Workshop Information
NEERO is pleased to offer several pre-conference workshops taking place on Wednesday, May 2, 2012.
The information on each of the workshops is presented below:
1. Introduction to Secondary Data Analysis Using Large-scale Datasets (12:30-2:30pm; Presenters: Judy Tang and Suzanne Graham)
2. Communicating Effectively with Millennials: Using Non synchronous Communication and Content Sharing in a One-to-many Mode from Instructor to Students; Why and How? (2:30-4:30pm; Presenter: Balaguruprasad Narayanan)
3. Unpacking the Elusive Grammar of Cultural Capital through Systemic Functional Linguistics (12:30-4:30pm; Presenter: J. Andrés Ramírez)
4. Introduction to In-Depth Interviewing as a Method of Qualitative Research (12:30-4:30pm; Presenter: Irv Seidman)
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Workshop Title: Introduction to Secondary Data Analysis Using Large-scale Datasets
Workshop Description: The workshop is an introduction to secondary data analysis using state-level, national, and international large-scale datasets. Specific objectives of the workshop aim to orient participants to various sources of secondary datasets, the availability of the data sources (i.e. public versus restricted use), different types of variables or information collected through quantitative research methodologies, advantages and disadvantages of secondary data analysis, and questions to consider when selecting secondary datasets. A discussion on the basic concepts and steps involved in undertaking meaningful analysis of secondary data will be included.
The first half of the workshop will focus on the basic knowledge and understanding about what secondary data analysis is and why researchers may consider secondary data analysis using large-scale datasets. We will begin with a general description on the concept of secondary data analysis and a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of using secondary data. Participants will be asked to brainstorm secondary data sources that may be familiar to them and share their thoughts. A list of common sources of large-scale data or information collected through national and international efforts will be presented and examined.
The second half of the workshop will focus on where to locate secondary datasets, the basic elements of secondary data analysis, examples of research studies that used secondary data, and questions to consider for secondary data analysis. We will continue with the list of common sources of secondary data and use the internet to locate datasets on the NCES website (http://nces.ed.gov/). Participants will be asked to list some research questions they may have related to educational research. Use of personal laptops is strongly encouraged for the second half of the workshop. Participants will partake in a short hands-on activity in which they will check the availability of the data sources, practice selecting variables, and generating simple statistical tables. The workshop will end with a succinct discussion on the common questions to consider for evaluating the quality of secondary data, possible solutions in handling data limitations, and potential questions or issues related to IRB approval
Duration: 2 hours (12:30pm – 2:30pm)
Presenters: Judy H. Tang (judyhtang@gmail.com), Dept of Education, UNH
Suzanne E. Graham (Suzanne.Graham@unh.edu), Dept of Education, UNH
Judy Tang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Education at the University of New Hampshire. Her research interests include achievement motivation, student engagement in traditional classroom contexts, and the development of student academic identity. Judy also performs secondary data analysis on national and international large-scale data sets examining relationships between various student- and school-level variables, and student academic outcomes.
Suzanne Graham, Ed.D., is an assistant professor of education at the University of New Hampshire. A major focus of her research is on the application of quantitative methods, such as individual growth modeling, survival analysis, and multilevel modeling to educational research. Suzanne also conducts research on equity and access issues in mathematics education.
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Workshop Title: Communicating Effectively with Millennials: Using Non synchronous Communication and Content Sharing in a One-to-many Mode from Instructor to Students; Why and How?
Workshop Description:Workshop participants will learn strategies to improve one-to-many communication using smart phones and other cloud computing tools with a PC or a Mac. The session will focus on the use of course management and social networking tools.
With the advent of hand held devices that allow people to use a myriad of functions, students have been at the forefront of technology adoption and use. Research has shown that some of the devices that students use better and more effectively compared to professors include, cell phones, personal media players, internet tablets, tablet computers, net books and laptops. The devices in themselves have ushered in new technology that was not available twenty years ago. The focus of the workshop is to show how faculty can use these devices.
Students use basic cell phones to send text messages. If the cell phone has a data plan, they are able to browse the web. Increasingly students can browse the internet, download apps, and communicate with their friends using social networking sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, twitter and other chat services such as G-Talk, Yahoo Messenger and others. Students can watch YouTube videos on their phones. This convenience has brought along with it an unparalleled level of accessibility to information previously unavailable in terms of quantity, variety and instantaneousness. Faculty can use the forms of communication that students are adept at and enjoy to allow them to reach students better.
