Articles Reviews by Nelson Dordelly-Rosales

Article Review # 1
Bringing the background to the foreground: what do classroom environment that support authentic discussions look like?

References:

Hadjioannou, X. (2007). Bringing the Background to the Foreground: What do Classroom
Environment that Support Authentic Discussions Look Like? American Educational
Research Journal; 44 (2), 370-399

Mapiasse, S. (2007). Influence of the democratic climate of classrooms on student civic learning in North Sulawesi, Indonesia [Electronic version]. International Education Journal, 8 (2), 393-407.
Overview
Hadjionannou (2007) focused on authentic or dialogic discussions in the classroom. Authentic discussions are a classroom-based speech genre in which participants commonly explore issues of interest by articulating ideas and opinions. A case study research is done to shed light on “authentic discussions” using different qualitative approaches such as recorded class sessions, interviews, and field notes. The researcher identified seven elements that appeared to be related to the student’s involvement in classroom activities and to the social relationships among community members. Those elements were physical environment, curricular demands and enacted curriculum, teacher beliefs, student beliefs about discussions, relationships among members, classroom procedures, and norms of classroom participation.
Problem/Issue and the Importance/Significance
Hadjionannou (2007) aimed to answer the question what do classroom environments that support authentic discussions look like? The study examines the features of the environment of a fifth grade classroom community. The author reported part of a wider qualitative research that sought (a) to examine the issue of interpersonal relationships within the classroom, specifically to analyze the texture of talk in the authentic discussions of the community under study, (b) to explore participant perspectives, and (c) to evaluate the classroom environment.
Research Question
What are the features of the classroom environment of this discourse community that frequently used authentic discussions?
Sample and sample selection process
The community under study was a fifth-grade class of 24 students and their teacher. The fifth-grade classroom community under study was part of Grassroots Elementary School (pseudonym), a quintessentially middle-class school in a midsize town in Florida.
Data Collection Method/ Data Analysis Method
Data collection included observation, participant interviews, and audio and video recordings of class sessions during a five month period on an almost daily basis. The process of identifying the major elements of the classroom environment was a generative one, and it began with the initial coding of the field notes and the interview transcripts. Each individual was interviewed four times, using a flexible interview protocol: the author audio and video-recorded four book talk sessions, which were transcribed verbatim and analyzed through discourse-analysis. The goal was to use a database with highly contextualized descriptors to systematically illustrate the content of the data. The findings of the discourse analysis were used primarily for describing the texture of talk in authentic discussions, but also capturing the elements of the classroom environment in action.
Trustworthiness/Validity Considerations
In addressing credibility, Hadjionannou (2007) presented a detailed picture of the phenomenon under scrutiny. The investigator provided sufficient detail of the context of the field-work, identified the elements that seemed to shape the environment of the classroom community under study, and described “how those elements functioned as repeatable threads woven to create the fabric of the classroom’s social life.” (p. 374). The researcher suggested that reproducing the environment described in this study in another classroom would be impossible because “the environments in communities are in constant flux, and they are shaped by the personalities and the agendas of community members as well as by the unique circumstances of each community” (p.396). However, through dialogic discussions in the classroom and cultivating amiable relations between the students, teachers can provide opportunities for student self-expression, lively interactions, and substantive collaboration in any classroom.
Ethical Issues
Confidentiality and anonymity was guaranteed to participants of the study. In the ethics literature, confidentiality is commonly viewed as akin to the principle of privacy. In this study the researcher used a pseudonym to identify the institution object of study or elementary school.
Reflection - Questions
Were the studies of value? Why or why not? Mappiasse (2007) examined the influence of the democratic climate of classrooms on student civic learning in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, and analyzed seven dimensions that support democratic climate in the classroom: active participation, avoidance of textbook dominated instruction, reflective thinking, student decision-making and problem-solving choices, controversial issues, recognition of human dignity, and relevance. Hadjionannou (2007) explored the environment of the fifth-grade classroom community in Florida and analyzed the elements that support authentic discussions. Those elements were physical environment, curricular demands and enacted curriculum, teacher beliefs, student beliefs about discussions, relationships among members, classroom procedures, and norms of classroom participation. Both studies identified the elements that seem to shape the environment of the classroom and described how those elements functioned as repeatable threads woven to create the fabric of authentic discussions and a democratic climate in the classroom’s social life. The two studies provide insights of great value for teaching and learning.
What were the strengths of the two studies? The results indicated that the democratic climate and authentic discussions have significant effects on student engagement, student knowledge and interpretation skill. Mappiasse (2007) centered in the advantages of democratic environment in the classroom; Hadjionannou (2007 emphasized in the importance of interpersonal and social interaction among students and teachers. The classroom environment is extremely important to effective teaching and learning. These studies described in great detail different indicators of a good classroom social environment; they also are good examples of qualitative research.
What were the limitations of the two studies? Subjects in each study were students of only one institution. Therefore, the results were limited in their applicability to other institutions. Similar research studies should be repeated in other institutions and in different subjects to determine whether those aspects of the classroom environment that appeared essential to effective teaching are similar to those obtained in these studies.
How would you have changed the two studies to improve the quality of the research? For the first study, I would enlarge the sample size and I would add a questionnaire for data collection. For the second study, I would add participant interviews and audio and video recording of class sessions. In addition, for the first study, it would also be necessary to explain instrument validation and the reliability of items as the second study did.
How would you incorporate the findings of the two studies into your classroom? I would like to develop a similar qualitative research study selecting a convenience sample of schools in Venezuela. In research and teaching, I would incorporate the democratic environment using meaningful classroom activities. I would work toward knowing my students and use this knowledge to create positive, trusting, and respectful relationships with them.
It is important to make students engage in authentic dialogue or discussion and learning activities, especially in civic education classrooms that involve law and education. We should provide the students with opportunities to obtain deeper understanding of the civic values and enable them to implement democratic values critically and responsibly in their social interactions; that is, to engage individuals and groups in developing a clear statement of belief about what strong democracy would look like.

