I have completed reading the problem statement and the literature review of the dissertation listed below. I attempted to find an email address of the author, but so far I haven't been able to find any contact information. In my defense, the dissertation was written in 2002, and here we are 7 years later. I can't be sure if she is still in Florida or has moved somewhere else. A search for the author's name and "school psychologist" resulted in quite a few school psychologists with her name. So, at this point I'm going to consider this author as someone I won't be able to contact.
My concerns are again that she only included fifth graders in a study of English and Math while she indicates that math becomes a lower interest subject in later grades. She could have said more about the Flow theory. She does touch on engagement and even lists Csikszentmihalyi as a reference, but I think more could be said, and it might even redirect the focus of my dissertation.
I have researched the Peninsula School District for all elementary and middle school students. What is troublesome is I have population data accurate for February 2009; however, the demographic data is only accurate up to 2005. In 2005, it appears that there were more students enrolled, and obviously ethnicity can change in a span of four years. For now, I can only consider what I guess could be said the average ethnicity percentages of the students I want to study.
I'm also concerned about my sample size. The dissertation I'm reading only sampled 150 students. I'm looking at over 2000 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders in this school district. Based on a sample size calculator, it appears I should sample 241 fifth graders, 252 sixth graders, and 248 seventh graders for a total of 741 students. That's a lot of data and considerably more than this original dissertation upon which I would like to base my study. Of course, these numbers are based on a confidence level of 95% and a confidence interval of +/- 5. I'm not clear on the confidence interval, so I may have selected too low of an interval.
I have requested articles and books on the Flow Theory, and I have saved other articles based on motivation and elementary school students. It is my hope that I will have my MRF completed soon.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thinking Out Loud
I've decided to take on this "muddling through the dissertation" phase in chunks. It is just too overwhelming if I don't. In recent weeks I was pondering doing either a dissertation on trauma and learning theories or one on learning strategies and motivation. I'm leaning more toward the second idea incorporating the theories of Flow and Achievement Goal. I did post on my classroom's site my interest in this second idea and that I'm moving slower than I first intended.
I'm a third of the way through the dissertation which first sparked my interest:
Watson, M. L. (2002). Role of social academic goals in relationships among fifth-graders' interest, achievement goals, and academic outcomes. Dissertation Abstracts International, 63(6), 2138. (UMI No. 3056794)
Her study involves only 5th grade students as she explains that 5th graders are reliable participants based on past research, it is the first time that students' interest in reading begins to diminish, and adaptive learning strategies become more apparent. However, she also mentions further in her problem statement and literature review that while interest in reading diminishes in 4th and 5th grade, interest in math doesn't show a decrease until the 6th and 7th grades. I intend to ask this author why she didn't include 6th, and 7th graders, but in the meantime, I'm considering my own study to include 5th through 7th graders.
So far, after reading a third of this dissertation, I have written down a few articles to look up (Wentzel, 1998, Wigfield 1997, Alexander 1997, Scheifele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1994, Pintrich & De Groot, 1990, Scheifele, 1991, Scheifele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1995, and Midgley, 1993). I have also found information on the populations of area schools and whether they are considered urban or rural schools. In total, there are eleven elementary and middle schools in the area which comprise of 2129 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. Urban schools comprise of 1141 of these students while the rural schools comprise of 988 of the total. 2000 is a lot of students. Even if I were to get 50% of the population, I would still be looking at 1000. I think I need to investigate further the average response for these studies and whether 1000 students are too many for my dissertation study.
My next step is to find these articles and to request a couple of books by Csikszentmihalyi on the Flow theory. It is my belief that when I better understand the Flow Theory and the Achievement Goal Theory I will be prepared to begin my MRF.
I'm a third of the way through the dissertation which first sparked my interest:
Watson, M. L. (2002). Role of social academic goals in relationships among fifth-graders' interest, achievement goals, and academic outcomes. Dissertation Abstracts International, 63(6), 2138. (UMI No. 3056794)
Her study involves only 5th grade students as she explains that 5th graders are reliable participants based on past research, it is the first time that students' interest in reading begins to diminish, and adaptive learning strategies become more apparent. However, she also mentions further in her problem statement and literature review that while interest in reading diminishes in 4th and 5th grade, interest in math doesn't show a decrease until the 6th and 7th grades. I intend to ask this author why she didn't include 6th, and 7th graders, but in the meantime, I'm considering my own study to include 5th through 7th graders.
