activities used to measure or manipulate it. For example the concept of conservation (constitutively defined above) can be defined operationally by referring to a particular task, for example, putting a constant amount of liquid into different-sized containers and then asking a child whether the amount of liquid remains the same.
Some researchers used the term variable in their investigation rather than construct. A variable is a quantitative expression of a construct. Variables are usually measured in terms of scores on an instrument of measure such as an achievement test or an attitude scale or in terms of categories of construct (e.g., public vs. private schools).
Let's continue about proving that the explanation of Piaget about child's development is a theory. Other constructs in Piaget's theory are the stages of intellectual development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations and formal operations.
What is the law that relates the stages of intellectual development? First, let's define a law. A law is a generalization about the causal, sequential, or other relationship between two or more constructs. "Piaget proposes the law that these constructs are related to each other as an invariant sequence: the sensorimotor stage is always followed by the preoperational stage; the preoperational stage is always followed by the concrete operations stage and the concrete operations stage is always followed by the formal operations stage".
Uses of theory
Theories serve several purposes. First they identify commonalities in isolated phenomena. For example Piaget identify the effects of sensorimotor intelligence on many infant behaviors. Theoretical constructs identify the universals of experience in order to make sense of that experience. Second the laws of a theory allow us to make prediction and to control phenomena. For example certain astronomic laws enable astronomers to make predictions about eclipses and other phenomena in the universe. The laws of a theory of learning allow special educators to make interventions that lead to positive changes in student behavior.
Approaches to theory development
The two main approaches of theory development are: grounded theory and scientific method. In grounded theory the constructs and laws are grounded in the set of data collected. In other words the constructs and laws dreved from the immediate set of data collected. The usefulness of constructs and laws are tested in a subsequent research.
The other approach is called scientific method. It consists by formulating a theory and then testing it by collecting data. The process unfolds in three steps.
1. One formulates a hypothesis
2. One makes deductions of observable consequences of the hypothesis.
3. One tests the hypothesis by collecting data.
Example of Theory testing
The three steps of theory testing are demonstrated in a study of self-attention theory led by Brian Mullen. This theory focuses on self-regulation processes that occur when an individual projects his attention on himself. Some manifestations of these processes are self-consciousness and embarrassment at work. One of the functions of self-theory is to explain the effects of groups on individuals. The theory states in part that when individuals are in groups they become more self-attentive as the size of the group decreases. This can be explained by the fact that when the size of the becomes smaller individuals can focus their attention more on themselves in relation to the group and therefore tend to follow the standards of the group.
The first step to test the validity of this theory is to formulate a hypothesis, which is a tentative proposition about the relationship between two or more theoretical constructs. "In Mullen's study, the hypothesis is that individuals would be more self-attentive in smaller groups than in larger groups" (Educational Research, an Introduction). The two theoretical constructs stated in the hypothesis are group size and self-attention. They are formulated in the hypothesis in inverse relation to each other meaning that as group size decreases self-attention increases,
The second step in testing theory is to make deductions of observable consequences of the hypothesis. This process of deducting requires the existence of a real or simulated situation. In this perspective Mullen was able to obtain transcripts of 27 high school discussions of which size varies. Self-attention was operationally defined as the multiple uses of first person singular pronouns (I,me) by students when they talked in the discussion groups. The measure of group size was done by counting the number of students in each discussion group. Mullen was able to define and measure each construct stated in the hypothesis by using the available data.
The third step in testing a theory is to collect empirical data and determine whether they support or reject the hypothesis. Mullen counted the number of students and the number of first singular pronouns stated by the students in each discussion group using all the data available to him. Mullen uses the correlation method to show the relationship between the two sets of data obtained by counting the number of students and the number of pronouns. The result of the statistical analysis was: a higher frequency of first-person singular pronouns was encountered in the smaller groups than in the higher ones.
The hypothesis was supported by available data. Therefore that part of the theory corresponding to the is hypothesis is reinforced. This increases confidence that the theory provides a valid explanation on how people act in social situations.
Several weaknesses arise from the scientific method in spite of its power to test hypothesis. "One of them is that the researcher may deduce inappropriate observable consequences from the hypothesis, and thus make an inappropriate testing of the hypothesis".
