Week #3 Reflection

Week #3 Reflection

This week my assignment was to research twenty articles and create an annotated bibliography. The topic I selected to research was parental involvement.  Since parental involvement is a huge concern at my school I was especially interested in this topic. This was a one-week assignment. It was turned in on time.

I now have a better understanding of parental involvement and how various strategies can be implemented at a school-wide-district, classroom and teacher level. This pertains to my literature review because I am focusing on using technology and social media to increase parental involvement. This is an important component of my research. However, I feel that there is more research, especially of Epstein’s model, that I would like to research further.

This assignment was similar to past assignments because I completed an annotated bibliography the week before. I feel that I was able to read the articles with greater understanding. This is a skill that will continue to develop over time. The more practice I have at doing this the more proficient I will become.  I also have found that dissertations are extremely detailed and I almost prefer reading them to the journal articles because it provides many pertinent details the journal articles don’t often include.

I utilized Googledocs. as a working document for this assignment.  I found that is was extremely easy for me to edit.  I also used the same template as the previous week that I will continue to use. 

  

In some cases methodologies are not clearly stated nor the limitations of the study.  It is important to understand that there are always limitations to a study.  Having and understanding of the various methodologies and an understanding of their strength and weakness will benefit me in reading all types of research.  For the next assignment, I would like to make a graphic organizer that summaries the methodologies and their strengths and weakness.

  

For the next assignment, which consists of another twenty annotated bibliographies, I am still unsure of other areas of research I would like to read.  I am questioning whether I should compile more research on parental involvement and social media. I am also interested the relevance and use of technology in general and why it would be a good fit to use as a communication tool to increase parental involvement.   I think I am going to look at all the topics because I know there is still a wealth of information and research that I have not been covered in my research.