Article Review # 2 by Nelson Dordelly-Rosales
Investigating Self-Regulation and Motivation:
Historical Background, Methodological Developments, and Future Prospects

References:

Zimmerman, B. (2008). Investigating Self-regulation and Motivation:
Historical Background, Methodological Developments, and Future Prospects
American Educational Research Journal; 45 (1), 166-183

Zimmerman, B. (2002). Becoming a Self-regulated Learner: an Overview.
Retrieved June 2, 2009 from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_2_41/ai_90190493/

Overview
Zimmerman (2008) assessed students’ self regulated learning (SRL) online. The focus was on processes and motivational feelings or beliefs regarding learning in authentic contexts using computer ‘traces’ (or gStudy software), think-aloud protocols, diaries of studying, direct observation, and microanalyses measures. The results revealed that students in high SRL online classes were more engaged in their writing than students in low-SRL classes, and that students in the training group reported significantly greater increases in time management skill and self-reflection on their learning than those in the control group. Students in the self-regulation training condition also displayed increases in several measures of motivation. Their willingness to exert effort, their task interest, their learning-goal orientation, and their perceptions of self-efficacy all increased after training and their feelings of helplessness declined significantly. Students in “the self-regulation training group displayed significantly greater gains in math achievement than students in the control group” (p.175).
Problem/Issue and the Importance/Significance
The study defined the issue of innovative environment and how it impacts the students’ use of self regulatory processes during the course of learning. The study is significant because it enlightens the motivation and self-regulation process. One of the lessons for instructors and learners was that self-regulation strategy measure can predict students’ academic grades and their teachers’ ratings of their proactive efforts to learn in class.
Research Questions
The first question concerned the innovative software program (called “gStudy environment”), that is, how traces measure SRL as compared to self-reported measures. The researcher assessed changes in self-regulation during learning. The second question dealt with students’ levels of SRL in personally managed contexts, such as at home or in the library. The idea was to find out if students’ levels of SRL were linked to improvements in the students’ overall academic achievement. The third question involved whether teachers can modify their classrooms to foster increases in self-regulated learning. The fourth question concerned the role of students’ motivational feelings and beliefs in initiating and sustaining changes in their SRL.
Sample and sample selection process
Teachers were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. Nine teachers were trained to convey the underlying cyclical model and to develop homework exercises, quizzes, and a final examination in arithmetic skill. The control group of eight teachers gave the same homework assignments and tests but received no self-regulation training. The students in both experimental conditions kept diary accounts of SRL events.
Data Collection/Analysis Methods
The author used innovative qualitative as well as quantitative methods that included teacher and student data collection and different analysis methods (observation forms, portfolio assessments, interviews, and questionnaires) to measure SRL. Teachers in the SRL training condition gave students a copy of the cyclical model of self-regulation along with a picture of a ‘learning expert’, who recommended self-regulatory practices that the teacher modeled for them. Students were given daily feedback and were encouraged to set challenging goals and choose a specific strategy for themselves. Students in the experimental group were given points on the basis of their homework answers. The students were assessed in their interests, attitudes, and self-related cognition before and after a five week training program. The students’ calibration of the accuracy of their achievement was significantly correlated with their actual posttest score.