Statistics indicate that students spend 9 hours a week on social networking, 17.5 hours a week watching television, 1.5 hours a week studying for undergrad courses but send a unique text message every 18 minutes. These statistics lay bare the millennial generation’s preference for modes of communication. If faculty can tap into the communication potential that the students prefer, course material or updates delivery could possibly be made more effective.
Edmodo is a technology akin to Twitter, but with an educational focus. Edmodo allows users to register as instructors or students. For focused communication among groups with twitter, an instructor would need to create different accounts for each course and each student with a twitter account would need to register as a follower. If student to student communication was to be possible as well, then each student would have to follow every other student. With Edmodo, each faculty and student can create one account and subscribe just to the course groups that faculty create to allow for communication with each other.
BlackBoard alerts is a feature in Blackboard that allows students to enter their mobile phone number in a course alert system. If a faculty member posts a new announcement, the students who have subscribed get a text message or an SMS alert on their mobile phones, allowing them to be informed about course progress. Some universities allow students to use the BlackBoard mobile application which is available for Android or the Apple I-Phone.
TeacherTube is a website akin to YouTube, which allows teachers to post videos for courses. The website does not have a 20 minute limit like YouTube and it allows students to subscribe to the video posts as well. Teachers can group their videos by course and control access to each individual video based on enrolled members.
Other tools that may be demonstrated and discussed time permitting are Facebook, Dropbox, Twitter, Peep and Plurk.
The session will begin with a demonstration, followed by questions and answers and time for practice. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops/net books and/or smart phones.
Duration: 2 hours (2:30-4:30pm)
Presenter: Balaguruprasad Narayanan (bnarayanan@Sycamores.indstate.edu)
Balaguruprasad Narayanan is a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana State University and works at the institution’s Instructional and Information Technology Center (IITS) and the Instructional Resource Center (IRC) at the College of Education. He has also taught a 200 level “Classroom Technology” class and a 200 level “Elementary Class Assessment design” class. His research interests include the use of communication technology in facilitating teaching and learning in education. Balaguruprasad was a presenter at last year’s NEERO conference.
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Workshop Title: Unpacking the Elusive Grammar of Cultural Capital through Systemic Functional Linguistics
Workshop Description: Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a state-of-the-art approach that teachers can use to unpack academic language and advance students’ proficiency in the language of school. It is also and approach that scholars can use to conduct in depth analysis instrumental in identifying textual mechanisms of deception, resistance and/or hope and liberation. Anchored in the robust scholarship of SFL, a functional grammar is a grammar of meaning concerned with language as it is used in everyday, academic and technical contexts. Widely used in Australia and different parts of the English-speaking world with impressive results for both English Language Learners and native speakers, functional grammar highlights a context dependent system of linguistic choices for making meaning rather than a narrow set of prescriptive grammatical rules with the aim of unpacking the grammar of academic texts often elusive to the disenfranchised.
- Learn how this approach builds upon and/or extends sociocultural theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, Ethnography, and Sociolinguistics among others.
- Learn how teachers using this approach analyze learner’s texts to transform students’ written and spoken language.
Duration: 4 hours (12:30-4:30pm)
Presenter: J. Andrés Ramírez (jramirez@ric.edu)
J. Andrés Ramírez is an assistant professor in the Educational Studies Department and coordinator of the English as a Second Language (ESL) Intensive Program at Rhode Island College. Andrés has taught ESL and teacher education courses in adult education and higher education institutions both in his native Colombia and the United States. His scholarship interests include Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Ethnography, Genre-Based Pedagogy, Teaching English as a Second Language, and the development of academic literacy for language minority students.
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Workshop Title: Introduction to In-Depth Interviewing as a Method of Qualitative Research
Workshop Description: This workshop is a hands-on introduction to in-depth interviewing as a means of doing qualitative research. The workshop will integrate presentation, discussion, and practice interviewing. We will focus on basic assumptions of a phenomenological approach to interviewing, interviewing technique, and through discussion of the practice interviewing, issues inherent in qualitative research.
Duration of the Workshop: 4 hours (12:30-4:30pm including 15 minutes break)
Presenter: Irv Seidman (seidman@educ.umass.edu)
Irv Seidman is Professor Emeritus, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the author of Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences, 3rd Edition, Teachers College Pres
