Data+Analysis

So once I have collected my data, what analysis strategy will I employ to understand what that data is "telling" me?   Johnson and Christensen (2008) give me some direction here: ﻿  "Inductive analysis and creative synthesis-- Immersion in the details and specifics of the date to discover important patterns, themes, and interrelationships; begins by exploring, then confirming, guided by analytical principles rather than rules, ends with creative synthesis" (p. 393).   Perhaps I have found some inspiration in the article I summarized by Kaufman this week who looked at the level of interactive whiteboard use in his school and the attitudes or comfort levels of teachers before and after they received IWB training, which he facilitated. I think at this point, I want to also analyze the level of use of IWBs at my school and look at teacher perceptions at multiple points as I facilitate a shared or collaborative learning experience on the use of IWBs in classrooms. Rather than provide a traditional workshop or series of workshops or presentations on the use of IWBs, I want to create an online setting where teachers in my school can share their successes and failures of integrating this technology into the classroom environment.  First, I will conduct a school wide survey of all teachers to determine if and how often IWBs are being used in their classrooms and in what areas are they being used. Secondly, I want to have teachers, both current and up-coming IWB users, to respond to multi-question surveys regarding their perceptions of IWBs as well as their level of comfort with the technology before and after they participate in a collaborative learning and sharing activity over the course of several weeks. I guess I am trying to figure out now what this activity will be. Can I do this with a wiki or blog? I could link materials-videos would be great- that might help teachers in my study improve their effectiveness at using IWBs, plus teachers could share, and I think giving teachers this sounding board could be truly beneficial. Lastly, can the comments these teachers post become part of my open-ended response data gathering? Johnson and Christensen (2008) state, "Qualitative researchers use the term relationship to refer to many different kinds of relations or connections between things, including but not limited to variables" (p. 545). I would expect to see relationships between their comments which I could categorize, and perhaps I might see some causal connections emerge.   Reference Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon
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