When I Think of Research...

Taking this course, Building Research Competencies, I have gained immensely, learning about many things that I never knew before.  I would say that this course is ‘Research made easy’.  To mention just a few, I can now: analyze research article, distinctly differentiate between quantitative and qualitative research, analyze the process involved in research, define some of the terms used in research parlance, develop hypothesis from a research question, define and apply some of the ethics involved in research, determine the appropriate research approach to use out of the two usual ones and the third new one called the Mixed-method design, etc.

My idea about the nature of doing research has greatly changed having gained various insights about research, especially with the knowledge of the process in research.  The insight gained from analyzing of research design, that is, planning the whole research even before it starts, that is, knowing what the research is set out to achieve, considering the time that will be involved in the implementation of the research, the type of research approach that will be appropriate for the research and deciding whether hypothesis is applicable, the participants that will be involved, and so on.

Concerning planning in early childhood research, I learnt that proper planning prevents eruption of challenges.  The planning includes the consideration of what the research will be based on, how, where and when the research is to take effect, who the participants will be, what type of data will be needed for collection, and the type of data analysis that will be appropriate in order to get a thorough result on the research study.  Designing in early childhood research is the process of turning a research idea into a set of decisions about the practical movement of the research from one process to another. Conducting research in early childhood is the actual usage of the appropriate approach in collating data from selected participants towards understanding a particular research topic.

Some of the challenges I encountered in this course is in getting the proper definition of some terms and gaining an in-depth knowledge of the terms.  I was able to access the library and other websites in order to get more information on such terms; also, I was able to gain more understanding through the various class discussions and the instructors responses to some of the posts.  Changing the Black board and the classroom made the starting point very critical, but after some weeks of more usage I became more familiar with the navigation round the classroom, even though I cannot claim perfection now.

This course has further strengthen my belief in an early childhood professional as the course analyze the efforts of the professionals in truly being the voice of the children and through various researches, going more deeper into understanding the ways of children, their feelings on the treatment being meted out to them at various instances, and actually involving children in the participation in their study research.

 

Suffice it to say that whatever insight I gained was through the constructive contributions from my colleagues, therefore, I would pause here to say a big THANK YOU to you all, for without you I might not have been able to acquire so much in this course.

Research around the World

The link I choose to explore is the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA):  http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php ;   http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Some of the current international research topics on this site are based on child development and creating a collaboration amongst culture, research and practice; improving Africa’s contribution towards child development; thinking and acting towards child development to include a tint of cultural background in global phenomenon.

The insights about early childhood that I gained from exploring this international early childhood website, especially the videos, are as follows: many parents in Nigeria, especially in the northern part, prefer that their children attend Arabic school rather than Head Starts, but a northerner who has gone through the ECDVU education is helping to introduce the early childhood education and it is gradually gaining ground in the north. Early childhood care is everybody’s business; the more the children are happy in school, the more they are willing to learn and are retained to ensure quality education that will start them off in life. According to an ECDVU educationist In Ghana, “all hands must be on deck”.  While the ECDVU is just beginning in Nigeria, Ghana has evolved to the admiration of other African countries.

For some time in Malawi, too many children live far from school and during raining season, children do not go to school. An EC school was eventually built which became a model.  A model school is not built but made through team work.  In another community, some group of poor women also came together to build a school, on their own, for their children.  This is telling of how acceptable the ECDU has become in that country through an introduction by an ECDVU educationist. I believe we can do more!

Of noteworthy information is that the idea behind early childhood development virtual University is Learn at home, learn from others from other countries, engage in local communities, and make your home country a better place in order to reduce brain drain and increase brain gain.  Very similar to what Walden University is helping us and our countries to achieve.  Many Thanks to Walden University and our instructors!