Instructional and ethical issues
Technology is a tool that can change the nature of ESL. However, the role of the teacher and instructor is critical in providing guidance and support to self-regulated academic learning.
Reflection - Questions
Were the studies of value? Why or why not? In previous study, Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner, Zimmerman (2002) showed that self-regulation learning (ESL) is not a mental ability or an academic performance skill; rather it is the self-directive process by which learners transform their mental abilities into academic skills. The author identified how a student’s use of specific learning processes, level of self-awareness, and motivational beliefs combine to produce self-regulated learners. In the most recent study, Zimmerman (2007) showed that when compared to control students, SRL trained students displayed significant increases in homework effectiveness, time management skills, a broad array of self-reflection measures, and math performance skill (in fact, the self-regulation training group passed an entrance exam for admittance to a higher level school, which was an increase of 50% compared to past cohort). Both studies were of value
What were the strengths of the two studies? Zimmerman (2000) showed that self-regulated, independent learners take responsibility for what they learn and he analyzed how far they can go with this knowledge. In the second study Zimmerman (2007) showed that (1) “gStudy environment” can provide students with many more ways to self-regulate their learning than provided by traditional instructional software, (2) the “think-aloud methodology” is an effective way to assess students’ self-regulatory processes online, (3) training in self-regulation learning and time-management skills can be implemented by teachers as part of their classroom assignments and strategic planning, and (4) the “micro-analytic methodology” (used to improve athletic skills) for assessing SRL processes and sources of motivation (goal setting and strategic planning, self-reflection, predictive sources of motivation) improve self-regulation. The results showed that the experimental group reported significantly greater increases in time management skill and self-reflection on their learning, homework effectiveness, time management skills, a broad array of self-reflection measures, and math performance skill, than the control group.
What were the limitations of the two studies? In general, there are still raising new questions for future research: more research is needed regarding the accuracy of students’ reports of using self-regulatory processes. In trying to answer the global question: How do students become masters of their own learning processes? Zimmerman (2007 says that “there was not a standardized measure of students’ writing achievement, and this limitation precluded determination of the effects of students’ SRL on their writing competence” (176). Students in the high and low-SRL classes did not display significant differences in measures of motivation (beliefs, values etc), which is attributed to the ineffectiveness of the measures.
How would you have changed the two studies to improve the quality and usefulness of the research? I would follow Zimmerman’s research approach (2007) and would take his suggestions. There is a need to (a) extend the use of the four ways to assess the effectiveness of academic interventions designed to motivate recalcitrant students to engage on SRL, (b) extend a micro analytic methodology to learning academic tasks over longer periods of time when students’ motivation is expected to wane, (c) apply additional measures of motivation and feelings, such as anxiety and goal orientation, (d) extend the “think-aloud methodology” to see if planning and motivation will emerge as significant predictors of students’ mental models study.
How would I incorporate the findings of the two studies into your classroom? I would provide innovative environment (gStudy software, think-aloud protocols, diaries of studying, direct observation, microanalyses measures) so that students become masters of their own learning process: SRL a “proactive processes that students use to acquire academic skill, such as setting goals, selecting and deploying strategies, and self-monitoring one’s effectiveness” (166).


