Blog #8-Develop a Research Project

I have decided that I am going to do my research project on television and children; educational programs vs noneducational-pros and cons.

Formulate a research plan:

I want to see the effects that television has on children. The educational programs vs the noneducational programs; the pros and cons to both sides.

I will need to gather information on both sides; educational programs vs noneducational.
Some references that I have discovered are:

• University of Michigan Health System; www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm. Questions from this cite; What do I need to know about children and TV?; How big a presence is TV in kids lives?; Does TV effect kids brain development?
• WebMD-8 Top Educational TV Programs; Sesame Street, Beekman's World, Between the Lions, etc. http://children.webmd.com/news/20081112/8-top-educational-kids-tv-shows-listed.

This is just a two sites that I have found. I will discuss programs that have negative effects on children; cartoons, sitcoms, etc. I will do further research to find more references.

I will be studying my own child age 9, and a observe 3 of my nieces that range in age from 2 to 5.

I will conduct my research through observations, interviews, textual analysis, and Internet sources.

Blog #7: Draft Research Plan

The topic that I am thinking about doing research on is how television and video games effect a child's education-positive and negative views.

1. Familiarize yourself with your topic:
I did look up some information on Google and came across an article written by Heather L. Kirkorian and others, from Princeton University. It explains how prosocial media can be positive (cognitive development and academic success) while violent games are the opposite.
What types of prosocial television programs are good for children?
What types of television programs are not good for children?
How are prosocial programs beneficial to children's academic learning?
How are violent programs negatively impacting the children?
What do parents need to know?
What do teachers need to know?

2. Identify a research question:
I would like to ask the question, "What are the positive and negative effects of media on children?".  I will use the questions mentioned above. Plus:
Are there any educational values in television and video games?
Are there positive effects on video games? What are they?
Why has ADHD been linked to video games?
Are children's learning abilities being effected, positive or negative?
What types of television is bad?
What type of television is good?
        
3. Decide what you need to know in order to answer your research question:
I need to know as much as I can about the educational programs out there, as well as the negative ones; including both video games and television.   

According to Heather L. Kirkorian, from Princeton University, claims that television can be beneficial to children, but it should be well designed, age appropriate and have educational content. What types of shows? Seasame Street and  Barney, to name two.

According to the Science Daily, ADHD can be linked to television as well as video games. How? Television is constantly changing, for example commericals and scenes, the children are used to a fast paced world and when it comes to school they have a hard time adjusting. In many schools they do not have new technology that the children are used to, which in turn makes them focus less. I will go into deeper detail on this subject.

4. Formulate a research plan that includes:
Statement of purpose:
I hope to show how television and video games have positive and negative effects on children's education and learning.

Detailed statement of your research question:
How television and video games can have positive and negative effects on a child's educational development? What are these effects?

List of information you need to gather:
Look on the Internet for sources-Google, Psychology Articles, Science Today, Books...

Plan for gathering information that includes:
Studying an elementary school aged child

• Information will be collected in my home
• One child will be observed
• Methods to conduct study; observations, interviewing/conversations

Blog #6: Literacy Narrative

I am going to use literacy narrative number 3. I chose this one because I could identify with this woman and her determination on finishing her education. The question I will be using is "Why did it take so long for this woman to finish college, did she succeed?"

The features are as follows:

• Nontraditional learner-meaning that this woman is an older student and she had a lot of obstacles to overcome in life to complete school. She had negative experiences that held her back, but also gave her the strength to move forward and get her college degree in teaching. 
• Circumstances-She stopped and started college so many times; I counted at least three. She was in a bad marriage that was emotionally and physically abusive; she finally left and divorced him, but had to take care of a young daughter. Her daughter was her main focus and she was the reason why she needed to leave and finish her education. She started and stopped college again. I think she remarried or was in a good relationship that gave her happiness and joy. After years of working, she gave birth to twin girls. Again, she knew she had to do more for all three of her children. Her children gave her the courage to finish her education.
• Values-This woman valued her life, but more importantly she valued the lives of her children. If it were not for them, I don't think she would have left her husband or finished college. Her children were her main priority and focus. She knew she had to support them and the best way to do so was to return to school.
•  Outcome-In the end this woman was focused and determined to get her education, not only  for her but for her daughters. It took her many years of going back and forth to school, but in the end she did accomplish what she set out to do. It may have been a struggle and fight to get there, but she knew she had to be a role model for her daughters and she did it for them. 

Blog #5-Shaggy Dog Stories

I enjoyed reading the Shaggy dog stories. At first I did not know what they were; I never heard of Shaggy dog stories before, but they were funny and easy to read and understand.

