Friday, March 21, 2014
Research Competency - Week 3 Blog
A positive example of the benefits of research in my personal life was when I utilized knowledge I gained through a M.ED program on Curriculum Development on how to design and conduct a research study. I designed a study which measured the effect of television viewing on my then 9 yer old son's homework efficacy. I tested whether the amount of time spent watching tv before doing homework, and when the tv was watched (right after school or after a 30 minute break for example) had any effect on the length of time it took him to complete his homework. I controlled for the amount of homework and other variables which could have made the study invalid. My conclusion was that he benefited most from a 30 minute break after school with no tv, rather than being allowed to watch tv before doing homework, or being made to do homework right when he walked in the door. That was a very small and elementary study but it did demonstrate how quantitative data can be used to assess children and make plans based on that assessment.
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ReplyDeleteShahrazad, I probably would have never given any consideration to conducting a study within my own household with my child. Was your son aware that he was involved in your study? Did you share your findings with any of your colleagues at work. I'm quite sure that someone at work can benefit from the knowledge that you gained as a result of conducting this experiment with your son. It definitely gave me insight.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Shahrazad,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and I think that the research study that you conducted could be very valuable to many of parents who wonder about their children being exposed to high amounts of television time. I have sometimes thought about this topic and try to limit the amount of time they are sitting and watching television. However, when they do watch television, I make sure that the shows that they do watch on television are educational in which they get something out of it. I like to keep my children active in which they are limited to the amount of time they spend in the house. I feel that more parents need to monitor their children and try to address issues that they may have before seeking other sources.
Hi Shahrazad
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea this was. I think that this would be a good thing for other parents to research on their on children also. Me personally, I feel that children do need a small break after being in school all day, in order to give their little brains a breather. After the break, I do believe they should jump right on their homework and then return to other activities. Again good idea.