Using Research as a Practitioner (Week 18)

Researched and Community Informed Practice (R&C) - Using Research as a Practitioner

This is the week to focus on my understanding how to search for and locate education research and how to critically interpret and evaluate research reports and findings. Then to choose and define a research area inquiry topic that is investigated in literature.

Learning Objectives for this week from the portal:

• Understand the different types and formats of education research
• Know how to search for and locate education research
• Develop skills to interpret and critically evaluate research

1. Undertake some general background reading on the topic, familiarizing yourself with the topic and some of the key ideas and issues.

2. Create research questions and key words

3. Identify possible sources (also consider 'grey literature' - which is academic material that has not been formally published)

4. Organize and keep track of resources

How to interpret and critically assess literature?

It is important when you read research literature that you are critically engaging with it. Critical reading requires you to:

Interpret: understand the significance of the data or findings

Analyse: examine the text in detail to determine its meaning

Question: interrogate the assertions and assumptions presented in the text

Reason: develop your own point of view on the text

Evaluate: judge the credibility or strength of the text based on its reliability, validity and generalisability

My chosen area for a literature review is to focus on the 'Community' (Parents and Whānau)

I am choosing this topic to demonstrate the benefits of digital learning opportunities

The purpose is to make parents/whānau realise the benefits to students when they engage in digital learning opportunities

Now to think about the research question(s)...

~"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein ~