Research Evaluation Checklist: How do I evaluate educational research?

As another school year begins, teachers around the nation will attend professional development where the newest educational research will be trusted upon them, which then will, in turn, be expected to read, evaluate, synthesize and implement the suggestions from the researchers. This is a lot of to ask of teachers who are already overworked and stressed out. In order to help teachers sort through the rash of information that’s thrown at them, it helps educators to have a reasonable grasp on evaluating research: is it worth our time and effort? Will this research really help my students learn? By using the suggestions below, teachers can quickly evaluate an article or books claims and decide whether or not they are advisable courses of action.
1) Who published the work? Who paid for the research? Consider the source—even the financial source-- of the work. Where is the research or author from? What credentials does the author/s have? Do they represent a special interest group or business? By evaluating the source, readers may determine the intent of the article. If the research is presented by a business, the research is most likely one sided to support the businesses interests. For example, emails suggesting research that certain “educational software” improves reading scores are often sent to educators responsible for software purchasing. Upon further look, the supporting research was conducted by the software manufacturers. This is a red flag; the research should be completed by unbiased researcher who has no financial ties to the results.
2) The research should be written clearly. Research in the social sciences should be written in an easy to understand format that allows the reader to grasp the content and purpose without needing a dictionary or a search engine. If the ideas are worthy, the research won’t have to prove his intelligence by using words and professional jargon that confuses the intended audience.
3) Does the work make sense? Can you easily identify holes in the research? Even though you may not be an official researcher (though it can easily be argued that all teachers are engaged in action research), it is easy to identify lapses in the research. If you have a question pertaining about the content, subjects being studies, methods or any other red flags that pop up, seriously look in to your concerns. There is a good chance that what doesn’t seem right to you could be an overlook or omission by the researcher. Many times these variables affect the research findings. Consider the article, “Bad Research: A Comparison of iPad, Kindle, and Book Reading Speeds” by John M Grohol PSYD. This article highlights the flaws and problems with what may seem like a plausible study. Overall, if it doesn’t make sense to you, it may not make sense at all.
By following the above advice, educators can easily and quickly determine if they are reading a study worthy of his/her time or not. Considering the author, the format and the overall methodology can offer clues to the researches legitimacy.

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Research Introduction and Background

As a teacher in a rural school, I have noticed that my students rarely have any concept of the world around them, especially when it comes to international issues. While most of my students rarely leave the county, much less the state, none of them have every left the country or have an idea of the global community that encompasses our world. While the Internet has offered them countless opportunities to expand their knowledge around the world, they don’t realize the possibilities this offers. Therefore, in the wake of the push for 21^st century skills, I often wonder, in an isolated, rural community, how does global awareness and collaboration increase students’ motivation and achievement in the English classroom?

My students struggle with understanding global points of views on issues. The biggest exposure they get to world issues is in World History and British Literature, both which teach valuable concepts, but none that are necessarily current and innovative in our modern society. So, for most of our students, this is as much exposure as they will ever get to global awareness, and in today’s global society, this isn’t enough. Our rural community has seen a complete economic devastation in the past 3 years with crop revenue dropping and most local factories closing. Now our students have to consider leaving the community, going to college, or joining the armed forces in order to support themselves. Without a complete understanding of global issues and community, my students will not have a clue about what waits on the other side of the cornfields or, more importantly, the vast and amazing opportunities that they can partake in. Now is the time to incorporate an awareness of global issues as well as global collaboration to entice my students to be aware of the rest of the world. However, I am skeptical of how this will impact their motivation for learning and their academic achievement. Will my rural students have an interest in global awareness? Will they embrace the possibilities of international collaboration? It’s a new concept to them; will it be enough to boost their achievement in English?

Teachers in any school setting, urban or rural, need to realize the importance of global awareness and collaboration in their students’ lives. The world is changing at a drastic pace, technology is evolving at an exponential rate, and jobs now have an international scope. In the next few decades, the growth in these areas is only going to continue to grow; therefore, we, as teachers, have a responsibility to prepare our students to adapt to these changes and benefit from them as much as possible. We also need to find away to ensure our students that is in a viable concept and maintain their interest in this area. Not only will teachers be interested in the incorporation of global awareness, but so will universities, future employers, and institutions around the world.