Article Review # 3 by Nelson Dordelly-Rosales

Students’ Perceptions of Characteristics of Effective College Teachers: A Validity Study of a Teaching Evaluation Form Using a Mixed-Methods Analysis
By Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie; Ann E Witcher; Kathleen M T Collin; Janet D Filer; e al

Reference(s):

Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Witcher, A. E., Collin, K.M., Filer, J.D., et al. (2007). Students’ Perceptions of Characteristics of Effective College Teachers: Validity Study of a Teaching Evaluation Form Using a Mixed-Methods Analysis. American Educational Research Journal; 44 (1), 113-160

Suwandee, A. (1995). Students' perceptions of university instructors' effective teaching characteristics [Electronic version]. Studies in Language and Language Teaching Journal,5, 6-22

Overview
Onwuegbuzie, et al. (2007) assessed the content-related validity and construct-related validity of the Teaching Evaluation Form (TEF). Using sequential-mixed methods analysis lead the researchers to the development of a more complete form, the CARE-RESPECTED Model of Teaching Evaluation (CRMTE), which includes three of the least represented themes of the TEF: student-centered, enthusiast, and ethical. The words consistency, fair evaluator, and respectful describe the item ethical. The CRMTE is a useful data-driven test that will benefit all stakeholders –college administrators, teachers, and, above all, students.
Problem/Issue and the Importance/Significance
The problem was students’ perceptions of characteristics of effective college teachers: a validity study of a teaching evaluation form using a mixed-methods analysis. To Onwuegbuzie, et al. (2007) “the TEFs (a) are developed atheoretically and (b) omit what students deem to be the most important characteristics of effective college teachers” (p.151). In an era in which information gleaned from TEFs is used to make decisions about faculty, this potential threat to validity is disturbing and warrants further research.
Research Questions
What themes reflect effective college teachers as identified by students? What students’ attributes affect perceptions of effective college teachers? What is the content-related validity and construct-related validity pertaining to a TEF?
Sample and sample selection process
Participants were 912 undergraduate and graduate students (out of 8,555 students enrolled) from various academic majors enrolled at a public university in a mid-southern state of the United States. The sample represented 10.7% of the total population and reflected 68 degree programs offered by the university.
Data Collection and Analysis Methods
This study used a multistage mixed-methods analysis to collect and to assess the content-related validity and construct-related validity of TEF. The researchers approached instructors/professors before the study began to solicit participation of their students and thus maximize participation rate. The researchers collected qualitative data (e.g., respondents’ perceptions of the questionnaire), and quantitative data (e.g., response rate information, missing data information) before the study began (plot phase) and used member checking techniques to assess the appropriateness of the questionnaire and the adequacy of the time allotted to complete it, after the major data collection phases. A sequential mixed-methods analysis (SMMA) was undertaken to analyze students’ responses. The process included: data reduction, data display, data transformation, data correlation, data consolidation, data comparison and data integration. This analysis, incorporating both inductive and deductive reasoning, employed qualitative and quantitative data-analytic techniques.
Limitations/Delimitations/Assumptions
Because the sample represented students at a single university whose perspectives about effective teachers were gathered at a single point in time, the extent to which the present findings are generalizable to students from other institutions is not clear.
Trustworthiness/Validity Considerations
The focus of the study was on population validity, ecological validity, temporal validity and adequate external validity. The findings cast some serious doubt on the content-related validity and construct-related validity of TEF scores (e.g., endorsement of most themes varied by student attribute: gender, age). The validity of responses might have been affected by the fact that “the students’ perceptions were assessed via a relatively brief-self-report instrument” (p.144).
