McCollum

//**Observational Qualitative Research Conducted at my son's soccer practice. 4/10/12**//


Case Study Research:

An effective case study is one that uses multiple facets of research in an attempt to give reason to why a certain phenomenon happens within a real-life context. Qualitative research is used to collect the data for a case study. Different means to collect data can be interviews, surveys, observation, and even some artifacts, like student work. Some quantitative research can also be gathered, for example, performance test results to accompany the qualitative research. Data needs to cover the research in a triangular fashion to have multiple points of view, or observations to compare and contrast. As data is being collected, a very systematic way of documenting that data is crucial. The researcher must look at all the data with the goal that it will answer their research questions of “how” and “why” something is happening.

A Potential Case Study:

Personally, my research will be very much like a case study. I want to observe certain students in my class, specifically those that are struggling to read, and try to find out why they are not as engaged during whole group pho nics lessons and to figure out which activities can be practice small group that will be most effective. I want to know what motivates the children to learn and how I can spark their interest to connect their phonics lessons to what they’re reading. My real-world context, of course, is my classroom, and the phenomenon is the struggling readers’ attention and motivation during a phonics lesson. I will mostly use observation for my data, but can also use some quantitative data, such as results from the DSA spelling inventory and student writing, and student running records and accuracy checks. The student writing and student reading records can help show what phonics knowledge the students are applying to their daily work.

A Sample Case Study:



Case Study Resources:

From the internet:

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**Survey Research:** **I am attaching my survey results here if anyone would like to look at them. I had more than 10 questions so I couldn't complete the whole survey online but I did make one with surveymonkey.com just to have experience with the program. I have pasted the link here.** **//Margie's Phonics Survey//**

This is interesting Margie. d2hk

//All About Me://
 * // Thanks, Margie! I love the cartoon! Deb //**

My name is Marjorie McCollum...but I usually go by Margie. I finished my Masters in Reading from ASU last August and decided to just jump right in and start the EDS program last fall. So far I am enjoying the face to face meetings of this class. Even though I have to travel, those type of classes are much more interesting and I seem to get more out of the content.

//Worldview:// The first chapter of the text talks about what ones worldview is in their research. Of the four worldviews, I connect myself to a pragmatic worldview the most. I like to have some number data (quanitative) to use in conjunction with the qualatative or situational type of research about a certain topic.In my personal experience, the type of research that interests me most is what I would most likely use in my classroom; case studies. Pragmatic worldview research matches me because I want to identify the problem, and immediately start fixing it. I don't need a lot of background information about why the problem exists, just how to fix it. And if a certain approach doesn't seem to be working, then we revisit the so lution plan to start a new approach.

Article #1: //Prediction First Grade Reading Performance From Kindergarten Response to Tier 1 Instruction//

When I first read the title to this article, I was instantly hooked and thought that there had to be some kind of correlation between how the kids performed in Kindergarten and how they performed in First Grade. It makes sense to say that if a child struggles in Kindergarten, they will most likely struggle in First Grade as well. This article set out to predict how a child would do in First Grade, before they even got there, based on how they learned in Kindergarten. In class we discussed some points that the article was not clear on, such as whether or not reading instruction was differentiated through guided reading or if reading instruction took place whole group. We also discussed whether or not the way they reported their results were reliable. The article reported that if a student made substantial gains in Kindergarten, then they were less likely to continue that learning trajectory in first grade. But a main problem with this research was that observations were not completed in first grade. Kindergarten observations and performance scores were simply matched with first grade performance skills from indicator tests such as DIBELS. One main question about that is, can one judge the ability of a reader solely on indicator tests? I believe there are many more factors that go into it. For example, a student can be reading on grade level, but how do they perform as a reader. Are they comprehending what is being read? Do they use strategies to read, or do they rely on memorization and "sounding out"? For me, a successful reader is one that is fluency, accurate, and strategic. Instead of sounding out each unknown word, do they use their pictures, or think about the story and what has been read to figure out what would make sense? Unfortunately, those are skills that are hard to teach and even harder to measure. Especially when observations are not used, as they weren't by the article's researchers.