Analyzing Professional Development - Action Research with Goodwill Industries of Central Texas
In the spring of 2011 the St. Edward's University School of Education was contracted to consult and analyze the Leadership Learning Program of Goodwill Industries of Central Texas in an effort to assess the quality of their professional development program. Cooperatively graduate students and faculty conducted a two semester long qualitative investigation of this program while developing research strategies that were meant to pinpoint appropriate modifications and culminate in steps that may better the program’s future. This aspect of action research directly related to teaching in that it demonstrated a practical method of analyzing lesson structure and how it impacts the learner by gathering data through observations, interviews and statistical analysis of participant feedback. Teachers would apply this method of inquiry to their lesson strategies in order to measure the quality of their performance and improve their practice to better student learning. Additionally these research techniques would be used to promote strategies for developing and designing training programs in the corporate world.
Action Research
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Action Research 2011.pdf Size : 454.767 Kb Type : pdf |
Education With Technology
Evidence has shown that the quality of education, supplemented with an array of technological advancements, has increased the achievement level of students in all grade levels. This step into technology integration proves to have positive effects toward gaining the attention of students while engaging them in an active learning environment. Recent years of research from the National Science Council of Taiwan has concluded that the integration of technology has a profound effect on the enhancement of learning in the classroom as multimedia devices are designed to effectively provide organized information that appeal to the various learning styles of students. Studies also indicate that this method of educating has been beneficial in the high need area of science and math. The complexities of mathematics, along with abstract fundamentals in chemistry and physics, have a tendency to hinder the level of understanding in students and in effect, students perform poorly while testing and rarely consider any serious endeavors in their real world applications. Therein the question lies: Why are we educating our students in natural sciences? Many words come to mind in response to this query such as combustion, medicine, and exploration. In 1934 Albert Einstein spoke with a small group of school children stating that the education they had been given was their “inheritance in order that [they] may receive it, honor it, and add to it.” Teachers encourage their students to learn because we trust that they will use that knowledge to do great things for humanity. If the abstract concepts and unobservable phenomena in natural sciences negate the interest of our students, then advancements in fuel sourcing, medical economy, and planetary research may be slowly realized. It is the belief of the researcher that a shift toward implementing technological applications such as interactive simulations will not only raise the achievement level of students but in turn provide positive feedback to encourage students to be more aware of applications outside of the classroom.
Action Research Proposal
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Perez.Jerel.Research Proposal.doc Size : 0.076 Kb Type : doc |
