EDTECH Research

During this research assignment I had a flashback to my days at Hope College.  As an education major I spent most of my time on the second floor of the library finding ERIC documents on microfiche.  After searching through dusty file cabinets, I was able to find my article on the projector then print it for further research.  Now with the use of Google Scholar and the Albertsons Library database of scholarly materials, research is literally at my fingertips.  I struggled to find a specific research topic for social studies at first, since most of our lessons are note-based.  Social studies sometimes get a bad reputation because of the quantity of information teachers need to teach and the time give to teach it all.  Therefore, notes seem to be the clear option for relaying the information efficiently.  I found that when I added research papers or projects, my students were able to take their learned knowledge and make it active.  It also gives students some freedom to take history into their own hands and select different topics they are interested in.  So with that in mind I researched how to integrate web-based search engine for primary source documents and multimedia use for project-based lessons.

This assignment introduced me to APA style for my citations.  I've used APA style a little, but I found that the websites and videos were helpful to get me acquainted with something other than MLA.    The convenience I appreciated was on Google Scholar; having the "cite" option.  Although I had to double check the citation, making sure my capitalization was correct, it gave me a solid base to work with.  This is also helpful for high school students who are writing research papers, some for the first time.

Overall, I was not super thrilled about this assignment, only because I've been out of the paper writing world for quite sometime, but I did appreciate it.  It was a challenge to find a specific topic to study and expand my research off certain key terms.  That is what I most enjoyed about the online data bases.  I could manipulate my search as different terms popped into my head.  Also, I was not limited to one institution's library for my research.  I was able to access a variety of scholarly articles through Google Scholar and the Albertsons Library.  I look forward to integrating the information I learned into a future lesson plan.

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