CHRIS BENNINGTON

This was one of the hardest courses within the program. I undertook this course while still teaching full time in Grade 7, managing a young family and taking ETAD 802 and GSR 960 / 961. As I was starting my fall courses I spoke to a recent graduate of the program who worked in our school division as a technology coach and she said "You are tackling two monster courses this semester."

 

At times I felt a lot like the two individuals in the picture above. Trying to navigate through the woods of educational research and at times unsure of where this was leading or whether I would finish. At times my wife and fellow staff members listened to me lament on what I had got myself into and how was I ever going to get it all done. I came to the conclusion that taking two full time courses was not for the faint of heart and more than once I uttered the comment "never again" with respect to tackling two course and teaching at the same time. 

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Despite my initial fears and the magnitude of taking this very intensive course, I found that I gained deeper understanding of educational research and the process required to effectively undertake it. This course was invaluable in what it taught me about the types of educational research: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods and I found it interesting to examine the wide variety of tools that can be used for research, like surveys, small group interviews and field experience. I learned how to apply statistical analysis to results and how to best interpret what the research showed. I actually found myself being drawn to the qualitative side of research when at first I felt that I would be a strictly quantitative researcher. 

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For the final assignment we were suppose to come up with an research proposal. Once again we had free reign to choose a topic we were passionate about and with assistance from Professor Parchoma we navigated how to develop a detailed research proposal. The topic I choose was how teachers are responding to the massive proliferation and rapid pace of change of educational technology being introduced into the classroom. I had personally seen many teachers feel overwhelmed at professional development workshops with learning new technology and some of them simply shut down or use it as an opportunity to vent their frustrations. I was curious to see whether this was a wide ranging problem and how best could it be researched within my school division. Below is my research proposal.