Live, Online Short-Courses Article by Marrero et al. Essay

The research questions of the study

This research looks at how instructors might come up with new strategies to meet their professional development requirements. With competitive funding from NASA’s (National et al. Administration) Office of Education and the NASA Explorer Schools Project, U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Inc. produced a series of live, online, interactive short courses. In this case study, a mixed-methods analysis of several data sources found that different educators from different classroom scenarios considered short courses as valuable professional development tools, both for a teacher’s personal and professional growth and for classroom applications (Rashid et al., 2019). According to research, teachers were especially interested in collaborating in a community of practice with other educators, instructors, and scientists from throughout the country. They considered the professional development’s flexible design to be beneficial. This short-course format has promise for future chances for professional growth.

The importance of the research questions

The questions in this study are essential for a number of reasons. The first and foremost reason is the study of an exciting topic necessary for a pedagogical case (Gough & Phojanamongkolkij, 2018). Methodological issues and questions in the research approach and the subject itself are extremely interesting in terms of developing research potential. For example, short course meetings enabled students to ask questions of both the teachers and the guest scientists in attendance. The lecturer gave a PowerPoint presentation with live links sprinkled throughout during a typical class session.

The method that contributed the most to the study

Speaking about what kind of methodology is best suited for research, it is worth considering the approaches used directly. To examine participants in the NES short courses, researchers employed a number of data sources, including questionnaires, reflective essays, personal correspondence, and field notes. Although quantitative data may be utilized to support emergent themes, case studies generally use qualitative methodologies. Moreover, researchers used an online mixed questionnaire to investigate instructor perspectives on the online short courses’ shared experience. The mixed-methods technique featured open-ended questions interspersed within a series of Likert scales and yes/no questions. The questions were based on typical program assessment questions and were answered anonymously.

Moreover, a small proportion of instructors who attended the live short courses (about 10%) chose to pursue the route for graduate credit. Teachers might use their earned credits to earn or maintain state certifications and move through the district pay scales. After that, satellite team members communicated with participating educators on a regular basis. The team’s scientists and teacher educators were available by phone and email to discuss curriculum, pedagogical tactics, and other difficulties (Chun Tie et al., 2019). Diverse data sources were used to offer triangulation for the themes that emerged in this study. And in the end, the researchers employed grounded theory analysis methodologies. The information gathered using the online survey tool was saved in a Microsoft Excel file. The percentages were determined after separating the responses from the Likert and yes/no items.

Alternative methodology to use in the study

The above methods used in the course of research have shown their effectiveness in the academic environment. This study was quite helpful in collecting, processing, and using information. Within the framework of the task set, the above approaches prove to be highly effective (Abutabenjeh & Jaradat, 2018). “Live, Short-Courses for NASA Explorer Schools” is a professional development program developed by U.S. Satellite. NASA’s Office of Education awarded a competitive grant (Guetterman & Fetters, 2018). Given this, the methodology was chosen correctly and also qualitatively executed. Given the above data, researchers could apply other methods and approaches, but this would be inefficient and useless because the methods already available were quite effective and diverse. As mentioned earlier, the researchers employed grounded theory analysis methodologies. The information gathered using the online survey tool was saved in a Microsoft Excel file. The percentages were determined after separating the responses from the Likert and yes or no items.

Concise and clear writing in the study

Talking about the writing of the work itself, the academic text should not only use appropriate punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure or syntax. Writing clearly and concisely describing the methodology was also crucial in this work (Jacobson et al., 2019). The authors choose the word that most clearly conveys the meanings of their concepts and research information. Moreover, they eliminate unnecessary phrases and redundancies, use clear and straightforward language, write in an active voice, and eliminate filler words (Jacobson et al., 2019). All this testifies to the quality approach to writing and designing the work. Also noteworthy is that the survey contained open-ended questions designed to expose some of the participants’ thoughts and concerns about the short courses. The other qualitative data sources were subject-created papers (such as reflective essays), field notes, and personal correspondence. The qualitative sources revealed three major themes: collaboration with other educators, quick input from teachers and researchers, and course format flexibility.

Questions to ask about the study

If someone will try to foresee, or instead predict, what three questions could be asked to researchers for which they should prepare, then it is not difficult to formulate them. The first one is how well the methodology was thought out and why these methods and approaches were chosen. The second question is why the authors consider the conclusions justified given the specifics of the topic. Furthermore, what is the overall academic benefit of their research? These questions are pretty obvious and can reveal much additional and essential information related to the study. This work allows other researchers to take a fresh look at the problems of hiring and working capacity of teachers using the Internet. Such accessible technologies, academic examples, and research topics provide new opportunities for further study of the topic in general (Marrero et al., 2010). For example, data obtained from the example of NASA provides many new approaches to the development of the topic of hiring teachers and specialists.

The findings of the research and alternative investigation of research questions

A given topic can be explored using the same questions using other qualitative methods, a different study group, or quantitative analysis. For example, approaching a wider audience would help address the issue less qualitatively in terms of specifics but gain new opinions from general surveys. Also, the work could rely more on the research arrays of other works and not on social questionnaires and work of this kind (Rashid et al., 2019). If we foresee, or rather predict, what three questions could be asked to researchers for which they should prepare, then it is not difficult to formulate them (Rashid et al., 2019). The first one is how well the methodology was thought out and why these methods and approaches were chosen. The second question is why the authors consider the conclusions justified given the specifics of the topic.

References

Abutabenjeh, S., & Jaradat, R. (2018). Clarification of research design, research methods, and research methodology.Teaching Public Administration, 36(3), 237–258. Web.

Chun Tie, Y., Birks, M., & Francis, K. (2019). Grounded theory research: A design framework for novice researchers.SAGE Open Medicine, 7, 205031211882292. Web.

Gough, K. M., & Phojanamongkolkij, N. (2018). Employing Model-Based systems engineering (MBSE) on a NASA aeronautic research project: A case study.2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference. Web.

Guetterman, T. C., & Fetters, M. D. (2018). Two methodological approaches to the integration of mixed methods and case study designs: A systematic review.American Behavioral Scientist, 62(7), 900–918. Web.

Jacobson, M. J., Levin, J. A., & Kapur, M. (2019). Education as a complex system: Conceptual and methodological implications.Educational Researcher, 48(2), 112–119. Web.

Marrero, M. E., Woodruff, K. A., Schuster, G. S., & Riccio, J. F. (2010). Live, online Short-Courses: A case study of innovative teacher professional development. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.

Rashid, Y., Rashid, A., Warraich, M. A., Sabir, S. S., & Waseem, A. (2019). Case study method: A Step-by-Step guide for business researchers.International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 160940691986242. Web.