Hearing Dr. George Veletsianos draw back the curtain to his research experiences was very thought provoking. Seeing his extensive list of research projects, it is obvious that he has a lot of experience doing studies on digital learning environments and the exposure to them. By the end of his podcast, I felt that there were three qualities a researcher should have to do great research. The first being experience. Experts in the field naturally have this experience that they build on. If the formula works, why change the wheel? New research can be built on past findings. The second item that I found was interest. Most researchers I know are deeply interested in their research, which would make sense if they’ve dedicated their careers to it. Lastly for lack of a better term, gut instinct, and it really cycles back to experience. From experience, one can get an idea whether a certain research project is worth pursuing or not.
During the MALAT Research Panel Discussion 2017 at Royal Roads University, both George Veletsianos and Dr. Bill Muirhead note that a lot of research is conducted, but not all of it good research. While we may not all have the experience of experts, we can learn from their teachings and publications. At the very least, I can now confirm that comparing whether online or face-to-face learning is better can be classified as a bad research topic to look into. For more detail on why, check out the panel. In short, it’s been done to death and there’s no conclusive answer. While I have some experience in research, I hope to further embark on my own journey and hopefully have a ‘good’ research question along the way.
References
Veletsianos, G. (2017, August 10). George Veletsianos on Research. Podcast retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=245247
MALAT Research Panel Discussion 2017 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://livestream.com/accounts/10925877/events/7616831/videos/160653361
I like the way you pulled these three points out of George’s podcast. What you have distilled aligns with my own experience of research as well. I think a lot goes into the gut instinct aspect that is specific to the individual. For example for me, I have had instincts about the community of scholars I am interested in joining with my research (both as my audience and potential future collaborators.) I also wanted to do research that would underpin my professional work (Organization Development & Change).
Thanks for the comment Loni. I’m working on building up my gut instinct and sharing in the experiences of both you and George’s research has definitely helped.
So glad that the MALAT 2017 research panel was helpful to you George! I shared a link to this post on Twitter so that it could reach folks who may not find it otherwise. Enjoy!
Thanks for the comment and sharing Elizabeth!