Reflection - Questions
Were the studies of value? Why or why not? Both studies were of great value. In the study by Suwandee (1995) data was obtained from 505 university students in the Faculty of Science. The results indicated that students considered an effective teacher as one who has a good knowledge of his/her subject and applies pedagogical skills, making difficult topics easy to understand and explains clearly; his/her personality is generous, willing to help students in and out of the classroom; and his/her research-teaching background shows a well-prepared instructor for class. Onwuegbuzie and others (2007) identified characteristics that students considered effective college teaching comprising four metha-themes, which were the following: communicator, advocate, responsible, and empowering, and nine themes comprising the following descriptors: responsive, professional, expert, connector, transmitter, director, enthusiast, student centered, and ethical. The researchers developed the CARE-RESPECTED Model of Teaching Evaluation (CRMTE) that emerged from the study, which included the last three descriptors, which were not represented in the TEF. These two studies have added to the current yet scant body of literature regarding the score validity of TEFs.
What were the strengths of the two studies? The studies examined students’ perceptions of characteristics of effective college teachers and the factors that are associated with their perceptions. The researchers used mixed methods for the rationale of optimizing participant enrichment, instrument fidelity and significance enhancement. Findings included a more complete test and the identification of prevalent characteristics, themes and metha-themes for faculty training.
What were the limitations of the two studies? Subjects in both studies were students of only one university. The results are, therefore, limited in their applicability to other institutions. For this reason, similar research studies should be repeated for students in other universities to determine whether their perceptions of effective teaching are similar to those obtained in those two studies. None of these studies found any relationship between GPA and students' perceptions of teaching characteristics. Further research studies should be carried out to determine if there is any relationship between both variables.
How would you have changed the two studies to improve the quality and usefulness of the research? The two studies illustrated how to use a multistage mixed-methods analysis to assess the validity of the teaching evaluation forms. Future research studies should be carried out using a multistage mixed-methods analysis and involve instructors as subjects to determine their perceptions of valued teaching characteristics. Conducting a study using both students and instructors in an educational institution as subjects would improve validity of results. The results obtained for each group can then be compared to determine whether any congruency or discrepancy is observable between students' and instructors' perceptions of effective teaching.
How would you incorporate the findings of the two studies into your institution? We should promote the highest academic standards in our teaching, our scholarship, and the connections between them. Specifically, I should be able to apply the characteristics of teaching that emerged from those studies. I would attempt to do similar research in my home institution. In Venezuela the current TEFs forms do not represent all characteristics that students consider to reflect effective college teaching. Findings regarding the characteristics of effective teaching can be inputs for faculty training. We should provide teaching support and conduct training for faculty, teaching assistants and librarians.

Article Review # 4 by Nelson Dordelly-Rosales
Can Teacher Education Make a Difference?
By Niels Brouwer and Fred Korthagen

References:

Brower, N., & Korthagen, F. (2005). Can Teacher Education Make a Difference?
American Educational Research Journal, 42 (1), 153-224

Crocker, R., & Dibbon, D. (2008). Teacher Education in Canada. Retrieved May 24, 2009
from www.saee.ca/pdfs/Teacher_Education_in_Canada.pdf

