My research topic: Benefits and disadvantages of online learning in high school mathematics education and the implications it has on practice in the online classroom. 

For my topic, I plan to use mostly articles from academic journals. I hope to be able to find reliable evidence-based and anecdotal, opinion-based articles. Since technology in education is constantly changing and progressing, journal articles will be the most current form of research available. While I generally prefer to use books, I think it will be difficult to find current information in this medium since technology can change a lot even in the span of one or two years.

Personally, I like to check the credibility of a source by first researching the author and what organizations or institutions he or she is affiliated with. I then check the references of the original source by doing the same, checking the academic and professional background of the authors. One thing I also like to do is to find the article on Google Scholar because there is an option to see how many times an article has been cited in other works. I prefer to use articles that have been cited many times over articles that have not been cited before because this means that others have found the article credible.

I find that when checking the credibility of the authors, it is very good practice because it also leads to other potential sources of information for your research. Oftentimes researching an author will lead to other related works by him or her that can be used for the research topic as well. When finding other works that cite the article of interest, I am usually able to use some of the new articles in my own research as well.

Original assignment post can be found here. 

The book that I found on my research topic is Mathematics Education with Digital Technology by Adrian Oldknow and Carol Knights. It was published by Continuum International Publishing Group in 2011. Here is the link to the eBook: click here.

Authority

This book is a collection of chapters written by thirty-seven different experts and professionals in the fields of education and digital technology. All of the contributors are educators with many years of teaching experience. Information about each contributor is listed in the first section of the book, which allows readers to evaluate the authority of the volume. The two main authors and the people who put this book together are Adrian Oldknow and Carol Knights.

1. Adrian Oldknow
   – Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Computing Education at the University of Chichester
   – Obtained MA in Mathematics from Oxford University
   – Obtained MTech in Computer Science from Brunel University
   – Currently a research fellow at the University of Amsterdam
2. Carol Knights
   – Has her MA in Mathematics Education
   – Principal lecturer in mathematics education at the University of Chichester
   – Has 14 years of experience as Head of Department and Advanced Skills Teacher in Hampshire

Currency

This book can be considered current because it was published in 2011 and falls within the past ten years. However, it is important to note that technology in education has progressed a lot in the past seven years, with the growth of distributed learning exponentially increasing in the past five years or so.

Purpose

The purpose of this book was to explore key questions and issues of digital technologies in mathematics education from a range of expert and professional perspectives (Oldknow & Knights, 2011, p. xix). The intended audience are educators in mathematics education who are interested in incorporating technological teaching methods in their practice. There is a mix of evidence-based and anecdotal research in the chapters written by the different contributors. From a quick skim of the chapters, there is no obvious biases in the contributors’ articles.

Publication type/process

This book was published in 2011 by Continuum International Publishing Group. Continuum is a reputable and well-known publishing house based in London and New York. They focus on academic, religious, and trade publishing (Bloomberg, 2018). It is now owned by Bloomberg Publishing House (Bloomberg, 2018).

Biases/Special Interests

The biases and special interests are different in every chapter because each chapter is written by a different author. While the language in all the chapters seem pretty objective, there is a clear interest in promoting technology in education and the benefits of a traditional education is not discussed or acknowledged.

References

Bloomberg. (2018, January ). Company Overview of The Continuum International Publishing Group Limited. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=133054

Knights C, Oldknow A. Mathematics Education With Digital Technology [e-book]. New York, NY: Continuum; 2011. Available from: eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), Ipswich, MA. Accessed January 14, 2018.

Original assignment post found here. 

The article that I found for my research topic is The role of self-regulated learning in students’ success in flipped undergraduate math courses by Ziru Suna, Kui Xiebc, and Lynley H. Andermanb. The article was first published online on September 27, 2017. Here is a link to the article: click here.

Authority

The authors of the article are:

1. Zhiru Sun
   – Has a Ph. D. in Philosophy from the University of Southern Denmark
   – Works in the Department of Business and Economics at SDU as a PostDoc
2. Kui Xie
   – Has a Ph.D. in Instructional Psychology and Technology from University of Oklahoma
   – Cypert Distinguished Professor and chair of the Learning Technologies program in Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University
   – Member of the Contemporary Educational Psychology
3. Lynley H. Anderman
   – Has a Ph. D. in Education and Psychology from The University of Michigan
   – Professor of Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University

Currency

The article is very current. It was received on May 10, 2016 and revised on June 4, 2017. It was accept on September 21, 2017 and published online on September 27, 2017.

Purpose

This article outlines the research method and process that the author used to collect evidence for the relationship between academic achievement and self-regulatory factors in a flipped classroom (Sun, Xie, & Anderman, 2017, p. 49). This article discusses evidence-based results. There are no obvious biases in the language of the article.

Publication type/process

This article was published by Elsevier Inc. in their January 2018 copy of The Internet and Higher Education journal (The Internet and Higher Education, 2018). This article is peer-reviewed, as it is one of the requirements of being published in the journal (The Internet and Higher Education, 2018). The Internet and Higher Education is a reputable quarterly journal that addresses issues and developments related to online learning, teaching, and administration on the Internet (The Internet and Higher Education, 2018).