I have predicted that our class will rank the stories from funniest to least funniest in the manner (5 being the funniest, 1 being the least funniest):

5 (lawyer)
4 (string)
3 (dentist)
2  (Ghandi)
1

As I was reading these shaggy dog stories, I used the elements of analysis to make a prediction about what stories the class would like and what they wouldn't like. I also looked at the chart from the previous class to make my assumption.

1. I named or coded them as Shaggy dog stories. We went over some in class and everyone is familiar with what they are and how they are written. Some remind me of riddles.

2. I categorized them into short stories because they have a beginning, middle and end.

3. I looked for patterns. These are what I came up with:

• Punch line or transliteration. I know my classmates are able to understand the meanings of all of  these stories and all of  the quotes from the previous class and from the discussions we had about them.
• The personal connection or emotions to the stories. According to the class results on Tuesday it would seem that the "lawyer" story would be the funniest. Even though, it was the most violent. The class loved the story about the "panda" , but it was the most violent and the most unreal story. The least favorite was the "chess" story, because it was not relatible to us. In this series I chose "Ghandi" because if you have not seen Mary Poppins, you will never understand the meaning.
• Personal connection made to the stories. We are all familiar with all of the quotes from Tuesday's stories to these stories. We all have heard them before; however, some of us might feel differently according to the violence or silliness of the story. Our personal connection means a lot because if we are not comfortable with something, like the violent stories, we are not going to like them. On the other hand, if our comfort level reminds us of a safe place or we plainly see the fiction behind them, we will have a different attitude about the stories meaning.
• The stories are made to be jokes.

4. I created a hypothesis by the class's understanding of the quotes and making a personal connection them.

5. I tested the hypothesis by comparing and contrasting the results from Tuesday's class with the new shaggy dog stories. My findings indicate that the class will like the violent stories better because they are funny and out landish.

 

Blog 4: Analysis of Data from 9/11 Interview

Analysis means to examine critical elements or constituent parts. There are several elements to follow when analyzing text. A reader should be on the look out for the following elements:

• Coding or naming
• Categorize or classify
• Look for patterns
• Create a hypothesis
• Test the hypothesis
• Cycle through the process if the test does not work or fit

I looked at a few of my classmates interview techniques, and I found that they were similar in many ways. My analysis is as follows:

1. I was able to code or name them as a 9/11 interview.
2. I categorized them into paragraph form.
3. I was able to look for patterns such as questions and answers, age, and understanding of 9/11.
4. I created an hypothesis (look above at my patterns).
5. I tested the hypothesis by making sure that all of the data fit into a story telling format.

I was able to conclude that several of my classmates used paragraphs to put together their interviews about 9/11 into a story telling format.

After our class meeting on Tuesday, I came to the conclusion that I need to look harder at all of the elements and add more details to support them.

Blog 3: September 11th Interview

Today in class we interviewed a classmate about September 11th. I was paired with Kevin. Initially Kevin was the interviewer and I was the subject, but as the interview progressed I began to ask questions to Kevin as well. The interview began by Kevin starting with the question, "Was I aware of what was going on?" I answered truthfully and he was listening to what I had to say. I rambled on a bit, but Kevin understood what I was saying or at least I hope he did. After about 10 minutes I began to ask questions to Kevin. He was 11 years old at the time. He remembered that he was in school and his father picked him up. No other kids from his class left. He went home and watched it on TV but he did not understand what was happening. He has family in both New York and Pennsylvania. Some years later Kevin went on a family trip to the Philipines. He over heard his family talking about it and then he realized what had happened. It was not until he was older until he fully understood the meaning of September 11th. As Kevin and I were talking we both noticed the generation gap between us. For example, airport security. I remember when there were no check points and no TSA agents. You were free to roam around and no one stopped you. Kevin knows the airports as they are today. This assignment was fun and I enjoyed getting to know one of my classmates on a personal level.

Analysis is defined as the seperating of any material or abstract entity into its constituuent elements. Or in easy terms, analysis is a thorough examination. It works by doing several things: 1. Naming what you see or coding; 2. Classify or categorizing; 3. Patterns; 4. Hypothesis or theory or story (data that works); 5. Test the theory. Keep cycling through the process again if test does not work. I think I could use this method by observing children playing video games and how they affect their language among each other, and how their behavior changes due to the violent games.

I think that researchers study many different areas in English and writing studies. In today's computer age, there are numerous ways that people communicate with each other that have not been studied extensely, because they are the new methods of technology. What I mean by this statement is texting, emails, blogging, twittering, etc. We all write in the English language differently and we communicate to each other in several ways. I don't think that people speak to their boss they way they would to a friend. Researchers need to look at the next generation and compare and contrast the past to the future. An area I would like to research are video games and children. Meaning how children are affected by some of the more violent games, their language or communication skills while playing with others, and why are they so addicted to these games.