Problem/Issue and the Importance/Significance
Brower and Korthagen (2005) examined the graduates’ teaching competence originated from their pre-service programs, as observed in one university teacher education institution that aimed deliberately at integrating practice and theory. This longitudinal study of over a period of 4.5 years aimed to examine the impact of specific characteristics of the teacher education programs in the United States involving the integration of practical experience and theoretical study. The research model included eight variables: curriculum program conditions, non-curricular program conditions organization and content of activities during student teaching, organization and content of activities during college-based seminars, learning effects during pre-service programs, schools context factors during beginning teachers’ entry into the profession, beginning teachers’ experiences and options, learning effects during the first in-service years and personal background variables. The researchers demonstrated that occupational socialization in schools has a considerable influence on the development of graduates’ in-service competence (educating “innovative teachers”). They discussed specific ways in which pre-service teacher education can influence beginning teachers’ professional performance and competence development.
Research Questions
How does teaching competence develop over time? What are the relative influences of teacher education programs and occupational socialization in schools on the development of teaching competence? Which program characteristics are related to competence development? Does the program require beginning teachers to display, in real life situations, the competence that their pre-service programs aimed to foster?
Sample and sample selection process
The whole sample included “357 students, 128 cooperating teachers and 34 university supervisors from 24 graduate teacher education programs. On average, the beginning teachers in the sub sample had more teaching experience, ranging between 12 and 30 months after graduation, than those in the whole sub-sample, which ranged between 11 and 22 months after graduation”(Brower, & Korthagen, 2005, p.155). The reason is that the observations of and interviews with the beginning teachers in the sub-sample were based in part on their questionnaire responses. In order to ensure that sub- samples were representative as possible, the researchers applied several criteria, for example, the largest possible number of school subjects. From the total number of 31 university supervisors, those with the most professional experience were selected.
Data Collection Method/ Data Analysis Method
Quantitative survey data as well as in-depth qualitative data were collected using quantitative and qualitative methods: a longitudinal survey, interviews, observations, a written questionnaire (closed items), and classroom artifacts (program documents). The first step was to determine which activities were carried out in each program, in which order, and at which moments. Then all of the information was schematized. In the questionnaire, repeated measures were used to describe how the programs were implemented, to trace how the students experienced them, and to record their self-evaluations of their progress on the criterion variable. After graduating and finding work, the beginning teachers answered specific questions. After the programs had ended, the graduates completed one additional questionnaire (a few factual questions for those graduates who had not found work as beginning teachers). The University supervisors completed a questionnaire after completion of the entire program. Findings were reported from three epistemological perspectives: the ecological (collaboration and contextual conditions), the genetic (beginning teachers’ experiences) and the activity perspective (respondents’ actions in classroom and schools).
Reflection - Questions
Were the studies of value? Why? The study on teacher education in Canada by Crocker and Dibbon (2008) examined program structures, content emphasis and usefulness, perceptions of teaching knowledge and skill, the practicum experience, and the transition into the teaching profession. Among the important findings, the researchers found that (1) teacher education programs across Canada differ markedly in structure and duration, and (2) there were significant variations among the respondent groups’ perceptions of program content, emphasis, and quality. Relatively few (about 13%) graduates gave overall “excellent” ratings to their teacher education programs, while about half gave “good” ratings. To the researchers, those areas of content, knowledge and skill are highly valued in the field but are not being emphasized as strongly in teacher education programs as they might be. Brower and Korthagen (2005) in the United States analyzed the structure of teacher education programs. They found that those programs may be counterproductive to student teacher learning, and consequently, teacher educators may not display the best examples of good teaching. They also found that during and immediately after their pre-service programs, teachers experience a distinct attitude shift that entails an adjustment to teaching practices existing in schools. The authors showed that “integrative” theory-practice approaches in teacher education, in which student teachers’ practical experiences are closely linked to theoretical input, strengthen graduates’ innovative teaching competence.
What were the strengths of the two studies? Both studies are good longitudinal research that highlight the importance of integrating theory and practice in pre-service teacher education programs, and support the need for educating innovative teachers. Important suggestions for the design of teacher education programs and the conduct of teacher education research are drawn from both studies, for example, finding better ways to support and mentor novice teachers, developing stronger models of collaboration between the teachers and the institutions they serve, and developing a common vision for teacher education which articulates core content and competencies. Teacher education research should take a more longitudinal comparative approach.
