Course Self Reflection

            The Field of education is a dynamic and complex construct of diverse theories and philosophies. Beginning with the rationalism of Descartes to the introduction of critical realism in the ‘Ways of Knowing’ course work, my thinking was unhinged. For nearly the entire first semester of the program, I struggled as Dr. Galluzzo discussed one philosophical perspective after another. I found truth and fault in all the theories. It was not until the end of the course, and the final assignment, that I found some peace in the struggle for understanding how knowledge is formed. The assignment was to research and discuss one way of knowing . . . I chose critical realism. It was a herculean effort that sharpened my research skills and brought me closer to understanding what type of evidence “I” needed to believe in an idea (empirical and data).

In the second semester of the doctoral program the ‘Socio-Cultural Processes in Learning, Instruction, and Motivation course supported and extended the epistemology lesson started in the first semester. The assigned readings reinforced the concept of understanding through evidence but also gave importance to empirical data. Variables, I learned, can be observed (behavior) and hidden (culture, context, and others as influencers). Descartes was now coexisting with Piaget’s development and vygotsky’s contextual theories and were beginning to swirl together for me.

The first assignment, “Theory in Action,” was a first attempt at understanding and defining a theory by examining the underpinning of an organization. I learned how to uncover the hidden beliefs through a careful reading of the action plans, programs offered, and the interviews of key players. The background readings and report generated helped me understand how to identify and use key words and phrases for understanding research studies. By the final paper of the class it was evident that I was on my way to understanding sociocultural vairables but still needed more practice. Indeed, reading research studies has been both a challenging and a rewarding experience.

Also in the second semester, the Problems and Methods in Educational Research course proved to be demanding. After a pretest, . . . What do you know about conducting a research study? I knew I was going to have to apply myself; I correctly answered two of the ten questions! I spent the next ten weeks dissecting the method sections of qualitative and quantitative research studies.  My first attempt at constructing a method section of a research study earned a 16/20 grade . . . I was going to have to do better.  And, better I did!  As I read more and more research papers,  I was better able to understand the research process. My development was evidenced by the marks on the final exam and the last research study assignment for the class.

I chose to continue my PhD studies through the summer with an independent study course created to help me understand the theory of self-regulated learning, “The impact of Self-Regulated Learning to Academic Achievement of High School Students.” I expected this independent study to be a breeze . . . it has been no such thing! Reading research is hard work and time consuming! Before I realized it, I had forty studies in front of me and no clue which was which or how to synthesize what I had read. Through this effort, I learned that reading research necessitates good record keeping or studies begin to merge and blur together. With the help of Dr. Kitsantas, I began a crude coding of the studies. Through the coding process I developed an understanding of how to create ‘decision rules’ for inclusion and how to focus the analysis of research. Little by little, the studies revealed the focus of my final research paper for the independent study … “ Assisting High School Students with Learning Differences Become Self-Regulated Learners.”

The focus of my second year in the program will be to better understand quantitative/qualitativeve data; to develop the skills to construct research and write literature reviews; and, to familiarize myself with the myriad of learning theories and the terms and constructs within them to better inform my research plans.