edde 805 - assignment 1

Apostolos Koutropoulos (“AK”)

Cohort 7

EDDE 805 Assignment 1

@koutropoulos

ΑDissertation 1

(something imported)

Greek numeral (1)

Corpora and language education: exploitation potentials in teaching Greek and construction of pedagogically relevant corpora - by Giagkou, Maria

(2009)Σώματα Κειμένων και Γλωσσική Εκπαίδευση: Δυνατότητες αξοιποίησης στη διδασκαλία της Ελληνικής και συγκρότηση παιδαγωγικά κατάλληλων σωμάτων κειμένων. Γιάγκου, Μαρία (2009)

Dissertation Layout1.Introduction 2.Applied Linguistics and Corpus Linguistics 3.Contributions of Corpus Linguistics to language education 4.Corpus Linguistics and the teaching of Greek 5.Characteristics of appropriate learner corpora 6.Readability of texts 7.Organization of Greek texts by readability criteria 8.Summary of findings 9.Bibliography10.Appendices

263 pages

(chapters 1-8)

1.5x spacing

30 pages Greek, English, French

RGs, RQs and Methodology

RG1: The derivation of pedagogically useful conclusions using (or guided by) linguistic research data.

RG2: The creation (collection) of pedagogically appropriate corpora, meaning corpora that can be included in teaching practices and useful to learners

Research-based position paper (chapters 2-4)

RQ1: What are the measurable text characteristics that influence the reading difficulty of a text?

RQ2: How can this influence be quantified so that a Greek text can be evaluated on its reading difficulty?

RQ3: How can readability be used as a criterion for automatic collections of appropriate texts for specific groups of learners, and hence create a pedagogically appropriate corpus?Creation of new formula for readability based on

existing formulas for English. Validate using those formulas and learners of a specific grade range (chapters 5-7)

Methodological Approach (for Goal 2)

It’s all

Greek to

you

Let me explain this chart...

Research Participants✘1,970 middle school students from 20 different schools in

Greece (7th, 8th, 9th grade)60% return rate913 of the returned tests were valid for study

✘Unnamed experts *

(Positives)✘Very (very!) well researched✘Bibliography draws from more than just Greek and English

works✘Reads well and has logical structure✘Contributes to field by means of a new computational

model

(Points of improvement)✘Very long setup (lost sight of the ‘prize’?)✘Felt like two related dissertations (not one connected

whole)✘Makes assumption that textbook texts are appropriate for

learner level (replace unnamed experts with actual human participants)

✘A dissertation idea: analyze language use of community participants in an online social network (Fb or Twitter)

✘Corpus Linguistics Analysis is an interesting approach to use: creation of corpora from social media communities to be used for analysis.

✘Could compare corpus-derived findings to other findings, such as SNA derived findings (compare language use of in- and out- groups)

✘Verdict: a little too math-focused for me (at this time)

Connections

ΒDissertation 2

(something domestic)

Greek numeral (2)

Collaboration in Online Environments: Student Perceptions of Purpose, Process, and Product. - by Rochelle, Gail

(2004)

Dissertation Layout1.Introduction2.Literature Review3.Methodology4.Data Analysis & Findings5.Findings, Implications, Suggestions6.Bibliography7.Appendices

185 pages

(chapters 1-5)

2x spacing

11 pages English language works

RQs and MethodologyRQ1: What are student perceptions of collaborative research as it occurs using a web-based electronic portfolio?

RQ2: How do students view the effects of such collaboration on their learning purpose, process, and product?

✘ Case study approach✘ Using Naturalistic Inquiry Model✘ Emergent design✘ Use of Content Analysis

Research Participants✘Students in a uVA class (EDIS 542: Language, Literacy,

and Culture) who are undertaking a collaborative project✘18 students taking entry survey✘2 students acting as cases✘13 (of original 18) students taking exit survey

✘Builds on work of 2 previous dissertations✘Researcher has a emic & etic perspectives as a former

student in that class✘Not just approached from one lense

Collaborative learningComputer & collaborationePortfoliosOnline Learning Communities

(Positives)

✘Author didn’t quite understand Case Study method?✘Entry survey more on focused on tech skills (connection to collaboration?)✘Some sections a little short?✘Surface-level literature review✘Repetitive final chapter✘Too much focus on future research (connects to lit-review)✘Too specific in its implementation (title suggest something more abstract)✘Missed opportunity for collaboration vs cooperation✘Whither COP and CoI?

(Points of improvement)

Connections✘Provided me with some literature that might have been

overlooked✘Similar approach envisioned for my dissertation proposal✘Case Study, emergent design, collaboration context✘What about a research data retention policy? ✘Researcher-as-human-instrument statement

ΓMy Proposal

(hopefully a fine blend of domestic approaches and international actors)

Greek numeral (3)

Working Title

Open Course Collaboration: A case study of emergent collaboration in Rhizo14 and Rhizo15

Rhizo ‘14The community that piqued (kindled?) my interest in collaborative research in online communities

What happened in Rhizo?✘We learned...✘We interacted… (student-student, and student-content)✘We formed voluntary groups to research… (wait...what? This wasn’t in

the syllabus!)

Not unprecedented, something similar happened in MobiMOOC in 2011

The Big QWhy initiate? Why participate? Why complete? Why

repeat?

Why?

Research Questions (currently brewing)

RQ1Watch this space...

RQ2Watch this space...

RQ3Watch this space...

Research ParticipantsIndividuals who enrolled in Rhizo14 and/or Rhizo15 and who collaborated an extra-curricular research project that was published or presented at a conference. These individuals participated in groups of 2 or more people

Locations of Potential Participants

Challenge: multiple lenses

LeadershipMotivation ANT(Actor Network

Theory)

PLN, COP, CoI, &

LearningOrg.

TheoryOnly some of what’s coming to mind

“Be ruthlessly pragmatic(paraphrased

)Marguerite KooleEDDE 806 (01/2016)

Thank you!Any questions?

You can find me at@koutropoulos