When you think of research, do you think it’s about getting answers? Me, I think it’s about asking questions. From the Dept of Better Late than Never, here’s the melon squeezing post for the day:
On Research
How do we study Distance Education? If you buy into the notion that all education is at a distance, the answer becomes at once simpler and more complex. Simpler, because it means we don’t need any special Secret Knowledge. More complex, because it means we have to create mental models of this stuff that work regardless of delivery channel.
The question is one that I wrestle with every day. In a way it forms the basis of a whole research agenda — one so broad I won’t live long enough to cover it, but which needs examination. When you commit to a philosophy of “Question Everything,” then what becomes solid enough to base future knowledge on? What constitutes a valid question?
November 8th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
I don’t think I agree with the “Questiong Everything.” We have to look at something and say this is what we basing future knowledge on. For instance, I am not questioning anything. I want to look at my students, I want to find some quanititative way to test basic skills. Next I want to present new skills, have the students use these skills, hopefully some will master some skills, and then test again. There is my solid base. My base is what is in front of me. I will question as I go along. I know that I am oversimlifying this, but come one, questioning everything? You will drive yourself crazy.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
[...] phaedrus » Blog Archive » Research Asks Questions phaedrus » Blog Archive » Research Asks Questions I agree, although I must admit I never thought of Research as asking questions more towards answering the questions that I have. i am a person who does question everything, I am repeatly saying that I am not a mindless robot. I want to know why, how when and so forth. i teach the same to my kids. If everyone takes everything as is and does not question then there will never be change or anything new. I am have not competely changed my mind about research being the means to answers for the moment, til new questions and research provide different or new answers. [...]
November 10th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I think that in the field of education, there is often not enough questioning going on. I have noticed that there are trends (and even tools) that come in and out of fashion, and many folks in our field tend to leap on to the bandwagon like nobody’s business. When I was completing my first graduate degree it was WebQuests, WebQuests, WebQuests. Now it’s podcasts, podcasts, podcasts. I’ve been force fed behaviorism, then constructivism, and who knows what it will be next. However, as an educator, I think it is critically important to question things, otherwise I will never arrive at a personal philosophy that I feel invested in, or believe is valid. Still, even though I find questioning important, all of us establish a minimal amount of buy in with theorists. Otherwise, we wouldn’t teach the way we do at all. The sure fire way to know what a teacher or professor believes is this- hold the figurative mirror up to how they actually teach.
November 10th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
And, as somebody has already pointed out, I’m crazy.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
You? Crazy? Nah. Come by my house at 8:30 PM on a weeknight, and I’ll show ya crazy.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I agree with your ‘mindless robot’ theory, I often struggle with this myself. I worry that questioning too much prohibits me from forming a real opinion about things. I naturally question everything, and sometimes even when I have a firm belief on something I just enjoy a good debate. I don’t think that questioning everything leaves us mindless, I think if nothing else it forces us to look at everything from more than one angle.
So, in keeping with tradition I have a question. Why do we follow certain ‘traditions’ in education even when they don’t work? Is it because it’s all we know or is it because we aren’t brave enough to do anything else?We don’t question some of the more important things and we beat others like a dead horse.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:33 am
“Questioning everything” for me is basically the same thing that I do when I check my email. Whether or not I hit the delete button depends on the answers to the questions, “Is this important?”, “Do I need this?”, “Will I use this?”, “Is this old information in a new package?”. When I hear or read about some new educational concept based on research, I really hope it passes these screening tests, because I am always open for something that will help improve my teaching ability. If it does, then I begin to look at it closely and really question it. Since very few ideas make it to this point with me, I don’t go crazy by questioning everything. I guess you could say that my philosophy is to screen everything and then question what is left.