What were the limitations of the two studies? Though large scale, longitudinal surveys may offer some advantages in terms of reducing validity threats, the literature suggests that researchers should prepare to deal with problems related with the longevity of longitudinal surveys. Some of the limitations were: resource restrictions, sample size, the absence of comparative information from other similar studies.
How would you have changed the two studies to improve the quality and usefulness of the research? I would take into account suggestions provided by the researchers: (1) refining the selection of respondents and measurement of criterion variables, (2) intensifying qualitative data collection during pre-service programs and carrying out repeated measurements and observations at increasing numbers of standardized moments after graduation, (3) developing a drop out study that can produce clues about differences between graduates who did and did not seek and find work as teachers that were associated with variables other than gender, number of applications, or progress during the pre-service program.
How would you incorporate the findings of the two studies into your classroom? Repeated cross-sectional studies or more longitudinal studies would be of great value in examining trends in teacher education. I would like to be engaged in longitudinal research, particularly the cohort study. We should focus into the ways in which prospective teachers learn from practice and develop competence and positive attitudes. The goal should be to equip teachers for entry into the teaching profession encompassing problem-based learning, authentic contexts and materials.
Reflective Summary of 4 articles
In the first article, Hadjionannou (2007) argued that the best way to understand the educational phenomenon is to view it in its context. To that end, she used different qualitative approaches such as recorded class sessions, interviews, and field notes. As a result she found important elements that appeared to be related to the students’ involvement in dialogic discussions and the social relationships in the classroom. She provided descriptions of classroom environment that supports authentic discussions. In the second article, Zimmerman (2008) used qualitative approaches such as portfolio assessments, direct participant observation and survey questionnaires. The focus was on the development of online measures of self-regulatory learning (SRL) processes and motivational feelings using innovative methods such as computer traces (gStudy software), think-aloud protocols, diaries of studying, direct observation, and microanalysis measures. This study adopted an inductive approach to its reasoning; observations were made from data collected through survey questionnaires, and then sought to work towards a theoretical integration of what it had found. Therefore, the study moved from the data to a theory and vice versa. The focus was on the uniqueness of the students in the self-regulation training group. The results revealed that students in the training group reported the greater increase in time management skill and self reflection on their learning than those in the control group.
In sum, both qualitative studies tended to be oriented toward individuals and case studies. They allowed for a richer analysis of subjects and for information to be gathered that would otherwise be entirely missed by a quantitative approach. The qualitative research focused on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what people did and said, involving a continual interplay between theory and analysis. In analyzing qualitative data, the researchers discovered patterns such as changes over time or possible causal links between variables. The findings were a personal construction of how researchers viewed events and their job was to persuade us that their interpretation was valid. From the phenomenological point of view, the authors held that the subjects’ perceptions define reality.
In the last articles the authors applied quantitative research methods. Onwuegbuzie et al. (2007) developed a validity study of a teaching evaluation form (TEF). The researchers assessed 912 College students’ perceptions through a survey questionnaire. As a result, the researchers identified a list of characteristics that students considered descriptors of effective college teaching, three of which were not represented in the TEF. The researchers were able to develop a new and more complete form called the CARE RESPECTED Model of Teaching Evaluation (CRMTE). Brouwer and Korthagen (2005) developed a longitudinal study of a period of 4.5 years using questionnaires, interviews, observations and analysis of classroom artifacts to find out if occupational socialization in schools has a considerable influence on the development of graduate teachers’ in-service competence. The researchers quantified the variables of interest and examined the relationships between the variables mathematically through statistical analysis. The researchers showed that “integrative” theory-practice approaches in teacher education strengthen graduates’ innovative teaching competence. Quantitative research methods in both studies, simply put, were about numbers, objective hard data, quantitative and statistically valid results. Tools were used to minimize any bias in collecting information. The studies involved gathering data that is absolute such as numerical data, testing hypotheses, promoting its supposed neutrality.
In conclusion, researchers showed how to work collaboratively across qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. Mixed research rests on rich and varied approaches, which come from multiple disciplines to address different research topics.