There is a definite need for globalization in the classroom. The Partnership for 21^st Century skills highlights global awareness as one of the elements necessary for students to thrive in the next few decades of the 21st century. Their directives for global awareness include the following:

SOCIAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS

Interact Effectively with Others

• Know when it is appropriate to listen and when to speak

• Conduct themselves in a respectable, professional manner

Work Effectively in Diverse Teams

· Respect cultural differences and work effectively with people from a range of

social and cultural backgrounds

• Respond open-mindedly to different ideas and values

• Leverage social and cultural differences to create new ideas and increase both

innovation and quality of work (Partnership)

Also, as written in Wanted: Global Citizens, “the world needs young people who are culturally sophisticated and prepared to work in an international environment… Because of globalization--the ongoing process of intensifying economic, social, and cultural exchanges across the planet--young people the world over need more innovative thinking skills, cultural awareness, higher-order cognitive skills, and sophisticated communication and collaboration skills than ever before” (Suarez).While this research supports the importance of global skills and collaboration in curriculum, there is much less research available in relation to rural schools.

In Virginia, however, some attention has been given to creating a “global education”. According to Dawn Hutton of the Southwest Virginia Education and Training Network, “Students learn and retain information better if they are able to relate what they learn to real life. Without a personal connection or a social connection to someone from other parts of the world such as Asia, Europe, or Africa, it is hard for them to relate to the material and understand the impact it has on their life. This problem may result in a lower informational retention rate” (Hutton). A real world attention to curriculum will obviously make students retain information better.

Still, my question delves further into the subject: how will motivation and achievement be affected? Retention is a worthwhile goal, but students need to do much more than just remember content. They need to enjoy it, to make it their own, and use it to construct new knowledge. I believe that through the creating of global skills and collaborator experiences, students will be able to truly own their learning and achieve at much high levels than previously possible.

References
Hutton, Dawn. (2009) Global Education in Rural Schools throughout Southwest Virginia. Retrieved from the Connexions wiki at http://cnx.org/content/m23391/latest/.

Suárez-Orozco, M., Carolyn Sattin. (April 2007) Wanted: Global Citizens. Educational Leadership 64 (7), 58-62.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009) P21 Famework Definitions. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf .

Working?

Does this feeder work?

WOA Reflection

I struggled greatly with my WOA. Every idea I came up with seemed cliche, boring, or overwhelming. Trying desperately to think of something that is truly an unrecognized work of art, I drove past my favorite oak tree: one centered in the middle of a field all by itself. This is when I decided to focus on the lone tree as my WOA.
This was, however, far from the end. I had to narrow down the compelling aspects of the tree, both in relation to other trees and relation to my own experiences. Finally, after much support from my professor, I narrowed down what I was going to do.
Not being able to tread on the field that held my inspirational tree, I used an old pear tree down the road from my house, which worked better than I ever could have imagined. The day I went to take pictures, the blossoms were in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the grass was greener than ever. It made for beautiful pictures.
I didn't expect the paradoxical beauty of the tree. Part of it was strangled with massive vines while the other was teeming with flowers. That made the perfect bridge for my WOA.
I really wasn't impressed with my educational bridges until I read the responses to my video and watched it again. Now they jump out at me. The tree is a perfect metaphor for students, who we don't examine well enought to understand not only their dark side, but the beauty of them also, not matter how hidden. I wish all teachers would be able to understand that each students does have a past and a future. The difference between the tree and students is that we can find out the student's past and influence their future.

Fashion is a Verb!

To Fashion: (v) to imagine, create, and express; To choice, a fashion statement. To fashionfashion something, be it an idea, an artifact, or so forth, is to give meaning to one's existence (Wong)

While I found Wong & Henriken's article on fashion interesting, I wasn't really intrigued until I came upon the paragraphs that addressed style. As an English teacher, I specifcally teach style--as it pertains to writing-- to my students. This connection brought the idea of fashion into my mind.

While I keep reminding myself that fashion is a social construction, used to attract people as birds use feathers to attract mates, why can't the same apply to writing? Students develop a style that evolves over time as they themselves mature and learn new ideas. Over these years they hone and fashion a style of their own--well, most of them do. Those who do not see the value in writing lack this "fashion sense." This may be an interesting metaphor to use in my classroom. Their writing style is exactly how they are presenting themselves to an audience, and regardless of their intent, they are taken at face value due to superficial mistakes, such as conventions, mispellings, etc. The thoughts beneath are often masked by these problems. WRITING IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION TO! It is a method of communication!

I think that I'll use this metaphor in my classroom on Monday to help relate the potential or detrement writing can have on a student's impression on others.

P.S. I cannot figure out how to get the highlighting off of my text! Sorry! :)