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¶ … Langer, A. (2002). Reflecting on Practice: using learning journals in higher and continuing education. Teaching in Higher Education 7(3): 337-51.
This qualitative study examined the nature and role of "learning journals as they were utilized by different populations of students, with the author's primary area of investigation consisting of the differences between traditional and "non-traditional" students (especially older adults enrolled in classes) and their utilization of learning journals as tools for critical reflection. By examining the learning journals completed and turned in by both traditional and non-traditional students as part of the requirements for a technical computer class, as well as through interviews with a few selected students, the researcher probed the degree to which critical reflection was demonstrated in the journals...
The researcher found that non-traditional students were more skeptical than traditional students when it came to the learning journals, and were more likely to use them as simple study tools rather than means of achieving reflection on their past learning.
The information presented seems highly credible and rigorously collected, however the population studied is so small that the results cannot be considered reliable. This information is a useful stepping stone, but in and of itself provides no trustworthy answers. It also is not directly relevant to the issue of the availability of training programs, though the degree to which certain elements of training programs are perceived as valuable is addressed. This could in turn be interpreted as a commentary…
Powell, H., Mihalas, S., Onwuegbuzie, A., Suldo, S. & Daley, C. (2008). Mixed methods research in school psychology. Psychology in the Schools 45(4): 291-
A loose mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in this literature review, though there was truly no strict data gathering or analysis of any sort in the research. Instead, the authors combed through previous research to develop descriptions of various research methodologies and the ways in which they are understood by others in the field, and also quantitatively examine several years' worth of research to measure the rate of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research being conducted in and published in the leading psychological journals. The authors show a clear purpose of highlighting the emphasis on quantitative research at the expense of other methodologies that exists in the current research, which is supported by their findings as they explore the research that currently exists.
The authors paint a compelling argument for their case and there is a fair amount of evidence to support their claims, however their seeming preference for qualitative and mixed-methods research rather than quantitative research is almost palpable. While the evidence collected indeed suggests that quantitative research is over-represented in current publications, these authors seem guilty of a reverse bias against such research, and this taints their findings. This article also does not touch on the issue of the availability of training programs at all, not even tangentially, and thus is not related to the research topic at hand save for a consideration of methodology.
Among the most important findings produced in the results of the research, Langer conjectures that "the results of this research suggest that non-traditional adult students can find it difficult to understand what is meant by reflection and how it applies to their practical goals of changing careers. These students do not have a natural or traditional association with the journal process itself, as has been suggested, more or less,
Learning Journals in Higher and Continuing Education The study by Langer (2002) exploring the use of learning journals in higher and continuing education presents new data that may challenge the existing paradigm in the area. This critique focuses on assessing the robustness of the study by examining the problem the author considers and the methodology employed to answer any questions raised. The literature that the author reviews becomes an important
One result is that in spite of being told how to record a journal in the context of an independent format, most students used a format preferred by the teacher which demonstrates a possible "lack of proficiency with reflective writing" (2002, p. 343), meaning that almost all of the students were not at all familiar with reflective writing techniques and decided to adhere to a format more in line
wealth of information for a researcher, but only if the researcher has a clear idea of what he or she wants to study and how the past work of others can be used in order to provide ideas for the future based on the work done in the present. There should be a logical progression from what was done in the past, through what the researcher is doing currently,
CyborgED: Hybrid Pedagogy and Student performance Harkening to the roots of educational episteme, in What Does it Mean to be educated, John Spayde (2010), addresses the convergence of knowledge formation in late-capitalism from the position of a Socratic muse. In review of contemporary educational praxis, Spayde examines the polemic that has arisen from the knowledge vs. information paradigm prompted by Cartesian comparison of the traditional and online classroom. Seemingly underneath this proposition,
Korotkoff Phase Should Be Used as the Endpoint for the Measurement of Diastolic Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Literature Selection and Identification Critical Appraisal of Selected Literature Five Korotkoff Phases Conducting System of Human Heart Two of the most common complicating problems seen during pregnancy are the appearance of gestational diabetes and of hypertension. Both of these conditions are more likely to occur during late pregnancy and both generally abate in the postpartum period. Nevertheless,