Research

Research-related courses are required for the graduate school. For English Language Learning program, we need to take one course (EPY 702- Research Methods). However, as a former English major for my Bachelor's degree, I have not dealt with statistics or research methods for years. In order to lay a solid foundation for my study and for my future doctoral degree, I have chosen another two courses (ESP 763Q and EPY 721) to acquire more knowledge about doing research.

1, Understanding the major steps of conducting a research

Simply speaking, I think 6 steps can be summarized in conducting a research: selecting and defining a research topic, reviewing the literature, preparing a research plan, selecting a sample, selecting measuring instruments, conducting a research with appropriate methodologies (statistics involved). For each step, specific details and key points would be discussed in order to help us develop skills in critically evaluating research and ultimately, design our own research.

2, Unwrapping data and standards to guide instructions and assessments for students

After getting the comprehensive information of conducting a research in the academic field, more specific details would be discussed. One of the most important approaches that can be applied in my own classroom is unwrapping standards. By doing this, teachers, especially new teachers, can have a better understanding of what is included in the Common Core State Standards, so that we can prepare relevant materials to go with the standards. In addition, we can also design appropriate assessments according to the standards to make sure that what we teach in the classroom would be useful.

3, Using statistical analyses to understand data and to test hypotheses.

Another skill that I believe is very useful in doing research is using data analysis softwares, such as SPSS, to help decipher the data. By doing the t-test and computing correlations, we can have a more scientific way to decide whether our teaching methods are effective and what factors would be more related to students' academic performance.

This is an early entry graduate-level course of research methods with an emphasis on comprehension of the educational research literature. Course includes scientific methods, locating and summarizing published research, samploing, measurement, statistics, research design, and critique of published research.

TESOL Standards:

Standard 4: Content Knowledge

4c- The learner applies methods of inquiry and standards of evidence used in the discipline.

4j- The student understands major concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of inquiry and ways of knowing central to the discipline.

4k- The student understands common misconceptions in learning the discipline.

4l- The student knows and uses the academic language of the discipline.

4o-The student realizes that content knowledge is not a fixed body of facts but is complex, culturally situated, and ever evolving. S/he keeps abreast of new ideas and understandings in the field.

This is a course that emphasizes data-based decision making and growth models. By taking this course, we ,as teachers, will be able to understand the purpose and the processes related to data-based decision-making at the classroom, school and district level. Meanwhile, we can understand the theory behind progress monitoring and the assessment of student learning during a course of study and will create assessments based on unwrapped content standards in order to track student progress towards mastery of learning goals.

CEC Standards:

Standard 3: Individual Learning Differences

Standard 4: Instructional Strategies

Standard 7: Instructional Planning

Standard 8: Assessment

Standard 10: Collaboration

INTASC Standards:

Standard 2: Learning Differences

Standard 4: Content Knowledge

Standard 6: Assessment

Standard 7: Planning for Instruction

Standard 8: Instructional Strategies

Standard 10: Leadership and Collaboration

Two types of statistics are mainly covered in this course: descriptive and inferential. Descriptive statistics can be used to understand the nature, structure and distribution of data, as well as the relationships between variables. By studying this part, teachers can have a better understanding of the correlations of students' data, so that we may figure out which parts of their study would be our top priority if we want to improve students' overall performance. Inferential statistics can be used to make inferences about a population based on a sample of its members. This typically involves the testing of hypotheses. By focusing on this part, teachers can predict whether teaching strategies that are used would be beneficial to students' future study, and more importantly, we can have a better understanding of students' studying patterns, so that we can help them in a more effective way.

NCATE Standards:

Standard 1a: Knowledge

Standard 1b: Computational

Standard 1c: Computer

Standard 1d: Dispositions