- My current research idea is the one I decided on at the beginning of the semester. I will look for the pros and cons of virtual vs in-person learning for middle school students.
- I want to put together an experiment that looks at the virtual resources middle school math students are using and how they affect their understanding of math concepts. This incorporates both my current profession and my major. I want to find out if technology and online resources are beneficial to students or if they do better with face-to-face instruction.
- Do middle school students demonstrate higher mastery of mathematical concepts when learning virtually vs learning in-person?
- Is there a difference in online vs. in-person students’ engagement levels?
- There hasn’t been a ton of research on this subject because exclusively virtual learning is fairly new. I found an article called Evaluation students experiences using a virtual learning environment: Satisfaction and preferences that studies college students and their perceptions of virtual learning (Hamutoglu et al., 2020). I have started skimming through a few others but don’t know enough about them to commit to them right now.
- Three databases that I will use for my research:
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- Education Full Text(H.W. Wilson)- this covers all things education and can be searched alongside other Ebsco databases to ensure I’m getting as much information as possible.
- Computer Source- I was able to find a few articles that discuss technology and virtual learning. I haven’t read through them yet but they seem like a good starting point.
- Education Professional Development Collection- this database has some cool titles that I want to check out. I’ve seen a lot of articles that mention learning and virtual reality and I’d like to explore that more.
References
Hamutoglu, Nazire Burcin, Gemikonakli, Orhan, Duman, Ibrahim, . . . Mubin. (2020). Evaluating students experiences using a virtual learning environment: Satisfaction and preferences. Educational Technology Research & Development, 68(1), 437-463. doi:11423.1556-6501
Hello Monica,
I am watching your research project unfold with great interest. Your premise is comprehensive and I understand clearly the steps you are going to take so far. As we learn more about research methods, I have no doubt we will have to adjust to add relevant concepts to our plans. I think your emphasis on large-scale vs personal scale learning is important. From what I am reading, I get that you are acknowledging that some students may perform better in one learning model vs the other but you will also be looking at the student bodies as a whole to see where the performance peaked. The databases are hard to define because they are often ‘part of a whole’ and I am unsure if we should specify the whole database or the sections within them but you seem to have found useful links. It seems as if this week we will have more time allotted to find solid resources within the databases. I think when it comes to mathematics learning online the biggest challenge is factors that educators can not control such as noises, internet issues and other distractions. A large part of my own education has taken place on deployments surrounded by obnoxious noise begging entities for just a few hours of decently working wi-fi.
Monica
Very excited what you come up with on this topic. I know you said you are doing it for middle school age, but I have twins that are in Kindergarten and let just say the virtual learning thing was a nightmare. Im curious how different it is for middle school age.
This is a good topic for study especially now. It will be interesting to see what the effects of the virtual learning that has occurred this year will be. The availability of technology has made it possible for more people to learn online than ever before. The specific topic of middle school students would I imagine be significantly different since they are the first level that can at least theoretically work on their own with minimal supervision. Have you managed to find anything related to how parent work schedules effect the amount of time that students work on their homework? Would be interesting to see if parent availability during school time effects grades or if it does not. Another thing you may look into is the proliferation of videoconferencing apps. I know that some districts are using them as a way to ensure that students are actually working during school time. Would also be interesting to see if that makes grades higher or if the students are less likely to listen to someone who is a voice on a screen.