Chosen Topic
The topic I ended up selecting for the research simulation is the effect of stress on brain development in early childhood. I chose this topic first of all because I find brain development to be a very interesting and fascinating topic. I also believe that if we learn about the development of the brain and the areas in life that affect it, then we will be able to create strategies and interventions that could allow us to better help children. I personally believe that the stress and trauma that children undergo in early childhood has a direct link to their developing brain and my hope is to find out the ways that the brain is affected by stress and if there are any strategies or interventions already in place to help manage these effects. Understanding the brain and its development helps us to understand children which will help educators become more effective in their jobs (at least I hope it allows me to become more effective).
Personal Experience with the Process
So far my experience with the simulation process has been really informative. I am learning about different areas of brain development and how these areas affect the brain. I think the hardest part of the process so far was to narrow my subject down into three subtopics and then to have to pick one out of those three. I believe that all of the subtopics are of importance so it was difficult to pick one. In the end I just picked the one that I had the most interest in and the one that I thought played a direct role in the development of the brain. I have found it helpful to study the Practical Guide to Reading Research Articles because up to this point I have dreaded reading research articles. I am always ok at the beginning and the end but in those middle sections where they list all of the charts and numbers, I tend to get lost. The Guide has been really helpful in telling me where to look to find the information that I need. The literature review section was also helpful because we were given examples to look at and study and examples help me learn. I can definitely say that my experience up to this point has been enlightening and educational.
Insights Gained
The insight that I have gained from constructing the research chart is that there are always terms in research that we might not understand and it is important to figure out the meaning and then see how that meaning relates to the research that is being done. I enjoy learning, so studying these new words is interesting to me. I think the greatest insight I have gained so far in this course though is in evaluating web pages. I am not a very technologically advanced person and so I just assumed what I read online was fact based. I am so glad that this course has taught me other wise. I have learned a great deal from the criteria we were given to find validity in research articles and especially credibility of web pages. I am keeping this paper right beside my computer so that I can now use it whenever I go online to search anything.
Advice to Give or Any to Share?
If any of you would have advice or insight to share that could help with this process of research, I am open to any that you have. I have completed research before but with the advancement of technology I am finding that there are new seas I have yet to charter. I am working my way through it but if any of you are technology whizzes I would appreciate any resources you can offer. I think the best resource that I can offer so far in this journey for research is Google Scholar. I found this website very helpful in finding articles that I could use. I also think that in making references or citing references, Son of Citation Machine is very useful because it gives you the recent APA format. You can find this at: http://citationmachine.net/index2.php
Good luck everyone in your continuation with this process and if I can be of any help please don't hesitate to ask!
Hi Val, I think that this is an interesting topic? Is there any particular type of stress you will focus on or are you looking at stress in general? I have not read too much about the impact of stress on brain development in children. I worked with adults that had traumatic brain injuries before moving to Connecticut and it was very interesting to see the variety of levels of damage done and the various kinds of stressors that caused the brain injuries. I look forward to reading about your research and the information you find on the topic! Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteHi val,
ReplyDeleteYour research topic is critical, especially to early childhood educators. My advice to you though is to further develop your research question. I know it is hard, but you have to specify the type of stress you are researching. There is positive and negative stress. I think you are referring to toxic stress and its effect on the developing brain of young children. I completely agree with you regarding the course’s guide on reading research articles, I felt that I was cheating when I skipped the middle section of research papers, I am glad to know that it is okay to do so. Good luck!