At the beginning of this course I was very
apprehensive about research and found it difficult to grasp many of the terms.
Though I still do not consider myself to be adept on the topic, I do feel as
though I have learned a great deal about research in early childhood.
In the past when I thought of research, I thought
only “experts” could conduct the research. I understand now, that anyone can conduct research; though I still have a
hard time seeing myself as a researcher. I had never thought about what went
into planning, designing and conducting research, but throughout this class I
have learned about the steps and processes required to conduct a valid research
study. I have also learned about the different methods and designs.
I encountered many challenges during this course,
the biggest being that I spent three weeks of the course at
conferences/trainings and found myself stressing over the fact I wasn’t
“getting it”. I had very little time to devote to studying and completing
assignments and feel that may be part of my “block,” because I still don’t
fully understand the process. In an effort to overcome my challenges I read and
reread the course material trying to make sense of it all. I found it difficult
to develop a question for my simulation, but by completing the charts I was
finally able to break down my thoughts and develop a question.
Though I do not
fully comprehend the full breadth of research, I feel as though I have learned
a great deal overall. The assignments were set-up to help me break everything
down step-by-step and the feedback from Dr. Todd was invaluable.
Overall, this course has helped me realize the value
of research and how important it is to the early childhood field. As an early
childhood professional I want to make sure that I am aware of current research
and that I use research as a guide when designing & implementing programs
for the young children with whom I interact.
