This week, I worked on my IRB Application and Masters Project Application. Additionally, I completed the CITI Human Studies training module.
I was surprised to learn about all of the considerations that need to take place before conducting research from the standpoint of protecting human subjects. As my research is entirely benign, I did not consider that other research would contain so many regulations and safeguards. It forced me to consider several different conditions that I would have to meet for the research and have to clarify in my thesis in order to justify applying for administrative review instead of receive closer scrutiny.
Answering the questions on the Master's project application made me question as to whether or not I need to adjust the focus of my study. Until June 1st when I begin my new position, I will not have access to the types of programs that our students will be using. Once I begin this position, it may require me to switch many components of my master's thesis, including my question and literature review. Given my changing of employment, these are forces beyond my control and will roll with the flow until I know better.
Finally, my work with the Alliance for Education in which I write lessons for corporations to present to students in school is going very well. I have been surprised by two things: first, the importance to be on point all of the time, as their time that they are contributing is valuable and they do not want to waste it; second, it is more effective to focus on the learning objectives than proposing delivery systems for the instructional design. By considering the learning objectives, and finding the best possible one or two instructional designs, I bring these back to the business to save time and to better focus the discussion. I know that for the blog and this particular class, this is a bit off topic, but is very relevant to the field of Instructional Technology in general.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
My progress on my Literature Review
My four areas I am focusing on in my Literature Review include Adult learners and Andragogy, New Media in Online Education, Social Presence in Media and Identifying Remedial Math learning needs.
Understanding adult learners and andragogy is an important component, because the failure to incorporate these considerations into the instructional design of online intervention programs will not be as effective as they otherwise could be. Many are often written from a secondary-educational perspective as opposed to targeting older adults whose needs are not identical with this age group.
New Media in Online Learning is significant because it it important to consider all of the new technology that currently exists and allow us to compare between the different qualities of different media formats, but also to consider improving media formats for current intervention programs that currently exist.
Social Presence in Media is another important consideration, as technology provides intervention that was once only available from other people. Yet people as instrctors and tutors remain a critical component for providing intervention - what is important to consider is how can people best target their availability and what forms of communication (both synchronous and asynchronous) best facilitate it.
Better understand remedial math learning needs is critical in order to design instructional technology effectively as well as using humans in the instructional process to their optimal potential. Also, by understanding the learning needs of community college students, special consideration should be given to the type of learning challenges they face that are unique to this setting.
At this point, I believe that the subjects being reviewed make sense and are relevant to evealuating one of our current online math instructional technology programs, as these areas compose the areas of opportunity and improvement that are critical for deciding if our program is effective or ineffective, what components contribute to its success or shortcomings, and to determine if other programs exist that may better target our studetns' learning needs.
Understanding adult learners and andragogy is an important component, because the failure to incorporate these considerations into the instructional design of online intervention programs will not be as effective as they otherwise could be. Many are often written from a secondary-educational perspective as opposed to targeting older adults whose needs are not identical with this age group.
New Media in Online Learning is significant because it it important to consider all of the new technology that currently exists and allow us to compare between the different qualities of different media formats, but also to consider improving media formats for current intervention programs that currently exist.
Social Presence in Media is another important consideration, as technology provides intervention that was once only available from other people. Yet people as instrctors and tutors remain a critical component for providing intervention - what is important to consider is how can people best target their availability and what forms of communication (both synchronous and asynchronous) best facilitate it.
Better understand remedial math learning needs is critical in order to design instructional technology effectively as well as using humans in the instructional process to their optimal potential. Also, by understanding the learning needs of community college students, special consideration should be given to the type of learning challenges they face that are unique to this setting.
At this point, I believe that the subjects being reviewed make sense and are relevant to evealuating one of our current online math instructional technology programs, as these areas compose the areas of opportunity and improvement that are critical for deciding if our program is effective or ineffective, what components contribute to its success or shortcomings, and to determine if other programs exist that may better target our studetns' learning needs.
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