Blog #5

The empirical research article I selected this week, Out of the Mouths of Babes: What Do Secondary Students Believe about Outstanding Teachers was written by Patricia Williams, Sam Sullivan and Lawrence Kohn. The research in this article did not introduce me to any new ideas or arguments that I had not already been introduced to in my previous week’s research. The phenomenon I was introduced to is that empirical articles can be a valuable resource in my research because they can validate certain aspects of my research that I had found in previous weeks.

The researchers in this study I read about wrote friendly letters to seventh through twelfth graders asking them what makes outstanding teachers. The students were at four different secondary schools with diverse settings: a private Christian academy in an affluent suburb, a rural high school in a low socioeconomic community, a rural middle school also in a low socioeconomic community, and a large high school in a heterogeneous, middle class suburban area. Although all the students who responded to the letters were from different backgrounds and schools, they all had similar views about what they believe makes an outstanding teacher. Based on this study, I do not plan on reconsidering the focus of my research question. The answers the students gave all apply to classroom management techniques I have previously researched and fit into my current research question.

There were 35 resources mentioned in the reference section of this article. After scanning through the titles of the reference material, I have found quite a few resources that I will consider looking into for my future research. Some of the titles that stand out to me include: Top 11 Traits of a Good Teacher, What Works in the Classroom? Ask the Students, and Lessons Teachers Beg to be Taught.

 

So far, I feel my research skills are improving dramatically. I now have a good technique to evaluate the information I find with the CRAAP test. I can find books online and have learned how to use the Leatherby Libraries multiple databases. Although I believe my research skills will continue to improve overtime, my research is already 100 times better than it was prior to this class. I look forward to continuing to improve and learn even more techniques to help me in the future.