What insights have you gained about research from taking this
course?
Going into this course, I knew nothing
about research. I am walking away from this course with a general understanding
of, Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Method research designs
In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research
changed?
I also learned about the many
components of carrying out a research project, from choosing a question to
research to putting it all together into an experiment and documenting the
outcomes.
What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in
early childhood did you learn?
I learned that considering
ethics and quality should be the starting point of any research project.
Ensuring that a project is ethical is very important in making determining
whether or not the outcome can be considered reliable.
What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways
did you meet them?
What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood
professional have been modified as a result of this course?
My
first challenge was in deciding on a research question. I had trouble choosing
a question that was related to my topic, Children with Autism that was specific
enough to do a study on. With the instructors help, I was able to choose the
question “What kinds of interactions do preschool age children with autism
share with their typically functioning peers?” I feel good about the end
product of my research outline!
