Maxwell Table – Doctoral Seminar

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» Posted by Sintjago on Mar 2, 2012 in Spring 2012 | 0 comments

What Do I Need To Know?	Why Do I Need To Know This?	What Kind of Data Will Answer The Questions?	Where Can I Find The Data?	Whom Do I Contact For Access?	Time Lines For Acquisition?	Validity Threats
Demographics of CTC Participants	Finding out who uses the CTCs	Quantitative – Extent of use and population impact. Finding out the gender, age, and socio-economic status of participants.	Survey, data collected by Ed Ministry	Office of the First Lady, main administrator of each CTC	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	A mixed-methods study that emphasizes the qualitative aspects of it (Big Qualitative and Small Quantitative) this study will emphasize triangulation as well as conduct interviews and observations until a saturation point is reached. Being of Dominican descent I should have a level of access and an understanding of the culture that is better than many foreign observers, yet I was not born in the DR so there may be some cultural misunderstandings.
Finding if other members of the household are visiting CTCs	Influence of social networks in increasing the use of CTCs and ICT	Qualitative – Learning CTC users views of the subject Quantitative – How many members in average are visiting following their family members.	Survey of CTC users. Interviews with CTC members.	Build relationships with CTC members. CTC administration	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	Same as above. With the quantitative part of my study, obtaining access will be key. Without access it will be difficult to increase the generalizability of my quantitative findings. I plan on comparing the local statistical data I collect vertically and analyze how they interrelate.
Finding out if the member has family living abroad and if they connect via the internet	Influence of family members living outside the D.R. and their interactions with these family members	Qualitative – What is the relationship with family members that live abroad Quantitative – How often do they come to the CTC to communicate with individuals living abroad	Survey of CTC users. Interviews with CTC members.	Build relationships with CTC members. CTC administration	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	If I am able to visit more than one CTC and my study involves 3 CTCs then the study should have a greater transferability than otherwise possible. As with other qualitative studies, it will be difficult, nay impossible to argue that my point of view will not influence the study, yet I hope to record their voices both in pen and through audio visuals.
Learning experience using the Internet	To gauge the extent of Invisible Learning	Quantitative – rates of use and type of use assessment Qualitative – What type of use and what it means to the users	Survey, interviews, and observation, field notes	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users.	Summer 2012. Various Months – 2013	Same considerations as above apply. Having more than one site many allow me to meet more than one administrative staff which will be helpful in understanding how CTCs are administered.
How many educational resources they have available	Learn more about the type of educational resource that is available and promoted by the CTCs	Quantitative – Learning what is available and to whom in terms of educational materials.	Statistical data and a list of materials available in the CTC (inventory)	Managers of CTCs. Asking the office of the first lady for general and local statistics.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	As the paragraphs above. It will be difficult to measure what individuals do within their computers. I cannot be there all of the time and the internet facilitates multitasking.
Are they using Open Education Resources via the Internet	To measure the importance and / or prevalence of Open Education Resources	Qualitative – Find out if they using them and To what extent Quantitative – Finding out the cost for these resources	Survey, interviews, and observation, field notes, government statistics.	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Statistics from the office of the first lady	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The divisions between Open, Closed, and Pirated educational resources are not clear cut. Because of the unclearness of these visions, they could question my study.
Are they using Closed Educational Resources via the Internet	To measure the importance and / or prevalence of Closed Education Resources	Qualitative – Find out if they using them and To what extent Quantitative – Finding out the cost for these resources	Survey, interviews, and observation, field notes, government statistics	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Statistics from the office of the first lady	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The divisions between Open, Closed, and Pirated educational resources are not clear cut. Because of the unclearness of these visions, they could question my study.
Are they using Pirated Educational Resources via the Internet	To measure the importance and / or prevalence of Pirated Education Resources	Qualitative – Find out if they using them and To what extent Quantitative – Finding out the cost for these resources	Survey, interviews, and observation, field notes	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Statistics from the office of the first lady	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The divisions between Open, Closed, and Pirated educational resources are not clear cut. Because of the unclearness of these visions, they could question my study.
Are they developing Open Education Resources	To measure and learn if they are also creating their own educational resources. What educational resources are the creating	Quantitative – Find out if they are creating OER and how many of them they have created. Qualitative – Learning more about their OER creation process and their personal experience surrounding it	Observation, survey, interviews. Government Statistics	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Statistics from the office of the first lady	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The development of OER does not imply that the y are quality production or that it was a worthwhile time investment. It could be argued that there are better ways in which participants could spend their time.
What information literacy skills are they learning in the CTCs	To measure their information literacy skills and how they have been impacted by the CTC	Qualitative – Find out what they think of the different elements of information literacy and how they apply to their lives Quantitative – Find out which information literacy elements are most important to participants and staff.	Observation, survey, interviews.	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Statistics from the office of the first lady	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	Were the concepts and ideas discussed by information literacy well understood by the individuals surveyed and interviewed?
What online communities have participant joined since and when attending CTC	To measure how active they are in these borderless communities. How are participants interacting with others worldwide?	Quantitative – Asking them how many online communities they frequent and contribute to. Qualitative – Learning what these communities represent in their day to day lives.	Observation, survey, interviews.	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	As with other online activities this will be hard to measure. The concept of community is murky and people define it in different ways. While I could encourage a particular definition they could still be referring to the term through their own definition and interpretation.
What impact does mobile devices have at the CTCs and the local community	Learning about the impact of some of the most recent technological improvements to their lives and learning.	Quantitative – Learning how many are already using these devices Qualitative – Learning how they are using these devices.	Observation, survey, interviews, national and regional statistics.	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Statistics from the office of the first lady	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	While mobiles are relevant to Invisible Learning, they are not part of the CTCs. Clearly establishing the importance of mobile learning within the study will be needed to increase the validity of this question.
How does the CTC relate to participants formal schooling	Finding more about the influence of CTCs to students’ learning experience.	Qualitative – Learning of the opinions of CTC members as well as the school teachers of these students. Quantitative – Student achievement outcomes (Comparison)	Observation, survey, interviews.	Managers of CTCs. Building a relationship with CTC users. Educational outcome statistics. School teachers in the community	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	There may be high levels of bias to this question as parties may all have a different understanding of this relationship, many of them insightful.
What type of technological access was available to them before being part of the CTC	Finding out more about the local ICT conditions before the construction of the CTC.	Quantitative – Statistical comparison of internet connectivity Qualitative – Mapping activity as well as interviews to learn the educational impact	Survey, interviews, mapping, statistics.	Community members, CTC users, national telecommunication statistics.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The local statistics may not be available and the use of national data may not be indicative of local conditions.
How has the CTC impacted how they learn when they are neither at school or the CTC	Importance of measuring the impact of CTCs to informal learning.	Qualitative – Asking community members, CTC users and administrators about what users are learning.	Survey, interviews, observation, field notes.	Parents and loved ones of CTC members. CTC members and CTC administrators.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The parents of children over 13 may not be very aware of their activities through the internet and their value for their educational formation.
What is Invisible Learning to Dominicans	Better understand how they see the Internet as a tool	Qualitative- Learn more about how they define invisible learning.	Survey, focus groups, Interviews	CTC administrators and CTC users. Community members could also be asked this question.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	Can these methods allow for the generalization… “Invisible Learning to Dominicans” or are the responses location specific.
Extent of use of the CTC	Finding out who doesn’t use the CTCs in the geographical area surrounding the CTC.	Qualitative and Quantitative – Extent of use of the CTC in the broader community	Survey, interviews, educational ministry data	Government ministry, local population, local IRB	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	How will I define the boundaries of the community and the methodology used for sampling? Importance of adequately defining “community voice”.
How are CTCs being managed	Learning how is the management structured and the decision making influence of the local community in the use and support of the CTC	Qualitative and Quantitative – Extent of use of the CTC in the broader community	Survey, interviews, observation, field notes.	CTC administrators and government officials.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	Those asked are likely to mention the strengths instead of a balanced picture of their program.
How are CTCs teaching work related skills	Learning if the CTCs are preparing for the work place and how the skills they learn transfer to the workplace.	Qualitative – Asking local community members and other regional agents about the impact of the CTC for individuals employability (both regionally and nationally)	Survey, interviews, observation, field notes.	Community members, CTC users, and CTC administrators.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	What is a “marketable” skill is subjective question. Participant answers may vary substantially.
What Skills are They Learning from The Internet	To better understand what skills are gained	Quantitative and Qualitative – Type of use by CTC users of the Internet. With different types of internet users it can be expected that uses will be as or more diverse as the participants.	Interviews, survey, observation	CTC Administrator and CTC Users.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013	The topic of skills is very broad, as is invisible learning, while a blanket statement could be mentioned and the participants could then share what they mean by skills, it is likely that what some defined as learned skills were also learned by others that are not defining the term in the same light.

