Reflection (week 5)

When I began this course, the idea of a research inquiry overwhelmed me. Like most students, I imagined hours and hours in the library doing research. As we began the first assignment, I was wondering why the technology students were taking this course because this appeared to be beneficial to principals who want to make changes. After some reading, discussion on the board, and participating in the blogs; I have to admit I began to see a new side to the research inquiry process.

During week 1 the first thing we were required to explain was the difference between action research and traditional educational research. What I learned is that I, along with most of my classmates, had no understanding of action research or administrative inquiry. Traditional educational research utilizes outside people to determine an outcome that is to be implemented by the staff. Adminnistrative inquiry on the other hand, utilizes the inside staff to research, determine a course of action, and implement that action plan. In other words, administrative inquiry keeps the entire process within the walls of the school and traditional educational research brings in outside experts. Administrative inquiry requires the administrators and teachers to challenge the standard of "that's the way we have always done it" and think outside the box. Since the entire process is done within the school walls, the intent is that the teachers and administrators are more receptive because they have been involved in the entire process and have ownership as well as the fact that they do not have an outsider coming in to tell them what they are doing wrong. I like to think of it as I personally learn better by doing rather than by someone else giving me instructions. I like to be involved and I have a better understanding. The administrative inquiry does just that, it gives us a chance to learn from doing.

I also gained a new respect for online learning through this process. Often I am asked a variety of questions regarding online classes by employees who want to go back to school. One question that always comes up is how you participate in discussions when you are not all signed in at the same time and you are not in a room together. Naturally I explain how the discussion boards work and how I find that my discussions in my online clases are more in depth on the boards then when I sit in a classroom because we are not limited by time and no one is embarrassed to talk since we are required to make posts. The discusssions in this class allowed me an inside view of the school from the teachers point of view (my classmates) and they shared real life examples and problems. The discussion board allowed my classmates to respond to my discussions with real examples that I would not normally have the ability to hear or understand. That alone furthers my understanding of the class material and makes online learning beneficial and was critical to my understanding of the inquiry process.

During this class we went beyond the discussion boards and were required to blog. Oour blogs allowed me to get a feel for outher classmates projects and viewpoints as well as to ask questions relating to their inquiries. What a great way to understand a project, by having working examples and the ability to ask questions and make suggestions. This allows me to create an inquiriy and include feedback from my classmates who have experience as teachers, somthing I am lacking, and gives my work more credibility as well as helps me to think outside the box. The blogs and discussions also allowed me to feel more like a part of the class because I was able to share my view as an employer in the workforce and discuss issues I see with recent high school graudates that help the teachers look at their project from a new prospective.

When I made it approximaely half way through the research courese, I began to get a bigger view of the course and how the information I read in the books, discussions and blogs would benefit me in my current position as a Human Resources Manager and Training Facilitator. I found the steps that help a teacher or principal make inquiries into a process, could also easily be implemented in my current job. Every day I am bombarded with inquiries and suggestions. Often I find some of the suggestions or inquiries worthy of further review, however many get lost in the overwhelming process of searching for a solution. The action inquiry process allows me to transition from wondering to inquiry to possible solution. I now have the knowledge and tools (an actual chart to utilize) to organize the inquiry and end up with results within a specified timeframe. I believe this will help me to learn more about my own abilities and challenge me to increase my knowledge and skills all while preparing me to organize suggestions and wonderings into a clear report to support my findings that I can present to my management staff.