Goal Statement as of Fall 2008:

            My name is Nancy Irby soon to be Nancy Irby Cerar on May 24, 2009 and I’m a Ph.D. student in my 3 semester not counting the summer semesters. The path I have for the rest of my education program and were I see myself going professionally after I finish the program.

            As an individual pursuing a degree in Educational Psychology I really enjoy all the direction and domains it can go in, such as special education, sports, general education, and higher education. I’m currently using Educational Psychology in the domain currently in special education with emotional behavioral disorder (EBD) student teaching them POW+TREE using the Self-Regulated Learning Strategy (SRSD) developed by Harris and Graham. I am really find this direction of research very rewarding and interesting because it is push the box. It’s wonderful to see first hand these students that tend to struggle with writing to learn to write better, gain confidence, and really develop as a write and an individual. I can really see myself continuing this line of work in the future, especially since there aren’t a lot of research studies out there with SRSD and EBD students. As an educator to be able to help the students that are in the most need of opportunities to learn is wonderful position to be sitting in. Within the SRSD model I’m really interested in the self-regulation portion in how this model teachers student to self-regulate within the domain of writing. Self-regulation is an important attribute for all individuals to have, especially for individuals that are having a hard time self-regulating their behavior and emotions. I really want to investigate more about how to teach EBD students to self-regulate.

            As a researcher I hope to expand my analysis and methodology skills. I have taken numerous courses in quantitative and qualitative inquiry in education, but I know there is more out there then these two types of analyses. To accomplish this goal thus far I have take structural equation modeling (SEM) which I found fascinating would love to have an opportunity to utilize the skills I learned from this class. Also to expand my knowledge of methodology I am currently taking a course in intervention research in special education were I am learning how to do an meta-analysis and key characteristics of intervention research. Therefore in my program of study I have proposed to also take the methodology in special education course to open myself up to more types of methodologies. I also plan on taking the advance research courses in advance quantitative research and advance research in single subject research. I would also love to take a course in Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) which is another type of analysis that is become really popular in the educational arena. I actually find myself enjoy these classes more so then my educational psychology classes, but feel I am unable to major in research methodology before I believe I need to have concepts and material to research to apply the research skills I learn. I feel it would useless if I contained awesome research skills, but lacked concepts to apply the research skills to.

            As a professional after I complete the Ph.D. program I see myself doing research and possibly pursuing a position in high education. Currently I see myself pursuing a position in research firm or educational agency and teach a course or two as an adjunct professor. The reason I would pursue an research position outside of high education is that I have been apart of the higher education program as a student for the last 7.5 years and don’t know much outside of the student perspective. I feel if I became a professor that I need to bring more to the table than what I have learned in the program and to be able to do that down the road I want to develop more practical knowledge by doing research for a while. Through this research position gives me knowledge and experiences for when I pursue a high education position I have more practical knowledge and examples to help me teach the students better. Without the practical application and experience I feel I would just being teaching students what I had learned in my courses without being able to add or elaborate in those courses. Yet, in teaching higher education classes it would make me learn the course content in a whole new way and possibly even better than when I was a student because in-order to teacher you have to know material at another level. This would reinforce my learning of the course material in the course.

            These are my goals for the rest of my Ph.D. program and for my future as a professional. I enjoy learning, but I enjoy more the application of what I have learned in real world. I plan on learning more about self-regulation, research methodology, and more about teaching higher education classes before I finish here at George Mason University.

Goal Statement Fall 07 before entering the Ph.D. program:
   
            My name is Nancy Irby and I am applying to be in the Education Ph.D. program at George Mason University. In the Education Ph.D. program I would peruse the Educational Psychology track. This would be the same area of study as my Master’s degree.
           
            The area of Educational Psychology is fascinating to me, in the fact there is always new studies coming out sharing new ideas and you are always learning from these studies. I have a passion for both education and psychology. Being able to combined both my passions together seems the only thing logical for me to do and that there is a connection between these two subjects. The fact that the psychological factors (e.g. motivation, regulation, etc.) that influences the intensity, why or how a person learns (e.g. education). I want to be part of the team to help to improve the quality of our education system to meet No Child Left Behind standards in the United States whether it is locally, state, or nationally. My interest is in educational research that is being done to improve the quality of our nation’s education system (both for teachers and students alike).

            As a graduate research assistant (GRA) at George Mason University, I am part of the team working on the Program Evaluation of the Math and Science Partnership Program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Being on this team that works on this grant I have put my quantitative skills to work analyzing data from messy data files, gained additional experience using SPSS and its capabilities, and I learned to construct APA tables. On the other hand I have also been working with the qualitative information that has been given to us by the NSF in the form of Annual and Evaluation Reports. In working with the qualitative data involves more abstract thinking to analysis and requires lots of diligent time working with the data. Using what I have learned and currently learning from my graduate classes has proven useful in this job and at the same time this GRA position has given my graduate classes more value and relevance. From this experience I have found myself really enjoying educational research and would have to say I have learned as much or more from this job as in my classes.

            From my side job being a swim instructor I have naturally evaluated, tested, and accessed my students on their abilities and progress through my classes. From doing this I have found teaching methods that work better then other, learned how to explain things at an elementary level, and discovered ways to get the students interested in swimming. With my formal education and the six years of experience being a swim instructor, I feel I am a successful swim instructor that has had success with my students learning to swim from my classes. I know that sounds bias, but that’s what the parent's of the students I teach say. I have numerous students’ stories I could mention here but I have one that sticks out that I’m going to mention. I had this little boy named Nick, who was around the age of 6 in a beginner level swim class. He started off being able to swim a few feet on his own and by the end of the class he was able to swim across the whole pool. These particular students of mine just needed a lot of reassurance that he can do it and needed to gain self-confidence in his abilities. I am happy to say now he enjoys and loves swimming and last I hear he joined a swim team.

            Both of these job experiences have influenced me to be the person I am today! I have some of my own research ideas to offer. One being that through physical activities, like swimming, preschoolers can reinforce their math abilities, for example counting and number recognition. I have found little research in this area on average students, but found research on mentally retarded and how physical exercise helps them. Another study I found by Cardon 2004 found that elementary students in China got more moderate-vigorous exercise out of swimming then nonswimming physical education students. Also swimming shows young children they can trust someone to help them, and they gain confidence in themselves when they accomplish certain tasks like going underwater, jumping in, or when they first swim a little unassisted. I wonder if there is a correlation between the students that gain this confidence in themselves transfers to confidence in their academic success and a possible correlation with their weight later in life if they keep up swimming.

            I want to further peruse my education at George Mason University to obtain a Ph. D. in Education. I feel at GMU I can gain a lot from the faculty and staff. Also, the faculty and staff offer practical experience to aid their teaching. I would be able to continue being a part of the team working of the NSF grant at the math center. I feel my relationship with GMU is not over yet that we both still have more to offer each other.