Thanks and Farewell to my Research Building Competencies Community

I would like to thank my Research Buildind Competencies community for all their support and guidance during this course. This course was one of the hardest courses I have taken thus far in the
Masters of Early Childhood Studies Program.

 

I have always had a difficult time with the concepts and dynamics of research. After taking this course, I have gained much knowledge and some understanding of research. I am still not 100% in the comprehension aspect of research, but I do have a better understanding of the concept and what it means to conduct research about a particular topic. As I mentioned in week 1 regarding the skills needed in order to conduct research, those still stand, with an even stronger emphasis on the necessary skills of patience, commitment and dedication. Although I still do not obtain a love for research, my nature regarding the purposes of research, particularly in Early Childhood Education has changed. The vital steps in reassuring the  minimizing of measurement error, the use of deductive reasoning and the crucial role of Informed consent have helped me in my understanding of how research should be conducted. In conducting my own form of research, during this course, into the necessity of early reading amongst two year olds, in efforts to promote language acquisition and vocabulary development, I have gained a much greater respect for the pioneers who have taken the time, energy, dedication and devotion required in order to prepare a foundation of research based knowledge for us teachers to apply in our classrooms and in our careers as ECE’s.

In the conduction of my own research, I have vowed to apply those very tactics studied and researched in my research simulation into my lesson plans. I hope to design a foundational outline for teachers in my facility that could be used in each classroom, as we focus on the aspect of Reading provided by programs such as School Readiness.

I was unaware of the challenges associated with creating a specific research topic that could be transformed in a hypothesis. I often figured that any research question would be acceptable, not considering the challenges associated with broad research topics. The most difficult portion for me is the ability to transform a broad research topic into a narrow topic, without changing the dynamics of the research as a whole. Through taking this course, I have gained the ability to alter research topics while maintaining the integrity of the research study.