Events This Week
At the Library

• Message from the Head Librarian
• Keep Your Library Card Privileges
• Library Lessons : Research Process and Approaches
  • Lesson 1:  The Research Process (Chapter One)
  • Lesson 2:  Approaches to Research (Chapter Two)
  • Lesson 3:  Examining Empirical Research
• Circulation Desk
• Next Week at the Library

A Message from
the Head Librarian

Welcome to your second week at the Library. I hope your first week at the library was active, pleasant and somewhat quiet.

Everyone seems to be moving along nicely in the library. I have tried to respond to most as they have turned in their reaction paper but probably will still have a few to read this evening. If you are experiencing any difficulty navigating the course or figuring out what you should be working on each week then please do not hesitate to email me. From the icebreaker it seems we have quite a variety of characters in this course and many with a great sense of humor and a good disposition as we move into this course. I see a number of you are returning to school after a hiatus and some are jumping right in after just having graduate with an undergrad degree. So, as you can see, this course is for everyone and the nice thing about research is no matter where you are coming from and your interests and work life there is almost always something you are curious about and can propose to study and learn more about. If you weren't just a little curious by nature you probably would not be in a graduate degree program. There is lots of flexibility in this course to choose your own interest area to investigate and learn more about within the context of writing your proposal so one key thing that I have mentioned in some of my feedback on reaction papers is to figure out what you are interested in investigating using research methods somewhat early. We will be working on this in the next few weeks and it will be important for you to decide and stick to a topic if at all possible to avoid falling behind. Some of the best way to do this is to go and read journals - in the library or online -that are in your field of study and see what studies catch your eye, read a few and see what ideas they generate for your own study proposal. Maybe you will want to replicate something you read with a new population or change the methods a little to make up for a noted weakness in the study etc. So, if you are into instructional technology go read Educational Technology Research and Development or the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, if you are in Educational Leadership go read the empirical research section in the Journal of Academic Leadership, if you are in Special Education go read the International Journal of Special Education or the Journal of Special Education Technology, if you are in College Student Personnel go read the Journal of College Student Development. These are only suggestions and there are many more in many different fields and interest areas, The point is to pick one and start thumbing through and read what catches your eye. Make sure you are reading empirical research articles if you want to maximize this method for this course.

Please be sure to include your first and last name along with the course you are in (EDF 6481) in ALL emails you send to me. I have many, many students in several online courses. Many of you have the same first name and some have the same last name. Your email address does not always identify clearly who you are. If you want me to respond to you in a speedy manner this is the best way for me to be able to answer any question or check on anything. I wish I knew who everyone was by simply looking at the email address it came from but this is not going to happen the first weeks of class. To be safe, so I know who it came from, SIGN YOUR EMAIL!

This week things will begin to get busy.  We have 2 chapters this week and a quick glance at the schedule will tell you that we almost always cover multiple chapters each week.  This is generally due to the need for you to gain all the information possible early in the semester so that you can apply them in producing your final polished research proposal.

Your work in the course may be reviewed using the University's access to TurnitIn. If you are not familiar with the University's policies related to plagiarism, refer to the Unversity of West Florida Plagiarism Policy. (Optional: To self-check your understanding of plagiarism, you may complete the Library's tutorial [If you complete the tutorial quiz, you do not need to submit your results to anyone other than yourself.]).

Writing is a large part of your graded assignments in this course and is not always easy for everyone.  This creates an additional burden if you come to this class with shaky (or simply rusty) writing skills or statistics knowledge because it will slow the rate at which you can complete assignments.  One thing you will see here each week to assist you with your writing is a weekly APA tidbit.  It is required beginning from today and throughout the rest of the course that all written documents turned in MUST be in APA 5th edition style.  The manual is a required text for this course.  If you think you can get by without it I would like to suggest you rethink it.  I'll provide suggestions to strengthen your written expression and mechanics as we proceed through the course.  Don't be threatened.  Writing is a skill developed by opportunity to practice and feedback from readers.  The intent is to facilitate growth, not make value judgments.  Most social science research is written using the conventions contained in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition) and  your written work should be in APA format when appropriate.  Each week I'll begin this section with a note about one of the common APA errors I find in my work, student papers, and dissertation manuscripts.

APA Tidbit

The ubiquitous anthropomorphism is this week's APA tidbit.  A writer attributing human characteristics or abilities to something animal or inanimate commits an anthropomorphism (see page 38 of the APA manual).  They are acceptable in the popular literature and can be an effective tool for fine-tuning meaning.  They are not generally acceptable in the professional literature, especially the research literature.  You will see anthropomorphisms that slipped past a journal editor, but work on avoiding them in your writing this term.  Examples of anthropomorphisms frequently appearing in dissertation manuscripts are:

This study sought to determine if the ... (a human can determine, a study can not).  Revise to state, the author of the study sought to determine if the...

