When I think about research...(Week 8)

• What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
• One of the biggest things that I have learned from this course is learning to break apart a research study and analyze the content. This includes the authors, publication, and the whole process of what it takes to make a research study. 
• In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?
• The process that it takes to make a valid, ethical, and sound research study intrigued me. before this class I never thought that the process was this indepth. I knew the parts of a research topic and thought to my self all the time i wish i could do something like this but it looks way to hard. It is hard. However this class has shown me the way that it is done. 
• What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
• When children are involved the more difficult it is to plan research, design research, and conduct research. Getting consent can set back your research. Creating an environment that is stable, and not overwhelming, and creating a relationship with the children so they feel comfortable working with you but not interfering with the research aspect of what you want are all obstacles i never really considered. 
• What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?
• One of the challenges i had was the week that we learned about variables. I, from the time I started learning about research in middle school to today, I have a hard time understanding the difference between independent variables and dependent variables. This course also brought to my attention variables that are unseen by many researchers and create invalidity in the research. THis is because the researcher did not expect this to weigh on the outcome. THrough lots of help of others weigh in and talking with the professor, I understand how to look for those things and understand variables better. 
• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?
• I have changed as a early childhood professional. Research is a major part of being a early childhood prfessional. Sharing knowledge through research is how we grow as a field. I want to contribute and learn more. 

Thank you to everyone in this course. It has been a joy to work with all of you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and understanding of the course content, opinions, and experiences. I have taken away much from this class. I wish everyone the best of luck in all future endeavors!!! Happy Holidays! 

Week 5-Research Around the World!

                The Website that I looked at was the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Some of the topics that this program researches are:  “Building Community Leadership for Quality Substainabilty…” in preschools, nutrition of children (without mothers), parent collaboration for effective teaching, and more(Early Childhood Development Virtual University, 2005). The one that I looked more into was the nutrition of children. It specifically looks at children without mothers breastfeeding and bottle feeding as part of its study. I find this interesting because is it a hot debate among nutritionist and professionals in the United States. In context to some of the infant health issues, this study has shown how nutrition at birth can make a huge difference with health outcomes in the future.

                I was really fascinated with what ECDVU-SSA was what it is all about. The program looks at the “…strengths and expertise that exists locally and regionally” (Early Childhood Development Virtual University, 2005). The program takes into account the peoples opinion and their life. The program works to enhance technology education to support communication with Africa and benefit the education of the professionals, families, communities and children. The program’s ideas creates a great picture of what is to come for Sub Africa.

The ECDVU "generative curriculum" encompasses the following characteristics:

  a learner-focused approach - drawing as much as possible on the learner's experiences in their personal and professional lives;

  an ecological approach - placing individuals, programs and policies into an interactive and dynamic context and seeking to plan activities and interventions to maximize resonating impact throughout the larger ecology;

  a capacity building approach - aiming to strategically strengthen the capacities of participants to effectively fulfill their mandates in their professional position and to be accountable to their constituents and the broader ECD community in their countries. Although most education activities claim this as a general 'purpose', the ECDVU program addresses capacity development in a specific, strategic manner.

  a co-constructive approach - encouraging each learner to draw upon provided curriculum material as well as their own in-country experience and data to derive their own perspectives and applications;

  a multicultural approach - considering ideas, research, and goals pertaining to child care and development from many different cultural sources, including (but not limited to) African and Euro-Western sources;

  a cohort driven approach - encouraging collaboration, reciprocal learning among peers, and consolidation of networks within and between learners representing each participating country.

  an historical approach - exploring 'how we came to be here' vis à vis the evolution of various theories and constructions regarding children and their care and more recent international development activities focusing on children's care and development.

I think that this was really interesting. I felt that these approaches used by ECDVU could be used in many facets of the early childhood field. As we develop our professional careers to keep some of these approaches in mind, especially ones that deal with multicultural approaches.

Reference

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (2005). http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php, http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/generative.php, http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/about.php