When I Think of Research.....

This research class has been both challenging and rewarding.  For me that is the perfect combination for learning.  Initially, I struggled with the vocabulary and understanding concepts.  After a few weeks, and a lot of re-reading chapters, things started to make sense. Before this class, reading research was like reading a foreign language.  Now when I read research articles, I recognize vocabulary and understand the objectives of the research.  The biggest lesson I learned about this class is research is a process and a science.  I especially enjoyed the week by week research simulation. It gave the class a hands on approach.

Thank you to my classmates for sharing their perspectives and ideas.  I look forward to continuing to share ideas with you all in future classes.  Finally, many thanks to Dr. Dartt.  I appreciate your experience and commitment to the course and the class. 

Research Around the World

 
            The international website related to early childhood I chose to explore is Early Childhood Australia found at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ .  This website is full of pertinent, up-to-date information and easy to navigate.  A current international research topic is Play and quality in early childhood:  Educating superheroes and fairy princesses. I thought this was a great, attention getting research sentence. 

The more I explore early childhood in other countries, the more I see similarities in the early childhood field.  The issues relating to early childhood appear to be the same just under different circumstances related to location, social norms, culture, etc. 

Although there are several opportunities to buy books, newsletters and other material related to early childhood, the website has a section entitled, “Supporting Best Practice.”  Included in this section are hundreds of links to free fact sheets and papers related to different early education topics.  There were also related links that seemed to be interesting.

Reference
Early Childhood Australia, http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au