Thesis on "Effects Impact of Technology in Learning of Elementary School Special ED Students"

Quoted Instructions for "Effects Impact of Technology in Learning of Elementary School Special ED Students" Assignment:

The paper being written will be an Action Research paper. Which means the paper is based on things I am testing and collectiong data about technology being used in my classroom. Some forms of technology that may possibly be included are the use of a SMARTBoard, computers (brainpop.com, sratfall.com, unitedstreaming.com), Powerpoint based lessons, and devices such as a listening center, DVD player, etc..

Listed below are the requirements for the paper as supplied by my university. All examples given in the text below are from the university and are not pertinent to my paper

CHAPTER 1

Introduction:

The first chapter provides the overview of the project. You may use personal pronouns in your writing, since you are describing your own classroom and teaching practice. . The important of the problem or issue would be noted and a rationale for why you have chosen to undertake the study. Remember, this is an introduction it sets the stage for the next sections, so you would also briefly outline the following sections of this chapter.

Background and statement of the problem:

This purpose of this section is to provide a discussion of how the problem has been dealt with in the past. This section presents the big picture and provides the context of previous studies and relates to the present research.You may want to include in this section:

*****¢The issues and problem(s) from a school and/or district perspective (i.e., statistics, literature and research).

*****¢Describe the issues and problem(s) from your classroom (or program) perspective (i.e., statistics, literature and research)

*****¢If appropriate, provide literature describing the lack of relevant research

*****¢Provides historical perspective leading to the present concerning the problem

Purpose and research questions:

Based on the rational and perspectives you described above, outline the purpose of your study, using the research you cited above to support your statement. You will state specifically the purpose of your study, or what you will discover, describe, examine, investigate, etc. State your research question in terms of a what, how or why format.

Context of the action research study/project:

Typically an action research project has significance for your own teaching practice or immediate educational environment. Describe the context in which you will implement the study. Include information about the following:

Community

District and school

Classroom

gender

grade

specific needs of students (disabilities, second language learners, gifted, etc.)

content area, subjects or behavioral focus

levels

other significant information

Audience (if a guidebook, curriculum, staff development, policy paper)

Definition of terms:

Define major variables, concepts or terms that are specific to this study or are new or novel to the reader. Define important terms that may have multiple definitions and need to be clarified. If needed, please provide citations. Introduce the words that will be defined, i.e. *****For purposes of this study, the following words are defined:*****

IEP*****s. (Use level 4 heading for each term defined).

Write the definition in complete sentences.

Summary

Provide a brief summary of this chapter and be sure in the summary to link to the literature review in Chapter 2.

CHAPTER 2

Review of the Literature:

Review relevant literature as appropriate for the project. This should provide an interpretative summary of the topic. The purpose of the literature review is to provide a summary of current research developments on your topic. Research that is evidenced based and peer reviewed should be examined for this review. A good review critiques the research studies and show how the findings relate to the problem under study. This chapter provides the link between existing knowledge and the problem being studied. Use your purpose to focus your reading and literature search.

The introduction is untitled. Provide a reorientation to the purpose of the study and refer to the topics to be covered in the chapter. The order of topics is from the global view to the specific. Generally one paragraph is sufficient. In the introduction, briefly re-state the rationale for your study.

Based on the literature you have gathered, identify the three or *****so***** big ideas or concepts/ideas related to your topic that you will review. Describe the relationships between these ideas. Each of the big ideas you have identified in the literature will become a heading or section of the review. These section are centered with capital letters. For example:

Behavior Modification

Describe each main idea and explain the importance of this idea or concept. Introduce the sub ideas that relate to the main idea. For example, your first big idea may be behavior modification as an overall approach to working with students with disabilities. Sub topics might include instructional approaches, behavior change strategies, and cognitive behavior therapy. Or you may want to start with a historical overview of services for students with specific learning disabilities or autism. Your sub ideas would be related kinds of interventions used with these students during different time periods.

You would summarize the research related to the main idea then describe important studies related to that idea.

Sub Idea for First Big Idea:

Following the description and discussion of the research for the first big idea,

transition to the sub ideas and follow the same pattern. First describe the sub idea, how it relates to the big idea and its relationship to the other sub ideas. Discuss the research and related literature. End with a summary of this section, and provide a transition to the next sub idea.

Continue the process describe above until you have discussed the big ideas and related sub ideas that you discovered in your literature search. Be sure to provide brief summaries of what was discussed in each section.

Conceptual Holes, Problems and Needs:

In this section, describe any conceptual holes you may have found in the literature, if any. You may not have found specific research related to your topic. For example, you may have found research about teaching math to middle school students, but no specific studies related to your classroom population. In this section you may note problems with the research you found (a number of poorly completed studies), or you may note the need for studies in the area you of your own research.

Implications for Practice:

In this section of the review you will discuss the implications for educational practice raised by the literature you have reviewed. Given what the research says, what does this mean for your program, for other teachers, or the school, etc. Specifically, you need to focus this section on ---what aspects of the literature review have influenced you to pursue the project proposed in Chapter 3? Use the literature reviewed in Chapter 2 as a rationale for your project in Chapter 3.

