Back to research

So... what is my research question? I'm revisiting this before meeting with the other OER Fellows in Toronto on Saturday.

How does the application of critical digital literacies inform my open knowledge construction at a Faculty of Education, as I negotiate the complex, personal and contextual teaching and learning landscapes of open educational spaces?

Key elements:

Critical DL

1. code breaking
2. meaning making
3. using & problem solving
4. analyzing
5. persona

Open knowledge construction in open educational spaces

• building understanding - using social media & LMS spaces
• negotiations between personal and professional - Cronin's macro, micro, meso, nano layers
• dial-it-up graphic

Complexity; networking; decisions made and reflective actions

• use of D2L - why I don't step into this space unless I have to (part of code breaking issues - figuring out how to use it on my own)
• use of Slack - why, how, use
• use of Twitter - 
• use of blogging
• use of inquiry projects 
• use of digital storytelling
• external influences and impacts on course design and delivery

NOW: 

• data collection has started but is it the right data? 
• What am I not considering? 
• where will this be 'published'? or will there be more than one possible publication result?

SoTL - what is it ... really?

Just reading a bit more about what this action research project is and how I should conduct this work. A colleague in the faculty shared her reflection on the process and outcomes of some work she had done while quilt making. She wrote "I kept a journal of my reflections while quilt-making. I analyzed my journal entries and developed themes that communicate what I think are important about the process and outcomes". I'll need to talk to her further about this project and how she conducted the analysis of her journal entries. (analyzying - interrogating, selecting, deconstructing). 

Reading about the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), I came across a description that clarifies the difference between good teaching, scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching & learning (see reference below, page 38). This one statement caught my attention "Teachers engaged in SoTL projects frame research questions, systematically gather and explore evidence, reflect on and refine new ideas, and craft the results in a form that is suitable for public presentation and peer review (Cambridge, 2001; Christensen Hughes, 2005)." This helps me reframe my thinking about what I'm going to do, but I need to carefully rethink the research question to make sure it leads my data gathering, not the other way around. This particular document is a good one to come back to for re-reading. Lots of great information here. (analyzing - interrogating; meaning making - reading)

I'm also reading and locating resources about research methodologies to clarify the steps I'll need to take in this action research project. Since I want to focus on my own teaching practice, I'll need to be aware of data management and analysis methodologies that will apply to this form of research. The document linked below has some descriptions as well as links to resources and books that can be helpful.

Reference:

Elgie, S., Childs, R., Fenton, N., Levy, B. A., Lopes, V., Szala-Meneok, K., & Wiggers, R. D. (2012). Researching Teaching and Student Outcomes in Postsecondary Education: A Guide. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.heqco.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/HEQCO%20Researching_Student_Outcomes%20ENG.pdf