Research Completion
Research completion is a contradiction in terms. ETEC 500 is now complete. My discovery at the end of this course journey is that research is never complete. Research continues, since good research links forward to further questions. A research report, journal article or presentation at a conference, leads to other questions. Thus, ‘research completion’ is an oxymoron.
During the last three months, I have examined and read in depth about research in general, and into the specific research relating to the use of electronic portfolios within a faculty of education. My understanding of both topics has been extended and expanded yet leaving me knowing I know so little about each. So my work to learn more will never be complete.
What I Have Learned about Researchers and Research
1. Researchers are storytellers and good research reports are stories told in compelling and dramatic fashion.
2. Researchers need an audience. Research reports are meant to be read, reviewed and initiate reflection.
3. Researchers have a tribe. Research reports share the adventures and events of the tribe.
4. Researchers work with the past, present and future. Research reports bring the past into focus, bring a lens to the present and look through the glass to what may be.
5. Researchers seek better answers by asking good questions. Research reports share the cyclic journey from one answer, to new questions, to better answers, leading to more questions.
6. Researchers feed the mind by enhancing the senses. Research reports are food for thought and enlighten sight, sound, taste, and feelings relating to the meal presented.
7. Researchers change minds, their own and others. Research reports resound or reflect within the mind and shape thinking about the topic that is investigated.
Each of these lessons learned will be expanded and insights explained in the following days. They are linked here.
What I Have Learned about Electronic Portfolios
1. Electronic portfolios present stories, shared in compelling and dramatic fashion.
2. Electronic portfolios need an audience. Purpose and design shifts based on audience and intention. Reflection is a key ingredient.
3. Electronic portfolios link individuals to their tribe. It shares the adventures and events of the individual and the tribe.
4. Electronic portfolios examine the past, present current events and imagine the future. Writing within the portfolio brings the past into focus, examines the present through a personal lens and looks through the glass to future directions and actions.
5. Electronic portfolios help individuals seek better answers by asking good questions. They share the cyclic journey from one answer to new questions.
6. Electronic portfolios feed the mind by enhancing the senses. Portfolio entries provide food for thought and enlighten sight, sound, taste, and feelings relating to the meal prepared.
7. Electronic portfolios, if done well, change the minds of those who create them. Reflection, as defined by John Dewey and Donald Schon, changes the mind and clarifies thought.
My interest in this particular area comes from my earlier work on mentoring and how to support mentoring relationships in education. My focus has shifted since my personal work journey has shifted. Now, mentoring needs to begin as soon as a candidate is accepted into a faculty of education and continued into their first teaching positions, whatever those may be. It needs to be a life-long journey of partnership, relationship and sharing. The electronic portfolio, as a tool to capture teaching repertoires, becomes the focus of the conversation.
My focus questions for this section will be “What? So What? Now What?”. Each question will be answered in detail in other posts found here.