Implications for Inquiry:

What implications for future research can you draw from the literature you have reviewed? In other words, based on the research reviewed, what additional kinds of studies should be completed? This is where your own research fits in to the discussion. Educators often choose to complete an action research study on a classroom practice they are using, because there is very little information available about that practice. You can also discuss the kinds of research that would add to the growing body of literature on a topic

Rationale for Action Research Question and Study Design:

This section is where you connect your research question(s) and study design (action research) to the literature reviewed. Briefly describe why your question fits into the literature, what your study may add to the knowledge base and how your design will help you answer your question.

CHAPTER 3

Research Design:

This section of the proposal begins with an introduction that is not subtitled. This gives the reader direction for the content covered in this chapter. Generally one paragraph is sufficient. This chapter is written in future tense for the proposal and past tense for the final project and is a step-by-step guide for the research. The design for the research is directly connected to the purpose and research questions asked in Chapter 1.

You might start the chapter *****The purpose of Chapter 3 is to describe the action research design and procedures that will be used to answer the research question(s) presented in Chapter I: (repeat the question exactly as stated in Chapter 1).

Action Research Plan:

Summarize the key findings from the Review of Literature (Chapter 2) that provide support and a rationale for your inquiry and action research question.

Describe the action strategy or intervention to be implemented and studied. Connect this to the research as well

Describe the rationale for the intervention/action strategy. Why did you select this particular intervention?

Remember to protect the privacy of your participants (students, parents or teachers), by either assigning them pseudonym, letter or number.

Data Gathering Methods and Procedures:

Describe the methods used to gather information about the effects of your intervention. You will need to use multiple methods in order to provide *****triangulation***** for your data. The multiple data sources will add validity to your findings. Talk about the different measures and sources of information. Chapter 3 and 4 of the Mills text contains many examples of ways to gather data. Some examples include: interview or survey;

teacher*****s journal or anecdotal notes/field notes; systematic observations of student behavior; document analysis; assessments or performance measure.

Describe in detail how you will implement each of the data collection methods, including a timeline and process for ensuring consistency and reliability in your data collection procedures. Include an alignment chart to illustrate the design integrity of your study. The alignment chart or matrix can be included in the body of your paper or as an appendix. It is often helpful to create this chart and then use it to describe in detail your procedures. The IRB committee wants to see what kind of data you plan to collect and how you plan to gather those data.

Ethical Considerations:

Discuss ethical considerations and the review process that should be followed. Discuss risk/benefit ratio and identify steps to minimize any risks. Include a letter to your school administrator describing your study and requesting permission to complete the study. Place cover letter and/or consent forms in appendix.

Data Analysis:

Describe the plan for data analysis. How will demographic data be analyzed? How will you analyze the data you have gathered in terms of procedures (percentages, identifying themes and patterns, tabulating totals, etc). How will the data be used to answer the study question(s)? Outline how you plan to compile the information in order to discuss the results (which you will do in Chapter 4).

Summary

Provide a brief (one paragraph) summary of this chapter. Use the section headings to briefly review what you will be doing in your study.

CHAPTER 4

Data Analysis and Discussion:

An introductory paragraph starts this chapter. Briefly restate the purpose of your action research project. Briefly describe how you gathered your date. This chapter is written in past tense, since you have already collected your data.

Findings:

This is a presentation of the results of the data you have gathered. You may organize this by the kinds of data collected and how each is related to the research question. Data presentation should be factual and tables or charts are utilized to illustrate information when appropriate. Tables, charts and graphs should be placed as close to the narrative as possible rather than at the end. (Refer to APA Manual and Appendix C in the Mills text for examples of how to display your data).

Sub sections

Use sub headings in the Findings sections to organize your results. Organize findings in relation to each research question, or parts of the question. Discuss the analysis process you used for each of the data collection methods and describe the results for each method.

Discussion:

This section includes a discussion of the major findings. The discussion often relates what you have found to what others have found in similar research. Organize this discussion to follow the findings describe in the about section.

Limitations:

Limitations are the weaknesses that impact the results of the study. Describe the limitations that exist due to factors that you could not control that impacted the study. These are compromises to the *****goodness***** of the data collected. Some examples might be the small sample size, or other factors that affected your study and the results (poor attendance, interruptions in the action research plan, etc.).

CHAPTER 5

Summary and Conclusion:

Start with an introductory paragraph, again briefly stating the purpose of your study and how it was conducted. This chapter has three main sections, conclusions, implications for teaching and implications for future research and is written in past tense, since your research has been completed.

Conclusions:

What are the conclusions of your study? How were the research questions answered? What was learned about the intervention or about the participants? Discuss the general, overall conclusions and summarize the related evidence

Implications for Teaching Practice:

In this section discuss the implications of your study as they relate to your own teaching practice. Use the conclusions from above to personalize the results and talk about how the study has impacted you as a teacher. What will you change or do differently? What did you learn about self as a teacher, student learning, teaching practices and/or other related professional issues? Finally, describe how your findings may have implications for others in the field?

Implications for Further Research:

Identify the implications for further research. . Outline how you might want to either continue the study along with considerations for the next inquiry question, data gathering methods and data sources. Based upon what you found in your study (conclusions) what needs to be studied in the future? Research is a cycle, so what are the next logical questions to come out of this research for you, and for others to pursue?

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