Library Lessons This Week

Library Orientation

Distance learning is often defined as taking place when the instructor and student are separated by physical distance. I like to add the twist that student and instructor are separated by TIME and/or physical distance. Distance learning is very flexible! In some cases, such as this course, you have the opportunity to log on and participate in lessons at times that are most convenient to you. You may have 30 minutes during lunch or you may choose to participate early in the morning or late in the evening.

Distance learning on the web is becoming a logical way to learn. In this course, we are trying to make the "distance" experience as beneficial as possible. It is my hope that we will get to know one another and support one another in much the same fashion as we would in a traditional course. In my experience, it seems like I will end up knowing my students BETTER in an online course because I spend more one-on-one time with each student.

If you begin to feel isolated, let me know and I will try to pull you in! It is critical that we each become contributors to this learning community. Otherwise, the true benefits of collaboration and learning will not be available to us!

Library Orientation this week will include activities related to getting to know one another and preparing for learning in the weeks that follow.

Lesson 1

One of the best ways for you to "get comfortable" in any online learning community is to be an explorer.  This means that you don't just go to the few links I send you to in these few pages.  It means go to the Library home page and click on all the different links to find out what's there (or what's not).  Some pages you will find are somewhat sparse because it is just the first week.  Others are full of information for you to explore.

One important thing for you to do if you have not done so is to order your texts for this course. The required texts for this course are:

Creswell, J. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd Edition). Prentice Hall.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5^th Edition (2001). APA: ISBN: 1557987912.

An additional suggested text for this course is:

Galvan, J. L. (1999). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Pyrczak Publishing: ISBN: 1884585183.[NOTE: You may need to go to http://www.pyrczak.com to purchase this book.]

The suggested text is not very expensive but may be very helpful for any of you who may be apprehensive about writing literature reviews and research proposals (a major project in this course).  If you are confident in your skills then you may not feel the need to purchase it.  I do think that you will find it useful though and have provided specific readings from this text in the schedule each week for those of you that do purchase it.

Lesson Activities

• Order your texts. Once you receive the Creswell text begin reading Chapters 1 and 2 for next week.
• Email me if you have any questions/concerns related to the course

Lesson 2

Because we do not have the opportunity to see each other face-to-face it is even more important to get to know each other right away. To facilitate this I would like for everyone to participate in an "icebreaker" threaded discussion.

In this discussion, I would like for you to share with us which cartoon character you most identify with and why.  Once you have posted to this icebreaker, read other patrons' posts and try to identify a fellow patron to partner with in this course. Finding someone to buddy with can help you feel less isolated.

If you need assistance completing the threaded discussion, check out the threaded discussions directions.

Lesson Activities

• Participate in the Icebreaker Threaded Discussion
• Read others' posts and reply

Lesson 3

My best guess is that those of you enrolled in this class have varied knowledge, skills, and experience within the field of educational research. Some of you are just beginning your program and are a bit rusty on reading, analyzing, and synthesizing research. Some of you are working in a setting in which educational research is used or conducted daily. Some of you have curiosities about your particular work setting that will be perfect for proposing research, while others may have no idea what research might interest them. This course is for all of you if you can believe that. Some of you will appreciate some topics more than others based on your personal interests. Some of you will already have some experience in relation to many of these topics. The varied knowledge and experiences you bring to this course is invaluable. I hope that those of you who have a broad background will share with those who are new to research.  

In order for me to get a better picture of who you are, what you know, and what you want to learn from your experiences in this course, I would like for you to complete a self-assessment of motivation and learning, a pretest, and a reaction paper. This assignment along with some guiding questions are provided for you in the link below. I can't wait to learn all about each of you.

Lesson Activities

• Go to the Pretest page and complete the online test.  You are not expected to know much on this test so do not panic. This test does not get calculated into your course grade. Check your answers to see how well you did.

• After completing the Pretest, look at the guiding questions below for your first reaction paper.  Spend some time this week answering the guiding questions. When finished, send it to me as an attachment via email.

  • How did you do on the Pretest?  better than you thought?  about what you expected?
  • What is your current work setting? What future job goals do you have? What role do you think educational research plays/will play in your current and future work settings?
  • After exploring our course web site and the topics we will cover, give me your first impression of its relevance to you and your current/future job.
  • What curiosities do you have about your field of study?  How do you think this course will help you investigate these curiosities further?
  • What questions would you like answered in this course?  What discussion topics will interest you most?
  • As a student, what would you suggest I do as the instructor to facilitate your learning?

Contact the
Library Staff

Need Help?

Have a question but can't find the answer? Here are some options:

• Check the Course FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Check the Proposal FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Email the Head Librarian (Dr. Curda)*.
• Email the Assistant Librarian (Melissa)*.
• Check with the other library patrons.

*Remember to include your name and the course name (Educational Research) or number (EDF 6481) in your message.