A500.6.3.RB-White Tyronn

Qualitative Research

   Qualitative research uses a naturalistic approach that seeks understanding through a context of specific settings.  This approach seems the most comfortable to my way of doing research.   I am able to look at the information and dissect it to determine the data I need for my research.  Once I am able to determine the data collected, I will be able to relate the information and apply it such a way that can benefit me for the rest of my life.

Features of qualitative research:

     The feature of qualitative research gives the researcher a guide to covering all basis of their research.  Qualitative research uses the natural setting as the source of data.  The researcher acts as the human instrument of data collection, determining what is and is not important to their research.  Qualitative researchers use data analysis to break down and make sense of the data collected.

      Qualitative research reports are descriptive, incorporating expressive language bringing a human presence to the reporting.  The qualitative researcher has an interpretive character which discovers and illustrates the events and meanings. 

     Qualitative researchers pay attention to idiosyncratic as well as the pervasive, seeking uniqueness of each case.  Qualitative research has an emergent design and focus on this emerging process as well as the outcomes or product of the research.  Qualitative research is judged using criteria for trustworthiness.

     Qualitative research means any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedure or other means of quantification.

     Quantitative research means to seek casual determination, prediction and generalization of findings; qualitative researchers seek instead illumination, understanding and extrapolation to similar situations.

     I lean towards the side of adapting qualitative research to be used to better understand a phenomenon about which I know little information about and also learn new things about content I am already familiar with.

A500.5.3.RB-White Tyronn

                                   

Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

 The method in which think about things has not changed much since taking this course.  However, the way I analyze my thinking has changed.  I have always been a deep thinker, always reflecting on the events of the day, the people I come in contact with, the challenges I face every day.  I often replay things in my head to determine if a situation, event or problem was handled the right way.  What I mean when I say if I handled a situation the right way, is that I was democratic in my decision, making sure I made the best choice for all parties involved. 

     My analytical thinking has improved dramatically since taking this course.  Having a method to reflect on issues, problems and circumstances professionally and personally can be a huge asset to have when in a leadership position.  It is my belief that true care for the organization and its people should generate some type of reflection to foster the best optimal situation for the organization and its people.

     Thinking analytically, gives leaders the opportunity to develop rules and strategies to deal with the day to day operations of an organization.  Thinking analytically, while dealing with different personalities in an organization is a tough task.  Thinking analytically is the method I have adopted while taking this course.  Analytical thinks allows me to take a deeper look at things from a different perspective.

     To make a lasting positive change in the way I think, it would take continuous reading, watching TED videos, posting my assignments, communicating with classmates and the professor on our post.  I enjoy the opportunities to experience different real world scenarios that having meaning for our assignments.  These real world, real life scenarios allows for authentic thinking and applying those thoughts to real concepts.    Continuing to learn from my classmates by reading some of their experiences in dealing with circumstances they found themselves in is a great benefit.  The more opportunities I have to go through the modules, communicate with classmates on their experiences, share some of my experiences gives me a good background to develop multiple strategies in dealing with analytical thinking.

A500.7.3.RB-WhiteTyronn

Quantitative Research Reflection

   Qualitative research uses a naturalistic approach that seeks understanding through a context of specific settings.  This approach seems the most comfortable to my way of doing research.   I am able to look at the information and dissect it to determine the data I need for my research.  Once I am able to determine the data collected, I will be able to relate the information and apply it such a way that can benefit me for the rest of my life.

Features of qualitative research:

     The feature of qualitative research gives the researcher a guide to covering all basis of their research.  Qualitative research uses the natural setting as the source of data.  The researcher acts as the human instrument of data collection, determining what is and is not important to their research.  Qualitative researchers use data analysis to break down and make sense of the data collected.

      Qualitative research reports are descriptive, incorporating expressive language bringing a human presence to the reporting.  The qualitative researcher has an interpretive character which discovers and illustrates the events and meanings. 

     Qualitative researchers pay attention to idiosyncratic as well as the pervasive, seeking uniqueness of each case.  Qualitative research has an emergent design and focus on this emerging process as well as the outcomes or product of the research.  Qualitative research is judged using criteria for trustworthiness.

     Qualitative research means any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedure or other means of quantification.

     Quantitative research means to seek casual determination, prediction and generalization of findings; qualitative researchers seek instead illumination, understanding and extrapolation to similar situations.

     I lean towards the side of adapting qualitative research to be used to better understand a phenomenon about which I know little information about and also learn new things about content I am already familiar with.

A500.8.3.RB_WhiteTyronn

Hans Rosling: The Best Stats You've Ever Seen

     Hans Rosling’s presentation was interesting in the way he took various amounts of statistics and information and applied it to his PowerPoint presentations.  As a high school teacher, there is an ever evolving interest in the way we present information to our students in an innovative, entertaining and interactive way.  We have opportunities to attend various training on how to incorporate different types of programs that use interactive presentations to our students to keep them engaged.  Essentially, we are competing with the ever growing innovation with cell phones and tablets.

     Yes!  Statistical data and complicated information can be presented in interesting was.  More and more companies and organization have become really efficient in using presentations incorporating different types of presentation technology to keep adults alert and engaged when attending meetings.  Because of what I have personally witnessed in all my years as a teacher, seeing a dramatic jump in the way technology is used in presentations, I do not think that most business presenters are terrible.