Biases/Special Interests

The authors discuss the limitations of the research and article (Sun et. al, 2018, p. 50). One of the main biases of this research was that the participants were undergraduate students enrolled in a calculus course in university (Sun et. al, 2018, p. 50). This means that these are generally highly academic students who chose to enroll in an academic, post-secondary mathematics course (Sun et. al, 2018, p. 50). As well, the authors acknowledge that the sample size of the research was not significantly large (Sun et. al, 2018, p. 50).

References

Sun, Z., Xie, K., & Anderman, L. H. (2018). The role of self-regulated learning in students’ success in flipped undergraduate math courses. Internet & Higher Education, 36, 41-53. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.09.003

The Internet and Higher Education. (2018). The Internet and Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-internet-and-higher-education/

Original assignment post found here. 

According to the authors, evidence-based leadership is when leadership base their decisions on empirical research and evidence. In order to be considered “evidence”, research results must be collected from processes and experiments that include hypotheses, systematic and empirical methods, rigorous data analyses, and justifiable conclusions (Trybus, 2007, p. 5). The evidence also needs to be “accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or a panel of experts through a very rigorous scientific review” (Trybus, 2007, p. 5). Walshe and Rundall (2001) state that there are gaps between research and clinical practice and management (p. 430). As evidence-based leadership grows in popularity, the bottleneck in the transition towards this form of leadership lies in the attitude and ability of the leaders in an organization (Walshe & Rundall, 2001, p. 452). Since new evidence-based ideas and policies often differ from existing policies and procedures, it requires leaders and managers to encourage cultures of change and for decision-makers to have the ability and knowledge to take the recommendations given by the research and put them into practice (Walshe & Rundall, 2001, p. 437).

In my opinion, evidence-based leadership needs to be balanced with experience-based leadership. Trybus (2007) agrees that “judgment individuals acquire through experience is still a vital component to be considered” (p. 8). While evidence-based pedagogical theories are informative and often do outline best practices, adjustments to every theory must be made in order to accommodate the diversity of academic and cultural backgrounds of students in every classroom. For example, when I was completing my education degree, we were taught that studies show inquiry-based learning is the most effective learning process for students. While this may generally be true for most students, my practical experience in the classroom showed me that I needed to adjust it for my students. In my highly academic senior math courses, I found it to be true that inquiry learning was the most effective and captivating for my students. However, in some of my classes with struggling learners, inquiry-based learning was so out of reach that it left many of the students behind. In order to accommodate the learning abilities of some of the students who struggled with math, I needed to use a modified, guided form of inquiry-based learning. While evidence-based leadership encourages educators to continue to learn, develop, and refine their skills in the classroom, experienced-based leadership is also needed to accommodate the many different situations that evidence-based research simply cannot address completely.

References

Trybus, M. (2007). Understanding scientifically based research: A mandate or decision making tool? Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 73(4), 5-8.

Walshe, K. & Rundall, T.G. (2001). Evidence-based management: From theory to practice in health care. The Millbank Quarterly, 79(3), 429-457.

I have had experience with research both academically and personally. While completing my undergraduate degree in Science, I often had to do research for mathematical analysis  papers and scientific lab reports. As a mathematics major, I am naturally drawn to research papers that focus on quantitative studies. However, I regularly read qualitative research papers to further my knowledge in existing mathematical theories and current scientific research.

Recently, I gave birth to my baby daughter, Macey. Becoming a mother has given me the opportunity to be a servant leader to my baby. After she was born, we encountered a lot of trouble having Macey latch and breastfeed. Macey lost a lot of weight in the first few days, which resulted in several hospital visits. I quickly realized I had to make an important decision about Macey’s feeding. My options were to continue to nurse, to switch to pumping and bottling, or to switch to formula feeding. I used several types of information to make my decision. While research showed that nursing is the most natural and nutritious way for a baby to feed, I knew from personal experience that this was detrimental to Macey’s health because she simply could not latch properly or long enough to get the nutrients she needed. The next most common feeding method was switching to formula. However, at the hospital, all the nurses and doctors recommended that I stayed away from formula feeding as there are nutrients in breast milk that formula lacks. To be honest, I was brought up on formula so I am not adverse to formula feeding. After seeing a lactation consultant, I was presented with a third option that I had not considered before, pumping and bottling. I did some research into this feeding method to see if the nutrients would be preserved and whether this is a viable long-term option. Research studies show that bottled breast milk carries just as much nutrients and antibodies. I also joined an online group for mothers who exclusively pump to read about their anecdotal experiences with the process. After meeting with several more specialists and getting their opinions, I decided that exclusively pumping for Macey was the best way to keep her healthy and maintain my sanity. Currently, this is still the feeding method we are using. I routinely try to see if she can learn to nurse effectively because as things change and as she grows, I am aware that my decision to pump exclusively could change as well. Having done ample research and sought out as much advice as possible from doctors and other moms, I am able to feel assured and confident in my decision.