First, thanks to everyone who submitted research-related questions in the SurveyMonkey earlier this month. You brought out important questions that I am excited to answer! I have copied each question below (verbatim), followed by my answer. If you’d like a more detailed answer to any of these questions (whether it was the question that you asked or that someone else asked), please send me an email or a message on Teams.
“Why is Durham College bothering with research? Research is the job of universities. Workforce development is the job of community colleges.”
Good question with a complex reply. First, research helps to improve student learning (especially SoTL research). While universities can study the same questions, we have a unique student population. I would argue that college students are probably unlike university students in learning habits and desires and university research rarely includes our learners as part of their sample. So, their conclusions cannot necessarily be generalized to college students.
Second, we can provide research experience to our students, or include components of research in our curriculum, a skill which could be valuable to them in the workplace. Third, college faculty have unique skillsets that can lead to important research projects and contributions to the literature. Plus, colleges now offer degrees, so research is necessarily within our scope of practice (it always has been, but faculty in degree programs have an expectation of research). Also, don’t forget that Durham College has been consistently ranked as one of Canada’s Top 50 research colleges (annually from 2012-2018).
Finally, research is embedded in our Strategic Plan. A related Strategic Research Plan notes: “Applied research plays a substantial role in enriching the student learning experience by broadening and deepening the experience of faculty and enhancing the curriculum for students; while increasing the college’s contribution towards the socioeconomic needs of the community.” (Strategic Research Plan 2015-2020, p.4). It also identifies these guiding principles (p.5):
• Engaging students in research activities provides unique and relevant contextual learning and builds their research skills.
• Research and intellectual engagement supports professional currency of faculty and informs curriculum development.
• Research and teaching are intrinsically linked and complementary.
• Enhancing access and sharing the results of research through improved technology transfer, knowledge mobilization and translation maximizes the benefits to society. In summary, research at the college is crucial -- it benefits students, faculty, and the larger scientific community.
“Why would we take on research in the middle of a chaotic teaching environment during a pandemic? Do we get a course release? PD time off? Otherwise why would we do this?”
Good questions! And while right now may not be the perfect time to engage in research, it might be a good time to think about possible research queries for our post-pandemic lives. Research has value for us (in our teaching practice) and for others. If you think you’re ready, then yes, you can get time on your SWF (or even take a PD leave, depending on your project). There is a form on ICE. Also, have a discussion with Stephanie.
“What are your top tips for collaborative research and co-authoring articles?”
I’m glad you asked! ☺ For me, research collaborations usually come out of collegial discussions. So, my top tip is to talk to people! Talk to your colleagues, your students, and staff (at DC or outside the college). This can help you identify solutions and think about different perspectives. You can also network at professional events (Research Day, PD Day, conferences, etc.)
Collaborations also emerge more formally such as seeking out someone with a particular expertise. For example, if you were looking into information literacy, then you might involve a librarian or community partner with expertise in the area.
Research collaborations (as described above) are not the only way to publish; sometimes articles are opinion pieces or accounts of phenomena occurring in the classroom (or outside of it). The same suggestions apply if you’re looking to co-author a nonresearch publication or a research publication that is more reflective in nature. In January, I have plans to share some additional tips on publishing and the publication process.
“Can my research partner be a university professor/researcher? And if so, how would you suggest/advise me to find and communicate with a university professor/researcher who shares my research interest?”
Absolutely! To find a viable collaborator, you can look at their faculty profile page to see their research interests and email them directly to see if they might be interested in collaborating. You can also connect with ORSIE to help you form a partnership as they often know of external projects that are in the works or of faculty looking for partners.
“What if my research question seems to be specific to me? I worry that what I want to research doesn't matter/impact anyone else.”
Even if the question is specific to you/your class, it is going to contribute to the larger scientific literature. For example, it likely has implications for models of how we learn, how memory works, etc. Your results might support a view of student learning, or another researchers’ hypothesis.
Also, remember that even finding nothing is important. That is, there is a phenomenon called the “filedrawer” problem, which is when researchers conduct research, but don’t get the desired outcome (e.g., expecting one group to outperform another group only to find no difference). So, those studies aren’t sent for publication and they’re filed away in a drawer. This is a problem – it means that we don’t get to include that data in the literature, so we think there is a difference “in real life” when really those could just be flukes. The truth is that no difference exists – information/data is just hidden away.
“Where do I begin?! Faculty approaches to fully online delivery. We should create categories or models. We could also start assessing digital competencies of students to figure out common deficiencies.”
That sounds like an interesting line of research to pursue. Where do you begin? A good first step would be to send me an email or come chat with me during my Research Coordinator “office hours” which are on Fridays from 1230-130 on whereby.com/drlynne.
“Does culture affect cheating?”
That would be a great research question, too! Come chat with me and I can help you refine it into a testable hypothesis and help you refine your research question and design a study. I’m at whereby.com/drlynne on Fridays from 1230-130.
“Is it ethical to use children from an orphanage to study if I can classically condition them to fear white, fuzzy animals and objects?”
Of course not…that’s unethical (see the TCPS2 so many, many reasons why)! Haha. But we did learn some important things about the processes involved in learning (specifically, classical conditioning) from the Watson and Rayner’s (1920) “Little Albert” study you’ve described.
Well, that’s all for this Q&A! Thank you again for all of your questions. As always, if you have any suggestions for things you’d like to see from me, please reach out to me via email or on MS Teams. Or pop in to see me during my weekly office hours on Fridays from 12:30-130 on whereby(dot)com(slash)drlynne
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