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Alice:
I
was just wondering if you could help me
find my way.
Cheshire
Cat:
Well,
that depends on where you want to get to.
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis
Carroll
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I have felt like Alice for a while now.
When I started the program, a dissertation was a far away
endeavor, a worrisome one; but, it was one for the future. I
remember sitting in my EDUC 805 (parade of Ph.D.s) class and hearing
about a variety of research areas and how enthusiastic the speakers
were. I still did not have a clue what was involved in
research but I knew I wanted to do it. At my initial
interview, I was asked about my goals and I replied that I wanted to do
research but I did not know how. Now that I have completed my
course work, the future became the present and I struggled with
deciding on a dissertation topic. I initially thought I would
research something in statistics education. However, I found
a dirth of research articles which were applicable and I became
frustrated. I was like Alice, not knowing where I wanted to
go. Then, this past June, I was at the AP Calculus exam
reading in Kansas City having a conversation with several colleagues.
They were talking being better teachers becuase they were AP
readers. A light went on. I asked they to explain.
Some said that they understood the grading rubrics better and
could pass that on to their students. Some said that they
were more conscious of precision or units or verbal explanations.
As I asked more questions and saw the interest in my
colleagues had for the subject, it dawned on me that I had my
dissertation topic. My big "Aha" moment. I can tell
the Cheshire cat where I want to go.
This, of
course, nver would have happened if I had not been so well prepared.
I
have still have trepidations, of course. And, I still worry.
But, now that I have decided on a topic which really
interests me, I feel confident that I have been well prepared to embark
on this work. My preparation, through coursework, summer
institutes and the REU program have been incredibly influential on my growth as
a teacher and researcher.
My pre-GMU exposure to teacher professional development was
rather
dismal. I have learned that well-designed, purposeful teacher
professional development is crucial. Teachers need to have
many resources at their disposal so that they can assess the
effectiveness of differing approaches and activites in their classrooms
and determine which are the most advantageous for their students'
success. I greatly enjoy reading the reflections which the
participants in the summer institutes write becuase I can see their
breadth of knowledge increasing and understand their joy. I
feel the same way due to the growth I have experienced here.
I have been learnign from the errors of
other. In some of the research which I have been
reading recently, I noticed that some of the articles had
contradictory information. I also noticed that the research
methods or sampling techniques left something to be desired. The lack
of proper technique pulls the research into question. I want
to avoid that. I vividly remember my first EDRS 810 class; we
were all nervous and did not know much at all about research.
I left that class knowing that I had a long way to go, but
that I could do it. I still feel that way; but, I now have
the advantage of several experiences.
My
immediate goals are not surprising. I look forward to meeting
with my committe and getting guidance on developing my dissertation
research questions. There are many more articles which I want
to read. And, I have HSRB work which needs to be completed.
My
intermediate goals currently are:
- prepare
for my STEM presentation at the VAIS (Virginia Association of
Independent Schools) conference on 04 November 2013
- prepare
for my statistics presentation at the PCTM (Pennsylvania
Coucil of Teachers of Mathematics) conference on 08 November
2013
- complete
the SPSS work on the 2013 summer institutes
- continue
working on my next article which concerns the balance of high school
GPA with depth of learning
My
long-term goals include securing a university faculty position in
mathematics education and/or mathematics and continuing to develop my
research skills. Several years ago, I never would have
believed that I would be so interested in teacher professional
development. But, I think back to when I thought of myself as
a "quantitative person" and wondered what in the world "mixed methods"
were? My, how things have changed. I have learned
so much and am eager to continue learning. This has been and
continues to be a fabulous journey.
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