Action 2.7: Linking research purpose, questions and methodology
Friday, 23 Jan 2015, 14:53
Visible to anyone in the world
Edited by Nathan Lomax, Friday, 23 Jan 2015, 15:25
Re-examine the articles you found in Action 1.10.
Is a positivist paradigm implied or explicit?
Buttner, E. Holly, Black, Aprille Noe (2014) Assessment of the Effectiveness of an Online Learning System in Improving Student Test Performance. Journal of Education for Business. Vol. 89 Issue 5, p248-256. [online] http://tinyurl.com/khunur7(Accessed 29/10/14)
Since reading Ball, the term 'effectiveness' in educational research seems to be an indicator of positivist leanings. This is the case in this study, which attempts to measure students' test results in relation to an online learning system. Implicit in this is the assumption that learning is measurable by testing and therefore that results are reliable. It also assumes that the online system is able to improve test results for all learners. An interpretivist or critical theorist view might be at odds with this assumption, as other factors such as the context the learners are working in may influence test results.
'This kind of (positivist) theorising legitimises assessment practices that assume that a test item has the same meaning for all those taking the test, i.e., that what it measures is stable.'
Action 2.7: Linking research purpose, questions and methodology
Re-examine the articles you found in Action 1.10.
Is a positivist paradigm implied or explicit?
Buttner, E. Holly, Black, Aprille Noe (2014) Assessment of the Effectiveness of an Online Learning System in Improving Student Test Performance. Journal of Education for Business. Vol. 89 Issue 5, p248-256. [online] http://tinyurl.com/khunur7 (Accessed 29/10/14)
Since reading Ball, the term 'effectiveness' in educational research seems to be an indicator of positivist leanings. This is the case in this study, which attempts to measure students' test results in relation to an online learning system. Implicit in this is the assumption that learning is measurable by testing and therefore that results are reliable. It also assumes that the online system is able to improve test results for all learners. An interpretivist or critical theorist view might be at odds with this assumption, as other factors such as the context the learners are working in may influence test results.
'This kind of (positivist) theorising legitimises assessment practices that assume that a test item has the same meaning for all those taking the test, i.e., that what it measures is stable.'
Action 2.2: thinking about theory
https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=480525§ion=3.2