RESEARCH CHECKLIST
This list is to help prepare you with the necessary skills and
knowledge to carry out a high quality, science education,
Master's research project. I will be making modifications
and adding links as necessary. You can always check the
time and date stamp above to see when this document was last
modified.
You do not have to proceed through these steps in order.
In fact, feel free to jump around and see what you might
need to accomplish in the future. The most important thing
is to make sure that you are comfortable with each step in the
process. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Please check off each item after you have accomplished it.
IMPORTANT:
Throughout this whole process keep multiple backups of
your work, in different forms. Always print out hard
copy at intervals so that you can recover if you lose your
electronic data. Do not trust USB drives alone. Email
files to yourself using gmail, save files on your home
computer, on portable drives and on cd's etc. Set up
your Word processor so it makes automatic, timed backups.
Or, you could also use Google docs to write your paper.
Fall 2012 -
Tasks to be completed
- Start a science research
notebook (or a blog).
- Get a hardcover notebook and carry it with you
everywhere. Jot down ideas, information, and any
thoughts you have related to your possible research topic.
An possible alternative or addition to your notebook,
would be to establish a research blog
dedicated to your project.
- Read your textbook from
cover to cover - "Introduction to Educational Research" by Craig
Mertler and C.M. Charles (7e) or (6e). Check
out the companion web site to the textbook: http://www.researchnavigator.com
- Become acquainted with
some of the science education research literature.
- In order to accomplish this you need to read some
peer-reviewed, science education research articles. I
strongly recommend that you pick an article that looks
interesting from the Journal
of Research in Science Teaching (JRST) to review
carefully. You should also take a trip to the library
and browse through several past issues of JRST, looking at
the table of contents and abstracts.
- Review a science
education research article - Look critically at a
science research article in order to determine strengths and
weaknesses. Look up any terms in educational research
related web sites or books. Read the reviews of
research articles posted by your peers on the class
discussion board.
- Learn how to search
electronic databases to find and obtain science education
research articles. Make sure that you know
how to use the ERIC
database, and other education, science and psychology
databases through the Queens College library. This is
absolutely essential. Find a science education
research article using ERIC and also through one of the
library databases.
- Find out where
the science education books and journals tend to be
located in the Queens College library. Visit the
area and browse in person.
- Use the library to find
at least one book related to a topic in science education
research. For example, you might get a book on
gender and science. Pay special attention to the
bibliography at the end of any book you consult.
- Start brainstorming
possible topics. During the brainstorming
stage, you should generate as many ideas as you can.
Jot these down in your notebook and post them on our
discussion board. You can phrase these as questions,
hypotheses or just general topics at this stage. Think
about some of the intractable problems or interesting
phenomena you have observed or heard about. You can
also search the web, look at a variety of science education
articles, current
issues in science education, etc. for possible topics.
- If you have problems
choosing a topic, talk it over with your colleagues, and
your instructor. Do NOT stress out, and worry
about your topic alone. Interact with your colleagues
and instructor, and eventually a worthy topic will emerge.
- If all else fails, choose
a topic related to an area of science you teach, and start
doing some database searches, including ERIC.
- Once you have a topic, develop
a system to gather information from your literature review.
Make sure that you read the textbook: Galvan,
J.L. (2009). Writing Literature Reviews - 4e. Los Angeles
CA: Pryczak Publishing IBSN 1-884585-86-8
- Narrow down your topic.
Focus!
- Collect research articles
and books related to your topic.
- Read the articles and
books, and take good notes, making sure to note page
numbers. If
you make copies of articles and sections from books, you can
write on them and make notes. Make sure to keep copies
of complete bibliographic information for each source you
use. Put all of your articles and books in
alphabetical order by author's last name in a box or filing
drawer.
- Continue to focus your
topic. Try and state your topic as a research
question and also as an hypothesis.
- If you can, identify
important variables related to your research
question. Make a diagram to show how these variables
might be related. If you are able to do this, you may
be able to come up with a
theoretical model that might help you to explain
any results. If there are existing theoretical models
you can see if your project might extend or confirm features
of existing models.
- Decide on your research
question and hypothesis and get approval from the
instructor. Post
your final research question and hypothesis on the class
discussion board. Don't worry you can change this if
necessary but it will cost you valuable time.
- Share your research topic
with your colleagues and peers and get feedback.
- Continue to collect
articles, books, papers and information related to your
topic.
- Become familiar with the
various types of educational research.
- Understand important
concepts in educational research such as validity and
reliability.
- Note different types of
research methods as you carry out your review of the
literature.
- Begin working on your
research proposal. Start a Word document and
place the main headers of your proposal in the document.
Add ideas and information as you go.
- Once you decide on a
possible research design and method, submit it to the
instructor, and post it on the class discussion
board.
- IMPORTANT - Choose
something that is feasible. You will need to
have your data by week 4 of Spring semester, in order to
have enough time to analyze it and write up the rest of
your paper.
- Make sure to check the CUNY
policy
for Student Research with Human Subjects.
- Obtain approval from the
instructor before proceeding to gather data.
- Complete and submit your
literature
review.
- Present
your
literature review and incorporate feedback.
- Complete and submit your
research
proposal.
- Continue your collection
of articles, books, papers and other information
throughout the duration of your project. Add
any new information to your literature review.
Spring 2012 - Tasks to be completed
- Show your research
proposal and literature review to your instructor and to
your school administrator (if you are doing
research in a school). Obtain approval before
proceeding.
- Start an outline of your
paper. with the main headers included.
- Write up a draft of the
Methods (Procedure) section of your paper.
- Carry out your project
and collect your data. Remember to continue
to record everything that occurs during the project in your
research notebook and/or blog. If you use a blog do
not use real names of students, teachers or of the school.
- Become familiar with the
research methods you are using. For example,
if you are administering a survey, interviewing, observing,
etc. you MUST become an expert on those techniques.
Borrow books from the library on the research
techniques you are using and search the web. You
should also consult with the instructor.
- Become familiar with the
data analysis techniques and tools you will be using.
For example, if you are doing quantitative research,
you will need to learn how to use statistical software.
I highly recommend that you use the Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). There are many
good tutorials on the web, in statistics texts (borrow one
from the library) and with the software itself. For
example, if you are going to use correlations and a Chi
Square test to analyze survey data, you will need to become
an expert on the Chi Square test and correlations. If
you are doing qualitative research, there is software
available for that purpose such as NUDIST.
- Share regular progress reports on your research with the
instructor and your colleagues and peers on the class
discussion board and in class.
- Come up with a
tentative title for your project, an abstract, and fill in
the pieces you already have completed such as the
literature review.
- Analyze your data.
Consult the APA guidelines for information on the how
to display research results using tables, charts, graphs and
figures.
- Write up your results
section.
- Write the conclusions
section.
- Include any implications
of your research.
- Submit your rough draft
on the class discussion board and also to the instructor.
- Revise your paper.
- Proofread.
- Have your friends,
colleagues and peers proofread your paper.
- Submit your final copy.