Assignment 1

Since having Macey, my personal interests are all baby or health related. My main interest nowadays is newborn physiological development and the different factors that affect it. I am obsessed with tracking milestones and reading about different external factors or stimulants that help with development. When Macey was first born, we had some issues with breastfeeding so feeding has been a special area of interest for me personally. I am always concerned with my daughter’s feeding, which drives me to do continuous research on the benefits of breastfeeding versus formula feeding and different things that can affect the quality of breast milk.

As an online mathematics teacher and a student working exclusively online on my MAEL, my professional interests lie in the realm of online education, specifically in the subject area of mathematics. Working in an online setting allows me to see firsthand some of the benefits and disadvantages of online education. However, I would like to research how my experience aligns or differs from others.

Potential research questions that combine my different areas of interests are:

1. What are the benefits and disadvantages of online learning in the area of high school mathematics?
2. How does breast milk compare to formula in terms of how each affects physiological development in newborns?
3. Can early physiological development in newborns be predictors of later academic achievement? If so, can development be affected by toys or other environmental stimulants?
4. Can weight loss or exercise affect the quality of breast milk in breastfeeding mothers?

I think that research number 1 (above) is the strongest one for me to pursue for a future research paper because it is the most relevant for my MAEL. Also, since I am an online student as well as an online teacher, I have access to a population of people (colleagues and classmates) for research purposes. Also, I have some expertise in the areas of online education as well as mathematics whereas for the other research questions, I do not have the same level of expertise on newborn physiological development or breastfeeding.

I believe that literature for my research question would fall under the topics of education and potentially physiological development in teenagers.