Methods of SSM: WebQuest Lesson, 02/12/07

117 minutes of writing

I am so excited to announce that I completed the CITI Human Subjects course late last night. I am now eligible to submit human subjects protocols to UNLV's IRB (though I may not be able to be a principal investigator since I am in a visiting position -- I'll have to look into this).

Because March 1st is fast approaching, I decided I need to begin focusing on writing for the manuscripts due by 3/1. This revelation fortunately came at a time when there is a slight lull in my teaching and service responsilibities. I decided to begin by working on preparing a chapter for submission to the Methods of Teaching Social Studies Methods text. Though there are several chapters that interest me, I decided to begin with a chapter describing my lesson on web-based resources. This is a very unique lesson and I feel the students learn such critically important technology skills during the lesson while learning so much about web-based social studies resources. The chapters are very short (2000 words) and not research-based. My plan is to complete this chapter quickly, send it off to the text editor, and offer to write an additional chapter if she feels my work is suitable for the text.

I spent the morning preparing a first draft of the first half of the manuscript, and I spent part of the afternoon editing the first few pages. I finished in time to take those pages to my writing circle where I received very helpful feedback (as always!). I hope to revisit, revise, and continue writing on this manuscript tomorrow, and keep working on it until it is ready to send to the editor.

I also need to be thinking about a CUFA proposal (I really don't know what to submit at this point and am not sure I should submit anything given my questionable status as a social studies educator).

I also need to begin preparing a research protocol for my NECC research. I'm still not sure of my research questions and hope to edify those questions tomorrow. I have the privilege of meeting with Sandra Odell who can hopefully give me guidance in this area as well as help me identify directions for my research agenda.

Finally, CUE is just around the corner. I will presenting on 21st Century Social Studies and have LOTS of preparation to do. I'm hoping that part of the preparation will involve the writing of a paper I can submit for review.

Currently, the biggest problem I foresee with my research is the lack of scientific scrutiny. I have many suggestions and examples of social studies and technology integration at the K-12 and teacher education levels, but no data to support that these lead to greater student learning or enhanced use of technological tools. I must begin to address this issue - the NECC research is a great strting point for this problem.