The other weakness is very difficult to overcome. "Any observable result potentially can support multiple, sometimes conflicting theories". Therefore a researcher can never prove a theory but can only support it.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Open Educational Resources updates
| Evaluation Tool for Aligning Open Education Resources To ... "There are millions of open education resources on the Internet and we now have a way to evaluate their quality," said Stephen Pruitt, Achieve Vice President of ... www.achieve.org/OER-evaluation-tool |
| Expert Type Design Review service for the Open Educational ... Open Educational Resources for Typography will launch in late December 2011. It will be edited, enhanced and improved with the input and assistance of ... www.typophile.com/node/87420 |
| The UNESCO/Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Guidelines on Open The UNESCO/COL Guidelines on Open Educational Resources in Higher Education outlines key issues and suggestions for integrating OER into higher ... dehub.edu.au/?p=873 |
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Doing theory based research
In order to produce an outstanding research study one can formulate a research problem that will test a theory already developed. Some related definitions of terms are then necessary.
What is a theory?
A theory is an explanation of observable events in terms of constructs and laws that specify the relationships between these constructs. In other words to establish a theory you need first observable events. Second you observe these events. Third you explain what you observe using constructs and laws that establish the relationships between these constructs. A theory is first made of concepts of observable events and second of concepts of relationships about the concepts of those observable events.
What is a construct?
A construct is a concept generalized from common elements between observable events and that is used to explain those events. In other words first you observe events. Second you research common elements between the observable elements. third you use the common elements to explain the observed events. Simply said a construct is an explanation of obervable events based on common elements between those events.
What is a law?
A law is a generalization about a causal, sequential or other type of relationships between two or more constructs. First you establish constructs. Second you establish relationships between those constructs. Third you generalize those relationships.
Now that the definition of theory is complete. Let's define two terms that derive from construct: variable and hypothesis,
What is a variable?
A variable is a construct thought of as a characteristic that can vary in quality and quantity.
What is an hypothesis?
First definition: a hypothesis is a speculation about the relationship between two or more variables.
Second definition: a hypothesis is a testable prediction about observable phenomena that is based on a theory's constructs ant their relationships.
Example of Theory Based Research
Roger Goddard, Scott Sweetland and Wayne Hoy used theory as a guide in their research of factors influencing student's achievement in urban elementary schools. The primary factor bore upon academic emphasis which is emphasis on academic excellence by schools. The research problem was based on social cognitive theory to predict how the school level of academic excellence would influence students'achievement.
Social cognitive theory attempts to explain how certain factors influence individual and group perceptions which in turn shape individual and group behavior. An important construct of this theory is agency, which is the tendency of individuals to pursue a course of action in order to achieve some definite goals. An example of agency is the effort made by a school leader in order to achieve academic excellence. According to social theory certain kind of experiences can change an educational leader's perception and consequently affecting his or sense of agency. Other constructs of the social cognitive theory are vicarious learning and self regulation. Let's try to explain these concepts in practice. An educational staff hears about the success of an educational program. This staff can learn vicariously about this program and self regulates in order to apply this program to achieve academic excellence. These perceptual and behavioral changes produce improvement in student's academic performance.
Based on this reasoning from social cognitive theory the researchers hypothesized that teacher's perceptions about school norms and academic excellence will influence their work behavior and consequently student's learning. The researchers stated: "We hypothesize that the academic emphasis of a school is positively associated with differences between schools of the levels of achievement in both reading and mathematics". The hypothesis was tested with a sample of 45 elementary schools. Teachers completed a measure of academic emphasis and the school district provided data on student achievement in mathematic and reading.
As stated in their hypothesis, "Goddard, Sweetland and Hoy found that academic emphasis was a significant predictor of between school differences in student achievement in both mathematics and reading". The findings also supported social cognitive theory:
" The results provide initial support for Bandura's (1986, 1987) suggestion that the concepts and assumptions of social cognitive theory can be extended to organizations and are useful in examining school outcomes. We hasten to add that further testing of social cognitive theory of social cognitive theory in the schools is needed, but the current results are encouraging because our hypothesis was driven by this theory. We hope that the identification of the identification of the theoretical underpinnings of academic emphasis illuminates pathways to future research on school improvement and that school leaders can apply thee ideas to make their schools better places for stuents to learn". (Goddard et al., p.690).
