The deeper I delve into the world of Library Summer Reading Programs (LSRP's), the more I learn about the subject and the more intriguing it becomes. This reminds me of the exposure I had to non-fiction books in my Tweens materials class, taught by Jonathan Hunt. I discovered that when I read these non-fiction books, I really enjoyed the contents and learning new information. After all, the Discovery channel and NatGeo, are some of my most favorite programs that I watch on television. What I've learned about LSRP's is that it seems that the library's goal is to have children read in order to maintain intellectual learning over the summer. Although why they have this goal, I still have yet to identify. Another interesting fact that has presented itself in my readings, is that there is a definite connection between the summer programs offered at a library and reading. Although this seems obvious, there seems to be little research regarding the incentives offered within these summer programs, including prizes, charts, and planned library activities for children during the summer that don't have much to do with reading. From personal experience, this past summer my children participated in the local LSRP, and attended a scheduled magic show. Towards the end of the show, the children were invited to view a display of magic related books, such as card tricks. In essence, this subtopic has combined "Youth and Libraries" with "Youth and Reading".
Something else that I've learned this week as a definite, is that every research design has its limitations. This makes complete sense to me, although up until now I was unsure if researchers were aware of this truth. Truly, part of writing abstracts for the upcoming assignment is to figure out these limitations, although some articles that I've read explain the limitations clearly.
Keywords: Action, reading, and I've forgotten about truncation! For instance: "program*". Additionally, there have been some integral books written on the topic I've been researching, which would be useful for the final project or literature review. Heyns, Shin, and Krashen, are some of the leading authors and researchers in this field.
Action research is another qualitative design, and I've recently read an article utilizing this very method. The lecture discusses a certain dynamic spiral process, where the researcher is moving back and forth between the problem, data collection, and action. This very spiral is drawn and explained in the article that I've read, giving me a clearer picture of the process. Essentially, the entire process of action research involves some basic steps: identifying a problem area, collecting and organizing data through experiencing, inquiring, and examining, interpreting this collected data, taking action based on the data, and then reflecting on the solutions. However, I'm unsure as to why this process is sometimes deemed specific to studying youth, when it could be utilized over a number of areas.
Ethnography is the other qualitative design I've studied this week. I found it fascinating because it's a design particular to a cultural group, and one such group can actually be children. It seems that the emphasis within this method is in exploring social phenomenon through field work or observing the group in it's natural setting. The researcher can be investigating between one to a few cases, and works primarily with unstructured data. The key in this research design is the analysis of that data, again making it different from a literature review.
Yesterday I read a detailed research article for my archives class. I found that I could easily identify the steps in the research, including the literature review, the surveys, and the analysis of the data. To my understanding, it was a mixed methods research design, and because of my readings for this class, I actually enjoyed the article more than I thought I would have.
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