     From my point of view, the three essential elements of a good presentation are one, know the information being presented, two be passionate about the information presented and three have a presentation created that illustrates the information presented that has a style and personality of the presenter.  In order to engage the audience with the information, the presenter must be knowledgeable about the information presented in a way that they know what they are talking about and articulate that information to the audience in a way that they can understand and curtail that information to fit whatever type of audience the information is being presented to. 

     The presenter needs to be passionate about the information being presented.  If the presenter is knowledgeable about the information, that presenter can be allowed to add their style and personality to the presentation which can add flare to the presentation which will also keep the audience engaged.  keeping the audience engaged is the key.

     The presenter must create their presentation in a way that that matches their personality so that the presenter can be emotionally attached to the presentation which will keep the audience engaged and allow the presenter to be entertaining as well as informational.  The style of the presentation must also match the style and personality the presenter so everything matches. 

     When all of these elements are in place, the presenter is presenting the information as if he is not presenting, but has a conversation with the audience and using the presentation to beautifully illustrate the factual information being presented. 

     According to my reading this week, the elements needed to be a good presenter are:

*Use multimedia effectively.  The presenter must design the presentations surrounded by how society access information on the web.  This type of reliability keeps the audience engaged.

* The presentation must be great in both visual and verbal detail.  Have a story to have the audience relate to the presenter or the information to have an emotional connection to the audience. 

*Reduce the amount of information on each slide.  Use the information on the slide to activate the information that the presenter wants to talk about. 

*Use high quality graphics including videos, photos and audio.  Remember that most people in the audience use high quality technology at work, in their home and when they are mobile.  If the presenter does not use high quality everything with the presentation, no matter how good the information is, the presenter will lose most of the audience.

*Be mobile.  Move around the room to connect with the audience will presenting the information.

*Use a remote control to control the presentation.  With the ever growing market on technology, no 

  one in the year 2014 should have to walk back and forth to their computer to change to the next slide.

It is my belief that many presenters fail to have great presentations due to design issue can be for three reasons:

1.        The presenter is not knowledgeable of computer technology or knowledgeable of PowerPoint or presenter technology.

2.       The presenter does have knowledge of computer technology and PowerPoint or presentation technology but does not have the vision for high quality graphics and sound.

3.       The presenter misses the mark or is out of touch with the technology of today and has an issue with adapting to new technology innovation.

A500.5.3.RB_WhiteTyronn

Tyronn White
                                   

Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

 The method in which think about things has not changed much since taking this course.  However, the way I analyze my thinking has changed.  I have always been a deep thinker, always reflecting on the events of the day, the people I come in contact with, the challenges I face every day.  I often replay things in my head to determine if a situation, event or problem was handled the right way.  What I mean when I say if I handled a situation the right way, is that I was democratic in my decision, making sure I made the best choice for all parties involved. 

     My analytically thinking has improved dramatically since taking this course.  Having a method to reflect on issues, problems and circumstances professionally and personally can be a huge asset to have when in a leadership position.  It is my belief that true care for the organization and its people should generate some type of reflection to foster the best optimal situation for the organization and its people.

     Thinking analytically, gives leaders the opportunity to develop rules and strategies to deal with the day to day operations of an organization.  Thinking analytically, while dealing with different personalities in an organization is a tough task.  Thinking analytically is the method I have adopted while taking this course.  Analytically thinks allows me to take a deeper look at things from a different perspective.

     To make a lasting positive change in the way I think, it would take continuous reading, watching TED videos, posting my assignments, communicating with classmates and the professor on our post.  I enjoy the opportunities to experience different real world scenarios that having meaning for our assignments.  These real world, real life scenarios allows for authentic thinking and applying those thoughts to real concepts.    Continuing to learn from my classmates by reading some of their experiences in dealing with circumstances they found themselves in is a great benefit.  The more opportunities I have to go through the modules, communicate with classmates on their experiences, share some of my experiences gives me a good background to develop multiple strategies in dealing with analytically thinking.

A500.9.4.RB_WhiteTyronn

A500.9.4.RB - Course Reflections

     Professor Watkins did a wonderful job balancing out his demands and expectations of the students’ progress in this course along with understanding that the students participating are all adults and have families and schedules that sometimes may not allow us to meet every deadline of every assignment.  The professor gave great feedback and was patient with the students allowing them to self-correct some of the issues and problems students had with support.  The professor’s lines of communication were always open and inviting. 

     My perceived value of the course was that this course was the beginning me getting back acclimated to a school setting, trying to learn something new to better myself and progress to high level positions  within my current profession or outside my current profession to better my way of life and my families way of life in years to come. 

     The negative aspect of this course, I would say is that some of the assignments are a bit tedious.  I do understand that there are some concepts and procedures that the students should learn but some of the assignments were a bit long or there were many steps to complete an assignment.  Also the price of the Brain program in my opinion was a bit much even though, we are supposed to use this throughout the duration of our master’s program.   

     Positive aspects of this course, I would say has and is a great experience for me.  This course has allowed me to develop some perspective about going back to school after several years of earning my bachelor’s degree.  Some of the assignments have allowed me to reflect on many aspects of the journey I have been on in my lifetime.  This course has made me reflect on how my way of thinking was in high school and college vs my way of thinking today.  This course was a good introduction to returning back to college and getting acclimated to adjusting my schedule at home to be able to keep up with the assignments.  I have run into some road blocks from time to time with keeping up with my children’s extra-curricular activities such as their practices and games.  All in all I have had a good experience with learning something new for a subject area I am interested in.

Thank you Dr. Watkins for your input, hard work and understanding.