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Opinions of M.ED students about educational research
Citation
Wong, K. Y. (2003). Opinions of M.ED students about educational research. In Research in and on the classroom: ERAS Conference 2003 Proceedings (pp. 75-89). Educational Research Association of Singapore.
Author
Wong, Khoon Yoong
Abstract
In many parts of the world, teachers, school administrators, ministry officials, and educators enrol in M Ed programmes as an important step toward career advancement through professional development. These programmes include educational research as a central component of study and aim to equip the students with knowledge and skills to be consumers and practitioners of educational research. However, there is hardly any study of how these people perceive to be the nature and relevance of educational research. This small study was a survey of 96 M Ed students at Universiti Brunei Darussalam from 1996 to 2000. Their views about educational research at the beginning of a core Introduction to Educational Research course was assessed using a 40-item questionnaire that captured opinions about the nature of educational research, including its relevance to personal needs, participation in joint research, and ethics issues. Sixty-five of them also answered the questionnaire at the end of the course. Some significant changes in opinions were found. During the course, the students used the data to practise data analysis with SPSS. This part of the training highlights the stance that educators who collect data from their students should not do so solely for the sake of their research; rather they should endeavour to use the data to advance the learning of their students.
Date Issued
November 2003
Description
This paper was published in the Proceedings of ERAS Conference held in Singapore from 19-21 November 2003