November 16

We began class by reviewing the overall structure of a research paper, with attention to the kind of information that goes in each section.

We came up with the following general description:

Introduction:
research focus – what you will study + statement of your findings

review of the literature:
state what has been observed regarding yoru topic
define important terms
justify choice of method
point out what you will do differently

methods:
context- where, from whom? Under what circumstances?
how you collected your data
how classified your data – what you looked for
measurement – what markers did you use to identify the features you are studying
anything relevant to your study that is characteristic of the session
size of your sample
justification of your representative sessions
identification of important categories for anlaysis

Data analysis:
General intro to section
General background about particular session
Move back and forth between providing specific evidence from your notes – and supporting discussion that sets up and explains your point

Organize list examples in terms of your categories for analysis
Primarily describing what you saw => make connections among related features
Small observations => about particular sessions observed

Discussion:
Make larger theory
Connect to other research
Generalize what you observed in sessions to tutoring in general
Point out limitations

Conclusions:
Overall summary of findings
Point out implications of limitations for discipline in general
What further research remains to be done

We than took a brief look at the document on what to include inyour final portfolio (posted on this site) and discussed your research plans.

Continue to work on your data collection & analysis.

Come to class Wednesday to conduct your sessions. I will give you an update as to whether I will be there or not.

For Monday, November 23, post your completed research plan (Blog 18). Come to class prepared to give a brief presentation on your completed research plan. This discussion should include a discussion of how data collection is going, and any requests from assistance.