It is hard to believe that this course is already over. It was a whirlwind of information, learning,
and insight that was, at times, daunting and overwhelming. Thankfully, I had a great guide (thanks Dr.
Dartt!), as well as a great support system of colleagues. This class has stretched my view of the early
childhood research field and has truly taught me more than I anticipated.
There were times that journey through this course was
challenging. While the physical workload
was a bit smaller than in classes past, my brain felt stretched in ways that it
has not yet on my Master’s Journey. This
stretch I felt was one of an academic nature…I was truly learning something new
that, at first, my mind had a difficult time comprehending. I think the most challenging was wrapping my
head around all the new terminology, making sense of it, and applying it to my
own research simulation. This took a
little re-reading and even some reading ahead, but I made it through.
Through this course, my ideas about research have
shifted. Not only do I have a greater
understanding of research as a whole, but also how it applies to the field of
early childhood. Research is the primary
way we collect information about our practice and shift our curriculums and
daily routines to accommodate for greater growth in all aspects of child
development – cognitive, social/emotional, and physical.
One of the most important lessons I learned about planning,
designing, and conducting research is respect.
I have a new and immeasurable respect for those that conduct
research. It is so much more than
thinking up an experiment, testing it, and reporting the findings. Research is
multi-faceted because it involves complex ideals like ethics, respect, and
equity. There are also many things that
could compromise the validity of a study of which researchers need to be aware.