A hypothesis originated from theory guided the design of a research study of which findings improved educator's understanding of factors that improved student learning and reinforced the theory.
This study shows how academic emphasis influence student achievement in urban elementary schools. It supports the social cognitive theory that perceptual and behavioral changes can produce academic achievement. But other changes in perceptions and behavior in the entire school culture have to be done. Effective collaboration between all staff and students in the entire school community is mportant. Opportunities for all staff for professional advancement and their involvement in the well being of the school, mutual understanding and respect between all members of the school, the absence of discrimination, racism and exclusion are also factors worth to be considered.
It is important to note that the researchers stated that their findings supported social cognitive theory but not proved it. Even if a number of studies produce evidence supporting a theory and no disconforming evidence is present, a theory is never proved. The researchers generally agree with the argument of the philosopher of science Karl Kopper that that the possibility of disconforming evidence in the future always exists. On the other hand, one study that provides disconforming evidence calls for revision or rejection of the theory.
The cognitive dissonance dissonance experimentation stated above was a quantitative research study testing a previously developed theory. In other words a theory was developed and then a study was designed to test it. This procedure doesn't happen in qualitative research study. Many qualitative studies are designed to discover theory. This approach is called grounded theory because the first step consists in collecting data and then the researcher searches for theoretical constructs, themes and patterns "grounded" in the theory.
Yves Simon, Educator
Reference: Educational Research, Joyce P.Gall.
What is a theory?
A theory is an explanation of observable events in terms of constructs and laws that specify the relationships between these constructs. In other words to establish a theory you need first observable events. Second you observe these events. Third you explain what you observe using constructs and laws that establish the relationships between these constructs. A theory is first made of concepts of observable events and second of concepts of relationships about the concepts of those observable events.
What is a construct?
A construct is a concept generalized from common elements between observable events and that is used to explain those events. In other words first you observe events. Second you research common elements between the observable elements. third you use the common elements to explain the observed events. Simply said a construct is an explanation of obervable events based on common elements between those events.
What is a law?
A law is a generalization about a causal, sequential or other type of relationships between two or more constructs. First you establish constructs. Second you establish relationships between those constructs. Third you generalize those relationships.
Now that the definition of theory is complete. Let's define two terms that derive from construct: variable and hypothesis,
What is a variable?
A variable is a construct thought of as a characteristic that can vary in quality and quantity.
What is an hypothesis?
First definition: a hypothesis is a speculation about the relationship between two or more variables.
Second definition: a hypothesis is a testable prediction about observable phenomena that is based on a theory's constructs ant their relationships.
Example of Theory Based Research
Roger Goddard, Scott Sweetland and Wayne Hoy used theory as a guide in their research of factors influencing student's achievement in urban elementary schools. The primary factor bore upon academic emphasis which is emphasis on academic excellence by schools. The research problem was based on social cognitive theory to predict how the school level of academic excellence would influence students'achievement.
Social cognitive theory attempts to explain how certain factors influence individual and group perceptions which in turn shape individual and group behavior. An important construct of this theory is agency, which is the tendency of individuals to pursue a course of action in order to achieve some definite goals. An example of agency is the effort made by a school leader in order to achieve academic excellence. According to social theory certain kind of experiences can change an educational leader's perception and consequently affecting his or sense of agency. Other constructs of the social cognitive theory are vicarious learning and self regulation. Let's try to explain these concepts in practice. An educational staff hears about the success of an educational program. This staff can learn vicariously about this program and self regulates in order to apply this program to achieve academic excellence. These perceptual and behavioral changes produce improvement in student's academic performance.
Based on this reasoning from social cognitive theory the researchers hypothesized that teacher's perceptions about school norms and academic excellence will influence their work behavior and consequently student's learning. The researchers stated: "We hypothesize that the academic emphasis of a school is positively associated with differences between schools of the levels of achievement in both reading and mathematics". The hypothesis was tested with a sample of 45 elementary schools. Teachers completed a measure of academic emphasis and the school district provided data on student achievement in mathematic and reading.
