When I Think About Research.......

 What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?


Over the past eight week I have learned a lot about research that I did not know prior to this class. Research was not my strong point. After the reading the book and the learning from everyone post, I have greater insight about research and the process. I learned that research is a process that must be followed in order to have a successful study.

·        In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

I     Since this course, I have learn that research is not easy and you must take research seriously. I learned that research is necessary to help others learn and continue to improve the fields. Research allows us to continue to learn from literature and enable you to take information to help others. I did not know that research was so in dept and there was so many steps that had to followed in order to get the study correct. 

I·     What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?


        During the past eight week I have learn that research is a process that must be followed. Over the course of the time I learned about research process, ethics in research, but the most important piece was how to interview young children and direct observation. I feel that learned an important piece of information because I will be working with young children. I gain so much insight from the weekly readings. 

·      What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?


      One challenge that I faced was the choosing a research topic, I had to rethink my research topic a couple of time with the help of Dr. Davis. The feedback that was given really helped my in attempt write a good research question. The feed back help me to narrow my question down. 


\    What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course? 


     Since taking this course I have learned that the early childhood field will benefit from the research it will allow others to learn about the change it helps other to give their input on how to help children and their families. I have learned that research is a great part in what we know about the field but you have to follow the process in order to make sure that the data is valid and reliable. 

Research Around the World

This week assignment allowed me the opportunity to to read and think about international early childhood research. Here are links to three influential international web sites dedicated to early childhood:

Early Childhood Australia: This is the Australian equivalent to the U.S. based NAEYC. You can access several links to early childhood research from the menu on the left side of the home page.
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

For this Blog Assignment, choose one of these links, and explore the available research. Let the following questions guide your search:

What are some of the current international research topics? Some of the research topics include:

• The Early Years Learning Framework-Getting Started
• Learning and Teaching through Play
• Everyday learning about responding to emotional need of children 

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website? After exploring the website this is what was so insightful, the following question was asked:

• Can we make our children smarter?’ On Sunday morning of May 6, 2012, the program 3Q aired on SKY asking this question.
  Pam Cahir, the CEO of Early Childhood Australia spoke to 3Q about the biggest improvements to early childhood education in 25 years.
  More Australian babies and toddlers are in childcare than ever before. And they’re there when their brains are laying down the pathways vital for later learning, intelligence and social capability.
  Pam Cahir tells 3Q how new national reforms are ensuring childcare centers provide a nurturing environment that will have a long-term beneficial effect on our future society.
  The website is very diverse and meets the needs of all of its reader, the website offers many early childhood topics. I also had never seen a web site that offers strategic goals for two years, this was a great idea to incorporate into a website. 
• What other noteworthy information did you find on this website? This website offered a wealth of knowledge and information about memberships, code of ethics, and research in practice series. All of the information was very informative.