The Idea of Research...

When I first thought about research before this class started it was just something that I had to do in order to get through school. I have learned through taking this class that research is so much more than that, and it can be so easy to get too amerced in an idea. I had the best of intentions in the beginning of this class and my idea was great. However, I learned that I was way too general and really had to focus my thoughts on a much smaller scale to make research even a possibility.
    I have learned that you really need to be invested in your idea for research and not just something you thought about of the top of your head. When doing research you are completely surround by it. Choosing a topic or area that you are passionate about is key.
     The hardest challenge for me when it comes to research is all the vocabulary. There always seems to be so much terminology that just don't' flow for my way of comprehension. I never want to read journals or research articles because it is something that seemed tedious and time consuming because I would have to keep rereading passages to make sure I understood what they were talking about. I have found that after doing some basic research on the words that I didn't have a clear understanding before, it has been a much easier endeavor to get through readings/research needed and I can appreciate it more.
  

International Research

The website that I chose to look at was the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The topics of research seemed to be separated by country wherein the study had taken place or effected directly as a result of the research.

Zambia: Pilot Study of the Adaptation of an Established Measure to Assess the Quality of Child Services in a Selected Orphanage in Zambia: The Inclusive Quality Assessment (IQA) Tool

 
Ghana: Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Perception of Early Childhood Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN-Assisted Programmes in Bawjiase, Ghana

Uganda: Utilizing Indigenous Stories in the Promotion of Early Childhood DevelopmentPrograms in Uganda

Nigeria:

Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development

These are just a few of the articles that I looked at while browsing through their extensive list.I was surprised that the list was written by country. I guess because I never really thought about it since I live in one large country made up of small states; not one large continent made up of many countries! It was very interesting to look at the list and go down through country to see where the interests are and what they are investing time and energy into delving into. Also it makes me wonder why there are many countries not represented? Is it because there are no credible works published to put into this site? Or are there other possibly political reasons why they are not listed? This was kind of a strange website to navigate as it was more for educational purposes, but I had a hard time really understanding what was going on here. Besides for that, I thought that it was very interesting that this seemed to be a website geared towards Early Childhood Development (adult education) yet the entire website is in English, and I know that there are many languages in Africa. My assumption would be that since it is in the University in Victoria then there must be a substantial amount of people who speak English!