Improving Your Serve consuming & using educational research Justin Olmanson CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN ~

•How can research improve my teaching? •What can I expect from research? •What types of research are out there? •How do I find what I am looking for? Justin Olmanson Guiding Questions CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

•The Language of Educational Research •The Four Flavors of Research •Examples of Research from each Flavor •Locating Personally Relevant Research Justin Olmanson Presentation Overview CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

•The Language of Educational Research –Key Terms –Research Myths Justin Olmanson Section 1 Overview CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

Research: careful systematic study of a question or a problem Methods: the tools used in data gathering and sense making Knowledge: how we know what we know –epistemology Reality: what is out there, what exists –ontology Data: anything and everything you can use N: the # & type of research participants Objectivity: a setting aside of biases Theory: any explanation Justin Olmanson The Language of Educational Research Key Terms CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

Research has two sides: Quantitative & Qualitative Research is about finding out what is true Good Research simplifies teaching All Good Research = scientific method Justin Olmanson The Language of Educational Research Research Myths CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

•The Language of Educational Research •The Four Flavors of Research •Examples of Research from each Flavor •Locating Personally Relevant Research Justin Olmanson Presentation Reset CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

•The Four Flavors (Paradigms) of Research –Positivism/Post-positivism –Interpretivism –Critical Theory –Deconstructionist Justin Olmanson Section 2 Overview CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

Reality: there is a reality and it can be quantified, measured, categorized and replicated. Knowledge: the right methods can be used to discover the truth/correlations, make claims and generalize. Objectivity: is possible through variable control. Data: Standardized test scores, survey results… N: the higher the better (more subjects = less error) Goal: reject null hypothesis –produce actionable results with bounded certainty parameters Justin Olmanson The Four Flavors of Research Positivism/Post-positivism CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN One reality exists and [it] is the researcher’s job to discover that reality (Guba & Lincoln 1994) One reality, knowable within probability. (Mertens 1998)

Justin Olmanson The Four Flavors of Research Interpretivism CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Reality: [meaningful] reality is made up largely of people interacting in complex social contexts. Knowledge: the methods we use, and the perspective we bring, color, shape and limit the sense we can make. Objectivity: is impossible, we can merely state our biases. N: the unit of social interaction (a classroom, a family, a village) Data: field notes, interviews, video, audio… Goal: to understand how a group of people interact in specific contexts. Meanings are constructed by human beings as they engage in the world they are interpreting… We do not create meaning. We construct meaning. We have something to work with [the world and its objects]. (Crotty 2003)

Justin Olmanson The Four Flavors of Research Critical Theory CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Reality: is shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic, and gender values (implicit & explicit). Knowledge: is colored, shaped and limited by language and power that permeate all social interactions. Objectivity: is a claim made by dominant groups. N: the unit of oppression (a classroom, a class, a society) Data: field notes, interviews, video, audio… Goal: to help people understand how language and dominant structures are used in oppressive ways. Critical Theory is suspicious of the constructed meanings that culture bequeaths to us. (Crotty 1998)

Justin Olmanson The Four Flavors of Research Deconstructionist CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Reality: is a problematic concept which implies and supports overly simplistic and problematic notions of things. Knowledge: is tentative, local, temporal and nebulous. Objectivity: is a construct that buckles under its own weight. N: the unit of language (an idea, a discourse, a society). Data: the language of field notes, interviews, video, texts… Goal: to remain skeptical of societal narratives, to expose fissures in thinking & knowing. Reality is ultimately unknowable; attempts to understand it subvert themselves. (Sipe & Constable 1996)

•The Language of Educational Research •The Four Flavors of Research •Examples of Research from each Paradigm •Locating Personally Relevant Research Justin Olmanson Presentation Reset CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

Examples of Research from each Paradigm –Positivism/Post-positivism –Interpretivism –Critical Theory –Deconstructionist Justin Olmanson Section 3 Overview CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Eine kleine Buchvorlesung The Plan: Read, Reflect, Discuss * 4

Justin Olmanson Examples of Research from each Paradigm Positivism/Post-positivism CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Positivism/Post-positivism (choose one) –Ten Traits of Highly Effective Teachers (McEwan 2002 p. 89-94) –Classroom Management that Works (Marzano 2003 p. 13-17) –Classroom Instruction that Works (Marzano 2001 p. 7, 14-16) Two minutes left…

Justin Olmanson Examples of Research from each Paradigm Interpretivism CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Interpretivism (choose one) –The Dreamkeepers (Ladson-Billings 1994 p. 118-25 (math)) –To Teach (Ayers 2001 p. 10-17 (teaching myths)) –To Teach (Ayers 2001 p. 48-53 (learning environments) Two minutes left…

Justin Olmanson Examples of Research from each Paradigm Critical Theory CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Critical Theory (choose one) –The Dreamkeepers (Ladson-Billings 1994 p. 104-18 (reading)) –Social Linguistics & Literacies (Gee 1996 p. 6-11 (grammar)) –A Place to be Navajo (McCarty 2002 p. 49-53 (learning) –Deschooling Society (Illich 1970 p. 1-5 (school) Two minutes left…

Justin Olmanson Examples of Research from each Paradigm Deconstructionist CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN Deconstructionist (choose one) –Thousand Plateaus (Deleuze & Guattari 1987 p. 25 (rhizome)) -Thousand Plateaus (Deleuze & Guattari 1987 p. 311 (refrain)) -Practice Makes Practice (Britzman (teacher education)) Two minutes left…

•The Language of Educational Research •The Four Flavors of Research •Examples of Research from each Paradigm •Locating Personally Relevant Research Justin Olmanson Presentation Reset CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

•Locating Personally Relevant Research –University Library Systems –Public Library Systems –Google Scholar –Google Books Justin Olmanson Section 4 CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

•The Language of Educational Research •The Four Flavors of Research •Examples of Research from each Paradigm •Locating Personally Relevant Research Justin Olmanson Presentation Conclusion CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN

Improving Your Serve consuming & using educational research CLC Teacher Conference 2006 Mankato MN ~ Justin D. Olmanson IES Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of Illinois Urbana Champaign olmansju@gmail.com | olmansju.tumblr.com