Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Moving Foward?

Today I sent out my permission to quote forms with the hopes of receiving them back on Friday. I actually had two sides to my form -- one for students and one for parents. The form was the same; I just decided that I wanted to ask my students for their permission first rather than skip right to their parents. I'm dealing with seniors; some of them are already 18 and can grant themselves permission. I still opted for all students regardless of their age to have their parents and them sign the form --just as a cya.

I still have some tweaking to do with my survey before I administer that on Friday of this week. [Dear Blog Buddy Bud (such alliteration!), I'm hoping to hear from you soon. :) ]It seems a bit surreal to me that just earlier this month we were sitting at Mugs discussing this whole research thing, and now I've not only mastered (maybe? pseudo-mastered?) the blog thing, but I'm also getting ready to actually collect data from students. Cool.

I think I already have some data from students (we've already done one online writing group session), I'm wondering if I should print out my online instructions and their comments (of course, pending that I'm granted permission)? I suppose then I can analyze it this summer. Any thoughts? Even if I don't get permission from all students, can I still use the information I glean from their comments for my hypotheses? as well as changes that I make in my instruction? Can I still paraphrase and make generalizations based on their comments -- but just not direct quotes?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there writing buddy. Interesting thoughts. I like that you asked for the student's permission in addition to the parents - and not just because some of them were 18 or over. But whats a "cya?"

It is exciting to collet the data - can't tell you the little thrill I got each time I opened my email and discovered yet another response, very cool.

Seems like you should be able to compile and use the date from students that you already have, perhaps just not the examplars. I'll be curious to hear the answer from COA on that one.

Now, on to the next blog up...I found those secondary school collaborations to be very exciting, so I'm excited for you on this front as well. I think it is the cross-curricular connections that make ideas really gel for students - what do you think?

Bud Hunt said...

I think the answer to all of your questions in the last paragraph is a yes. I like the decision to ask the students, too. I think that's essential.

I apologize for being a neglectful blog buddy. Won't happen again.

As for the data -- print from the Moodle. You'll find that there are some tools in there that will be helpful to you, too -- activity logs, etc. When did they write? What inspired them? You? They were bored on a Friday night? etc.