I have not had to write very man y research papers in my
school life. In fact I cannot think of a paper that was considered an actual
research paper that I have had to write. I have written a lot of papers but
most are read and analyze style. I have found the research process a little exhausting.
I keep wondering if I am headed in the right direction or if I am completing my
assignments as they are meant to be. In prior papers I was always given the
material that I needed to read and the thesis statement was always from the
material given so most of the time the papers were along the same line.
This week we explored finding articles using Discover!
Search Database. The database was very user friendly and easy to navigate.
However, finding an actual article that fit the mold I wanted was a little challenging.
I liked the search for books better, but I found the articles had a lot to
offer also. During my search I found that the parameters I wanted to use were too
vague. My keywords were returning a wide range and variety of articles but non
that seemed to be what I was looking for. One of the articles I found based on
the title sounded like a jackpot but upon further reading I was left with
inconclusive results and I found that frustrating.
I finally changed my search keywords to more specific
elements of classroom management and was able to get results that were more in
the area I was looking for. I liked the article that I chose, Examining classroom influences on student perceptions of school
climate: The role of classroom
management and exclusionary discipline
strategies. After skimming
the article and having a lot of the heading catch my eye I wanted to read and
learn from the piece. I really like that it was an article on using positive
supports rather than discipline strategies to promote positive classroom
behavior.
I think that I was closed minded about articles before
starting my research because I was so unfamiliar with them. Add on the
difficulty of finding what I wanted and I was in full I hate this mode. Now
that I rethought my strategy and decided to give it one last go I am thankful I
didn’t give up. I enjoyed the extra insight that reading the articles gave me
and after reading it decided that the reading was not as daunting as I felt
when trying to navigate a book. It was more to the point and didn’t have a
whole lot of skimming to do since it was a whole lot shorter.
Nicole:
ReplyDeleteBeing overwhelmed and in the eek mode; I'm glad to know that I am not the only one with similar issues. In my life as a student I have completed both research papers as well as written analysis of subjects; and while both tasks are daunting it seems that the research papers have an additional element of study involved. Analyazing a topic is one thing, but creating a research paper requires hunting down information to learn about your topic and get enough sources to pull the correct amount of facts necessary to complete the paper. While I enjoying learning about new topics and always find it interesting I have often been faced with a lack of information as you mentioned.
The search databases provide a wealth of information, however if we do not enter the correct keywords as you stated then we are left with a ton of articles that are not going to help in our research. When I used some of the advice that Badke offers in our textbook as well as what our instructor provided us for searching both the database and the Leatherby library I found that I was able to locate some very interesting reads and learn more about my topic than I even expected. I ended up more excited and interested in my research after this one article than from the 3 or 4 other searches I have completed and prior.
My father is a teacher and he will tell you time and time again that positive reinforcement with a child always works over punishment. He to often see's kids coming from homes where negative reinforcement creates more behavior issues than help. By working with his students and rewarding them for good attendance, high test scores and more the children respond well and work harder to continue receiving the positive feedback.
I think that as long as we test out all of the research strategies and options that we are learning in this class including some of the hints from this week we will be able to further limit our findings and discover some true hidden gems in our quest for the ultimate in research. I would suggest trying to see if you can locate some Educational or Teaching Journals or Magazines. They may be a good resource in discovering some articles for your topic.
Good Luck in your Journey for finding the research "diamond in the rough".
Soabian Childress