Let’s look at some of the limitations of using only anecdotal evidence and personal opinions as the sole guide to how to select technology….

OK.. so quick challenge… what name would you place on the top of these 2 columns representing 2 types of research methods ([Title 1 and Title2])?

[your Title 1 here??]	[your Title 2 here??]
Deductive	Inductive
theory, hypothesis, observation, and confirmation or disconfirmation	observation, pattern, tentative hypothesis, theory building
Controlled	Intentionally Messy
Internally valid	Externally valid
Abstract generalizable	Specific situated, richly contextual
Abstract	Applied
Laboratory-based	Done in the wild

Read TopHat text Chapter 5 on types of quantitative variables.

From that, you should now know the difference among

• Nominal data
• Ordinal Data
• Interval Data
• Ratio Data

IQ numbers are a great example to consider. Are they quantitative data? Not really. Are they “interval” meaning is a 100 IQ exactly double a 50 IQ? Is the difference between 50 and 60 exactly the same as the difference between 180 and 190? Nope! So not Interval. And if they are not Interval, they can’t be Ratio either.

And of course there are always several “correct” ways to scientifically address any question. One of the take aways from this course will be this idea that even for the set of questions that can be addressed with scholarly research, there are multiple ways to look at each question, multiple theoretical perspectives on an analysis, and multiple statistical ways to frame and question– all of which produce slightly different outcomes and conclusions, but still contribute to a scientific approach to technology adoption.

Common Guidelines for Educational Research

In 2013 the National Science Foundation deemed it important that nearly every research grant they gave contain some educational component. Whether is was a NASA project that should also engage public enthusiasm, or STEM research that should also carry innovations to educators, or Pharmaceutical companies who must also educate the public on appropriate use… all the fundamental science they support was encouraged to have an educational component. To help all research conduct research on the educational materials they produce, NSF produced a pdf with common guidelines for doing educational research. Take a look.

Big Idea:

While scientific theories of how people think and learn are not (yet) definitive, a scholarly research approach to understanding how technology can impact learning is very different from relying on anecdotal evidence and/or personal opinions. Both quantitative methods like classroom trials and comparison class studies, and qualitative methods including case studies and classroom ethnography, must follow strict methods for ensuring the reliability of data (not just 1 time, in 1 context, but observed consistently and triangulated from multiple sources) and the validity (does it conform to a theory that has been tested by others and can continue to be tested by others?). The big idea of this module is to differentiate the wide variety of scientific perspective (which themselves can conflict) from anecdotal observations and non-methodological personal opinions that cannot be tested and confirmed or disconfirmed by others.