So far, after reading a third of this dissertation, I have written down a few articles to look up (Wentzel, 1998, Wigfield 1997, Alexander 1997, Scheifele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1994, Pintrich & De Groot, 1990, Scheifele, 1991, Scheifele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1995, and Midgley, 1993). I have also found information on the populations of area schools and whether they are considered urban or rural schools. In total, there are eleven elementary and middle schools in the area which comprise of 2129 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. Urban schools comprise of 1141 of these students while the rural schools comprise of 988 of the total. 2000 is a lot of students. Even if I were to get 50% of the population, I would still be looking at 1000. I think I need to investigate further the average response for these studies and whether 1000 students are too many for my dissertation study.
My next step is to find these articles and to request a couple of books by Csikszentmihalyi on the Flow theory. It is my belief that when I better understand the Flow Theory and the Achievement Goal Theory I will be prepared to begin my MRF.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sigh...
I suppose it is a good thing that I never truly completed my methodology review form. After posting on my class's page about the idea below, I found a dissertation that I really love. Of course I haven't read through the whole thing yet. One thing I learned at my last colloquium is to read the abstract, and if you like it, read the implications for further research. I've read both, and I'm very interested. I should also mention that the author of the dissertation was also in an educational psychology program, which means I can be assured that any ideas I glean from her study would probably be approved by my department.
What I like most about her study is that it keeps with my interest of learning strategies. My only considerations would be the age group and my measure. For the dissertation I'm reading, the author used a standardized test, and there I am at a loss. I did look at the Washington superintendent of school's website and read about his changes to the standardized testing in Washington. It appears that this will be the last year the WASL is used, and it will only be for this spring. Obviously, I have no hope of being prepared to conduct a study that soon, and even if I did, the test is only being offered once. The new test will be offered in the spring of 2010. I could potentially use the new test that is being offered to either 3rd through 8th graders or the high school proficiency test offered to high school seniors.
The dissertation that I found was conducted with urban fifth graders. I know for a fact that my students would be rural, so that in itself could be interesting for comparison. Her study was also done in Florida, so opposing sides of the country could also prove interesting.
I would just really need to clarify my measure. The author speaks in her dissertation that for most researchers looking at learning strategies, they use GPA, so there's always that. For right now, I really just need to read through her 100+ pages to see exactly what she did. Then I think I will ask around to figure out what age group I should use, and if her implications for future study are feasible and beneficial for my purposes.
What I like most about her study is that it keeps with my interest of learning strategies. My only considerations would be the age group and my measure. For the dissertation I'm reading, the author used a standardized test, and there I am at a loss. I did look at the Washington superintendent of school's website and read about his changes to the standardized testing in Washington. It appears that this will be the last year the WASL is used, and it will only be for this spring. Obviously, I have no hope of being prepared to conduct a study that soon, and even if I did, the test is only being offered once. The new test will be offered in the spring of 2010. I could potentially use the new test that is being offered to either 3rd through 8th graders or the high school proficiency test offered to high school seniors.
The dissertation that I found was conducted with urban fifth graders. I know for a fact that my students would be rural, so that in itself could be interesting for comparison. Her study was also done in Florida, so opposing sides of the country could also prove interesting.
I would just really need to clarify my measure. The author speaks in her dissertation that for most researchers looking at learning strategies, they use GPA, so there's always that. For right now, I really just need to read through her 100+ pages to see exactly what she did. Then I think I will ask around to figure out what age group I should use, and if her implications for future study are feasible and beneficial for my purposes.
