Approaches to educational research

Approaches to Educational Research

The articles I have chosen for this research are Email Dialogue in Journaling : Attitudes and Impact on L2 Reading Ability ' by Hui-fang Shnag published in the Educational Studies Vol 31 , No . 2 , June 2005 , pp 197-212 and The teachers role when pupils work on task using ICT in project work ' by May Britt Postholm published in the Educational Studies Vol 48 , No . 2 , June 2006 , pp 155-175 . The authors are from I-Shou University , Taiwan and Norwegian University of Science and Technology , Trondhein , Norway respectively

The articles are

recent in nature as both were published in the last 18 months . I chose the articles for their attempt to see how computers are bringing about a change in teaching methodologies or rather how computers can be used and where and how they may be used in the process of formal education

Email Dialogue in Journaling : Attitudes and Impact on L2 Reading Ability ' by Hui-fang Shnag

What is the purpose of the article

This article tries to see the relationship between using Email Journaling and its effects students reading ability . The article wants to lay a guideline on how we can use Email Journaling to improve the experience of the students and enhance their learning

Has this research been done before

The author claims that this is the first attempt to see the effects of Email Journaling on the Reading ability of the students

What is the relevance of this research , if any

In context , the research has meaning but the major flaw I see is that there are many teachers around the world who are not familiar with computers themselves . There are many who do not like technology and do not want to use technology as a teaching methodology . The first thing about education is the fact that it is hugely dependent upon the instructor /teacher and this is a major point that the author has missed . The instructor and his or her knowledge about computers and what they offer can go a long way in making the process better and Email Journaling an exciting experience for the students . This can change the outcome of the research . If a student enjoys doing a certain task , it is more likely that they will learn more out of it as they wont mind repeating themselves and taking a more keen interest in doing the task

What is the process of research

The author tied up with another teacher who has 40 students , 21 girls and 19 boys ranging from 18 to 50 years old . The median age is 32 years The students were given 2 questionnaires , one before the Email Journaling experience and one after it . The questions asked their comfort level and how they felt they had done on the assignment

Most of these students rated themselves between 40 -50 competent on English language and 75 of them had used email as a form of personal communication

The author hasn 't chosen his subjects properly as half the people...