As stated in their hypothesis, "Goddard, Sweetland and Hoy found that academic emphasis was a significant predictor of between school differences in student achievement in both mathematics and reading". The findings also supported social cognitive theory:
" The results provide initial support for Bandura's (1986, 1987) suggestion that the concepts and assumptions of social cognitive theory can be extended to organizations and are useful in examining school outcomes. We hasten to add that further testing of social cognitive theory of social cognitive theory in the schools is needed, but the current results are encouraging because our hypothesis was driven by this theory. We hope that the identification of the identification of the theoretical underpinnings of academic emphasis illuminates pathways to future research on school improvement and that school leaders can apply thee ideas to make their schools better places for stuents to learn". (Goddard et al., p.690).
A hypothesis originated from theory guided the design of a research study of which findings improved educator's understanding of factors that improved student learning and reinforced the theory.
This study shows how academic emphasis influence student achievement in urban elementary schools. It supports the social cognitive theory that perceptual and behavioral changes can produce academic achievement. But other changes in perceptions and behavior in the entire school culture have to be done. Effective collaboration between all staff and students in the entire school community is mportant. Opportunities for all staff for professional advancement and their involvement in the well being of the school, mutual understanding and respect between all members of the school, the absence of discrimination, racism and exclusion are also factors worth to be considered.
It is important to note that the researchers stated that their findings supported social cognitive theory but not proved it. Even if a number of studies produce evidence supporting a theory and no disconforming evidence is present, a theory is never proved. The researchers generally agree with the argument of the philosopher of science Karl Kopper that that the possibility of disconforming evidence in the future always exists. On the other hand, one study that provides disconforming evidence calls for revision or rejection of the theory.
The cognitive dissonance dissonance experimentation stated above was a quantitative research study testing a previously developed theory. In other words a theory was developed and then a study was designed to test it. This procedure doesn't happen in qualitative research study. Many qualitative studies are designed to discover theory. This approach is called grounded theory because the first step consists in collecting data and then the researcher searches for theoretical constructs, themes and patterns "grounded" in the theory.
Yves Simon, Educator
Reference: Educational Research, Joyce P.Gall.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The OER university credentialing , my position and interactions
The possibility of defining a credential using OER is intriguing. There are a variety of post secondary credentials that could be developed including certificates, diplomas, bachelor's degrees and graduate degrees. Most jurisdictions around the world have established a framework for post secondary credentials. See the Ontario Qualification Framework for example. For each credential the framework defines a range of attributes including admission requirements, duration of study (expressed as number of instructional hours), and depth and breadth of knowledge. OERu accrediting institutions, such as the existing anchor partners, will likely be working within a similar framework. One approach to defining OER credentials is to structure them in such a way that they align with these frameworks. Do you think OERu should focus on using these frameworks or design credentials in a different way? A great deal of the OER currently available have not been developed as complete credentials. Instead OER are largely courses or more typically course components. A challenge in designing an OERu credential is assembling these smaller units into a coherent credential framework. So lets say I want to use the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative OER in creating a credential. If you access the For Students section of their site they explicitly state what is being made available. Course Materials, Simulations, Computer Based Tutors, Virtual Laboratories, Self-Assessments, and Formative Feedback are all freely available to students as OER. But look at what isn't part of the OER - Access to an Instructor, Graded Exams, Tracks Student-Learning as Feedback for Instructors, Credit/Verification of Course Completion. So a significant challenge around using these OER resources in creating a credential is fulfilling all the elements not part of the OER. OERu anchor partners have the opportunity to take on any or all of these elements as part of their role. I've jumped right in to the deep end of this Designing OERu Credentials so let me stop there and ask all of you some questions:
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Saturday, September 10, 2011
The OER university perspective
According to this press release, "The President of Athabasca University has confirmed the University’s commitment to join the OER Foundation and support the OER Tertiary Education Network (OERTen) initiative as a founding anchor partner." This follows Empire State College (ESC) of the State University of New York (SUNY) joining last week. Moreover, there is currently a SCoPE seminar "discussing aspects of the OERu model." WikiEducator's OERu and P2PU have very similar models, whereby an OER initiative is tied to university credentialing and support. I'm not sure exactly what to make of the model. On the one hand, it's clearly a step forward in improving access to educational opportunities. On the other hand, it has the feel of a rearguard action to protect further erosion of the university sphere of influence, and is in this sense a bit regressive. But I'm in wait-and-see mode at the moment, and we'll see whether open educational resources translates in any meaningful way to open access.