The elementary school grouped students into... (teachers can group students, a school can not).  Revise to state, the students in the elementary school were grouped into...  or the school principal grouped the students into...

These data imply... (a researcher can identify implications from data, but the data can not).  Revise to state, from the data analysis, the author identified three implications...

As you begin reading our main text (by Creswell) for this course during your visit to the library this week, I would like to point out a few features of the text. First, I find the text rather user friendly and easy to read but I will let you be the judge of that :-). Second, this week it will be important for you to read the 2 articles sandwiched between Chapters 1 and 2 as these 2 articles are discussed throughout the text to exemplify and further illuminate concepts. Third, near the end of each chapter you will find sections that provide 'useful information for producers and consumers of research.' Initially, you may find the 'consumer' section to be more appealing and applicable to yourself.  As your lessons at the library progress, I hope you will also read the 'producer' section and begin to think of yourself as a producer of research as well.

Quizzes

This week will be the first of many in which you will be required to login to the elearning system and take graded quizzes.  Please note that your COMPLETION of the quizzes and NOT the grade you receive is what contributes to your final grade so you should use this opportunity as a way to receive feedback on your comprehension as well as preparation for your final exam (in which the actual grade is calculated into your final grade). Answers are posted after the due date and you should check your answers on your own and feel free to send me an email if you have any questions.

Please be sure to run a system check (you will see the link listed on the main page of the elearning system where you log in) on your computer prior to using the system to minimize any technical glitches you may have when completing quizzes.  All quizzes will be timed.  The time limit will be set according to the length of the quiz and types of items included.  This means that one week you may have 60 minutes while another week you may have 120 minutes.  When each quiz is introduced in a lesson I will also indicate the time allotted for the quiz. This first week I am allotting some extra time for quizzes to give you a chance to get oriented and comfortable with the system.  Once you log in to a quiz there will be a clock for you to monitor your remaining time.  There is also a 5 minute grace period for that last save or click on the submit button.  The quizzes will be turned off at 5 PM on the day they are due.  No late quizzes will be accepted.

Finally, I strongly suggest that you save your quiz/answers as you go - there is a save button at each question.  There is also a save entire quiz option at the end of each quiz.  To complete and submit your quiz you must click on the submit quiz button at the bottom.  If you have technical questions about the quizzes within the elearning system then feel free to email Melissa.

You can view your score on the Quiz immediately upon completing the quiz. When there are short-answer items then a sample answer is provided for you to allow you to compare you answer with the one provided in order to self-check your answers. I do not go in and grade quizzes. These are for you to self-check and monitor your own learning. If you have a question about something marked incorrect then feel free to send me an email and we can make sure you are understanding the material. But, once again, I want to let you know that your completion is what counts and your use of them as a self-check of your comprehension and in preparation for the final. You will need to check your answers yourself.

Circulation Desk

The Circulation Desk Checklists (gradebook) will be up on Friday so you can get a handle on what assignments you have completed and what you may need to catch up on if you missed it. Check out the Week 1 checklist. I will update it on Friday so you can see if I received your assignments or not.  If there is a blank in any box beside your number then that means I have either not yet assessed that assignment or have yet to enter it into the gradebook so there is no reason to email me or Melissa in a state of worry. On Friday, that blank will either turn into a "0", a "L", or a "X".  A "0" if your assignment is not completed, a "L" if completed but turned in after 5 PM on Thursday (today), or an "X" if turned in on time.

Our goals this week are to:

• Identify the steps undertaken by researchers in the process of research
• Discuss why research is important
• List characteristics of both quantitative and qualitative research
• Describe procedures for each research approach as they relate to the steps in the process of research
• Begin to read empirical research articles and identify the steps of the research process as you read

Don't Forget Your
Library Card!

Task #1:
If you have not emailed me with your contact information, your preferred name and preferred email please do so NOW! It is important that I am always able to get in touch with you when necessary. In most cases I will do this by email. Therefore, I would like for you to check the class list and the email I currently have for you to make sure I have the appropriate one. In addition, I would like for you to email me with the name you preferred to be called and your home and work numbers in case email fails us.

Task #2:
If you do not have a UWF nautilus card or library access number, contact the circulation department at the UWF library to get a library access number.  Refer to the library website for more information: http://library.uwf.edu/Services/AccessDistance/DistanceLearners.htm#ACCESSNUMBER.

Contact the
Library Staff

Need Help?

Have a question but can't find the answer? Here are some options:

• Check the Course FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Check the Proposal FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Email the Head Librarian (Dr. Curda)*.
• Email the Assistant Librarian (Melissa)*.
• Check with the other library patrons.

*Remember to include your name and the course name (Educational Research) or number (EDF 6481) in your message.

Go to the Library Lessons for the Week
(Page 2)