What Do I Need To Know?	Why Do I Need To Know This?	What Kind of Data Will Answer The Questions?	Where Can I Find The Data?	Whom Do I Contact For Access?	Time Lines For Acquisition?
Demographics of CTC Participants	Finding Out Who Uses The CTCs	Extent of Use and Population Impact	Survey, Data Collected by Ed Ministry	Office of the First Lady, Main Administrator of Each CTC	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013
Learning Experience Using the Internet	To Gauge the Extent of Invisible Learning	Rates of Use and Type of Use Assessment	Survey, Interviews, and Observation, Field Notes	Managers of CTCs, Local CTC Participants	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013
Extent of Use of the CTC	Finding Out Who Doesn’t Use the CTCs	Extent of Use of the CTC in the Broader Community	Survey, Interviews, Educational Ministry Data	Government Ministry, Local Population, Local IRB	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013
What is Invisible Learning to Dominicans	Better Understand How They See The Internet as a Tool	How Dominicans Feel About the Pursuit of Lifelong Learning	Survey, Focus Groups, Interviews	Local Population, Local IRB, CTC Administration	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013
What Skills are They Learning from The Internet	To Better Understand What Skills are Gained	Type of Use by CTC Users of the Internet	Interviews, Survey, Observation	CTC Administrator and CTC Users.	Summer 2012 Various Months – 2013

Decision Made	Result
purpose statement	This study aims to find to what extent is invisible learning happening in the CTCs of the Dominican Republic
research questions	What is the impact of invisible learning to the local populations who use and live nearby a local CTC
Methodology	Qualitative. Ethnographic Study
sample/unit of analysis	One CTC and its surrounding area. Possibly up to 3 CTCs may be researched. It will depend on access constraints.
sampling strategy	Obtain access to conduct an ethnographic study
main data collection methods	Ethnographic. Survey, participant observation, interviews, and focus groups.
Analysis methods	Qualitative. Thick description. Thematic analysis of the data.