Source: www.downes.ca/post/56143
Source: www.downes.ca/post/56143
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Towards OER university: Free learning for all students worldwide
08-02-2011 (Apia)
The OER Foundation will host an open planning meeting on 23 February 2011 in Dunedin, New Zealand, for the project, Open Educational Resources (OER) for Assessment and Credit for Students. UNESCO will provide support for streaming the meeting on the Internet to enable virtual participation by education leaders and interested persons.
OER encapsulates a simple but powerful idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good. The Internet provides unique opportunities for everyone to share, use, and reuse this knowledge.
The OER Foundation, Otago Polytechnic (New Zealand), the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) and Athabasca University (Canada) are collaborating in this project as founding anchor partners to provide flexible pathways for OER learners to earn formal academic credit and pay reduced fees for assessment and credit.
“We extend an open invitation to all post-secondary institutions that care about sharing knowledge as a core value of education to join us in planning these sustainable learning futures,” said Dr Robin Day, Chair of the Board of Directors of the OER Foundation.
Phil Ker, Chief Executive of Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand, highlights that “OER is the means by which education at all levels can be more accessible, more affordable and more efficient”.
WikiEducator, a flagship initiative of the OER Foundation, administers the Learning4Content project – the world's largest training project to provide free wiki-skills' courses for the collaborative development of OER to thousands of educators from 140 different countries. “The Learning4Content model demonstrates that OER is cost effective and infinitely scalable,” said Dr Wayne Mackintosh, Director of the OER Foundation and founder of WikiEducator.
The challenge is to find robust mechanisms for academic credit for these OER learners. “Students seek flexible study opportunities, but they also want their achievements recognised in credible credentials,” said Sir John Daniel, President of the Commonwealth of Learning. “This important meeting will tackle the challenges of combining flexibility with rigour, which requires clarity in conception and quality in execution.”
“The concept of free learning for all students is well aligned with UNESCO's global mission to provide education for all, which now seems imminently more doable with the mainstream adoption of OER in our formal education institutions,” said Dr Visesio Pongi, Director of the UNESCO Office in Apia.
Related link
Meet Athabasca U Canada's first OER University
The OER Foundation, Otago Polytechnic (New Zealand), the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) and Athabasca University (Canada) are collaborating in this project as founding anchor partners to provide flexible pathways for OER learners to earn formal academic credit and pay reduced fees for assessment and credit.
“We extend an open invitation to all post-secondary institutions that care about sharing knowledge as a core value of education to join us in planning these sustainable learning futures,” said Dr Robin Day, Chair of the Board of Directors of the OER Foundation.
Phil Ker, Chief Executive of Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand, highlights that “OER is the means by which education at all levels can be more accessible, more affordable and more efficient”.
WikiEducator, a flagship initiative of the OER Foundation, administers the Learning4Content project – the world's largest training project to provide free wiki-skills' courses for the collaborative development of OER to thousands of educators from 140 different countries. “The Learning4Content model demonstrates that OER is cost effective and infinitely scalable,” said Dr Wayne Mackintosh, Director of the OER Foundation and founder of WikiEducator.
The challenge is to find robust mechanisms for academic credit for these OER learners. “Students seek flexible study opportunities, but they also want their achievements recognised in credible credentials,” said Sir John Daniel, President of the Commonwealth of Learning. “This important meeting will tackle the challenges of combining flexibility with rigour, which requires clarity in conception and quality in execution.”
“The concept of free learning for all students is well aligned with UNESCO's global mission to provide education for all, which now seems imminently more doable with the mainstream adoption of OER in our formal education institutions,” said Dr Visesio Pongi, Director of the UNESCO Office in Apia.
Related link
Meet Athabasca U Canada's first OER University
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