Introduction Congratulations! Now is a time to start reflecting on all you have experienced in our course. You have accomplished plenty of new learning through the implementation of your applied resea

Introduction

Congratulations! Now is a time to start reflecting on all you have experienced in our course. You have accomplished plenty of new learning through the implementation of your applied research.

This final unit affords you the opportunity to reflect not only on the Program Learning Outcomes but also on your applied research as it relates to current educational movements.

As you prepare to move into the capstone course, please make sure you have updated and organized your electronic portfolio as this is one of the major project submissions in the capstone course.  With the writing and research requirements of your applied research paper, you will have very limited time to concentrate on your portfolio. Plan ahead!

question

Teachers have a powerful role in the classroom and the larger school community. School teachers, administrators, and educators/ trainers make countless decisions each day that affect many people. As such, it is important for educators to ground their decisions in research. When we can ground our decisions in research-based best practices, a shift in designing curriculum and managing resources can transpire. By shifting our thoughts to research, teacher leaders and administrators can widely impact school goals ranging from improved teaching practices to shaping professional development needs around classroom and community relations.

• Using information, you gathered from this course citing at least two sources (using APA formatting), as well as applied knowledge from your own experiences, provide an analysis of at least three paragraphs on the following question:
  • Why is it important to use research to make decisions in professional settings?

Reading Assignment

1. Alexander, K. (2014, November 14). Why sharing your research with the public is as necessary as doing the research itself. Digital Science. https://www.digital-science.com/blog/guest/why-sharing-your-research-with-the-public-is-as-necessary-as-doing-the-research-itself/

• In this blog, Stogios discusses how sharing research is important in the academic community as it brings forth answers to questions other researchers may have.

2. Dynarski, M. (2015, December 10). Using research to improve education under the every student succeeds act. https://www.brookings.edu/research/using-research-to-improve-education-under-the-every-student-succeeds-act/

• The above is an executive summary discussing how research can be used to ensure that the Every Student Succeeds Act

3. Gokhale, A. A. (1995). Collaborative learning enhances critical thinking. Journal of Technology Education, 7(1). http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html

• The above article discusses the need for collaboration in the school to ensure critical thinking is transpiring.

4. Kane, T. J. (2016). Connecting to practice. Education Next. http://educationnext.org/connecting-to-practice-put-education-research-to-work/

• This article discusses how we can use research to connect to practice.

5. The basic principles for a collaborative workplace. (n.d.). Available here.

• The above article reviews the key principals to effective collaboration in the workplace, specifically in regard to research.

6. The leadership motivation assessment. (n.d.). MindTools. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_01.htm

• This is an assessment to determine your motivation as a leader. Something that is important to understand when conducting research with a team.