Goals Statement

Erin E. Peters

4/20/2006

Reflecting on this year, I am amazed at how much I have learned. I feel much more comfortable with my academic writing and am finding the process of data analysis (both quantitative and qualitative) intriguing. I feel I have the beginnings of an arsenal of techniques for both analysis and presentation of research and that I am beginning to think creatively about the best ways to analyze and communicate my research findings. I have also spent this year understanding my epistemology and ontology and how it relates to my research and teaching. Now that I am aware of how I see the world and how I think knowledge is acquired, I feel more confident in my justification of techniques of research and teaching. In establishing my goals for the remainder of my coursework, I see my development occurring in three domains: background knowledge, research techniques and professional development.

This year I focused on reading as much as possible in research and foundational books. I asked professors to give me their short list of recommended books and I read them in my spare (!) time as well as reading research in my areas of interest, the nature of science and metacognition. My goal for the next year is to keep reading research in the areas of nature of science, metacognition and self-regulation so that I can continue to build my background knowledge. In reading the research, I will also continue to add relevant research to my literature review. I also plan to review bibliographies of the articles I have already read so that I can reach saturation with my chosen topics by the time I write my dissertation.

I plan to continue to hone my research technique skills through my pilot study of my dissertation. I am currently running a pilot study with an idea for my dissertation and plan to use this information to inform my proposal. This study has been approved by the Human Review Board, so I can try to publish my findings which will continue to contribute to my growth as a researcher. As a member of a research team, I plan to continue to analyze and write about our findings so that I can use the skills that I have learned in my classes. The focus of this coming year is to learn about as many research techniques as possible as I did this past year for my background knowledge.

I have an exciting opportunity in my future in terms of professional development. I have accepted a position as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at NASA where I will evaluate national science curriculum. I pursued this position because I felt that after 15 years as a classroom teacher, it was time for me to get exposure to national issues facing education. This falls in line with my plan to become a teacher educator and an academic in the future.

In the next year, I plan to build more background knowledge in the nature of science and metacognition by continuing to read research in these areas, develop my research skills of analysis and communication in both quantitative and qualitative realms, and continue to develop as a professional educator by working at a national level in education. I feel these three goals will work cohesively to develop my skills and knowledge that will lead to a position in academia.