Friday, February 6, 2009
I might have found a new dissertation idea
Now I follow blogs everywhere, but most of my friends are either on blogger or live journal. I had joined live journal after a conversation with a friend a few years back, but it's mostly foolishness for a better word of what I type over there. At any rate, in all my foolishness, I joined groups related to educational psychology among others and somehow ended up communicating with another woman who was also studying at Capella. We finally met in person at my track three colloquium in Chicago in 2008. While she isn't specializing in educational psychology, she still seems pretty connected to all fields in psychology. She recently finished all of her coursework and will be starting her comprehensive exams, so I've been able to provide her feedback on my experiences.
We hadn't spoken in a while. In fact, it had almost been a year since either she or I blogged on livejournal. But about two weeks ago, I saw a blog from her commiserating on her job search. We got back in touch, and I told her about my tribulations over the past six or so months, including my recent lack of a dissertation idea.
And, she gave me a fabulous one to pursue. I suppose I should say I'm glad we're not in the same specialization. We can offer advice to one another without fear that one might steal the other's idea!
At any rate, her idea was to do a study on high school students who are currently enrolled in self-directed transformative education. How do their perceptions and maybe actions change due to a trauma that occurs in their life? Now, there would be a lot of work involved with this topic. I have contacted two virtual academies approved to offer public education in Washington state. But the more I think about it, my study could encompass any state that allows for public virtual education. I would simply need to mail them information, and it may take a bit longer to do my study, but it would give me a greater pool of participants and perhaps be more interesting to see how students in different environments react.
Right now, though, I need to do some research on why a student would pursue self-directed education in the first place. Both schools that I contacted offer this self-directed education to students as young as five years old. Certainly, they are not the ones who make the choice. It could mean, then, that some students who are currently enrolled in these high schools have been conditioned from an early age to embrace virtual education. I would need to find out how long virtual education has been sanctioned in a particular state.
I will update soon.
We hadn't spoken in a while. In fact, it had almost been a year since either she or I blogged on livejournal. But about two weeks ago, I saw a blog from her commiserating on her job search. We got back in touch, and I told her about my tribulations over the past six or so months, including my recent lack of a dissertation idea.
And, she gave me a fabulous one to pursue. I suppose I should say I'm glad we're not in the same specialization. We can offer advice to one another without fear that one might steal the other's idea!
At any rate, her idea was to do a study on high school students who are currently enrolled in self-directed transformative education. How do their perceptions and maybe actions change due to a trauma that occurs in their life? Now, there would be a lot of work involved with this topic. I have contacted two virtual academies approved to offer public education in Washington state. But the more I think about it, my study could encompass any state that allows for public virtual education. I would simply need to mail them information, and it may take a bit longer to do my study, but it would give me a greater pool of participants and perhaps be more interesting to see how students in different environments react.
Right now, though, I need to do some research on why a student would pursue self-directed education in the first place. Both schools that I contacted offer this self-directed education to students as young as five years old. Certainly, they are not the ones who make the choice. It could mean, then, that some students who are currently enrolled in these high schools have been conditioned from an early age to embrace virtual education. I would need to find out how long virtual education has been sanctioned in a particular state.
I will update soon.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
It's been a while
I apologize for not posting in such a long time. I did pass my comprehensive exams on the first try, but I had a series of health and other setbacks which prevented me from getting very far on my dissertation.
At the present, I have no dissertation idea. I haven't heard from Shelly since early November, and due to some circumstances beyond my control, I have reason to believe she will no longer be assisting me with my dissertation. In addition, the WASL will no longer be offered in Washington thanks to the election of a new superintendent of schools who was elected last November. So, my wonderful idea of looking at learning strategy awareness and standardized testing seems to have been blown out of the water.
I am currently looking at Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of Flow and the Goal Achievement Theory as possibilities to guide me toward a new dissertation topic.
Wish me luck!
At the present, I have no dissertation idea. I haven't heard from Shelly since early November, and due to some circumstances beyond my control, I have reason to believe she will no longer be assisting me with my dissertation. In addition, the WASL will no longer be offered in Washington thanks to the election of a new superintendent of schools who was elected last November. So, my wonderful idea of looking at learning strategy awareness and standardized testing seems to have been blown out of the water.
I am currently looking at Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of Flow and the Goal Achievement Theory as possibilities to guide me toward a new dissertation topic.
Wish me luck!
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