My personal reflection after reading What Is “Good” Education Research? by Karl Hostetler

My personal reflection after reading What Is “Good” Education Research? by Karl Hostetler
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER 2005; 34; 16.

Generally good research has an appropriate number of subjects to survey or interview, yields reproducible results or provides for independent review of qualitative data. But this is not enough!

I totally agree that good education research is about what beneficial aims and results that serve people’s well-being.

But what are the conditions under which that good educational research can flourish?

I feel that researchers argue about research terms and some times might miss the whole point about being a researcher.
The example used is especially vivid and useful to me when relating to research that abound around me, so that my bearings will continue to be to serves the human kind’s well-being. My current work on Easy Java Simulation is well within the classification of serving the world's learning needs for simulations for sense making in physics education. I have been fortunate to meet the Fu-Kwun Hwang, Francisco Esquembre &; Christian Wolfgang  and that i have been making my personal and professional life meaningful.


Example of Research Debate that is not good research.
"Effectiveness of thumbscrews as a means of torture. A quantitative researcher might say we need a random sample of subjects and some quantifiable measure of results, say the pitch and duration of victims’ shrieks. A qualitative re-searcher could retort that such data are inadequate,and might want to interview the victims to get a thicker and richer narrative of their experience and its meaning for them. Of course, we might realize that we do not have an either–or choice here. We say that both approaches, or some “multi-methods”approach, can provide useful data o theorists and practitioners of torture."

This paper also mention the "Learn What?" Noddings (1992) which points to the challenges and issues of current school system around the world of herding children instead of providing liberating education.

This paper also talks about not only to serve well-being but also to understand how they are serving it, which is the translation aspects of research work has to impact the schools for the better, and not isolated and incubated in one or some pilot schools.

The Complexity of Goods tells me that many organization articulate different versions of what constitute good, more usual than not, it serves some political party's conception of good for the people, good for the nation etc. This paper argues that we need to be aware of the influences that define good because what is good to some is good to these people, at this time, in this situation, is not good to another group of people, in a different country.

The Complexity of a Good Life presents a view of "at what cost?".  At the cost of reducing violence in school, students also discouraged students from exercising force of character and judgment. An example i can related to is the introduction of school based national assessment in science practical which some might argue has taken the joy of learning aka "love to learn" science away from the students. The intention of many great education policy is hard to fault, only the execution of the theory is not achieving the strategic aim of preparing students for a life of learning, but instead what student faces is a series of examinations for life.

The paper mentioned that unfortunately, these days many people tend to want to end research with answers. Given the state of U.S education, with the attendant pressure to produce “results,” one can understand why people look for “answers.”And the problems are not limited to elementary and high school. Sometimes, good research does not provide answers but give you more reason to benefit human kind.

Increasing emphasis on grants (corporate model) in higher education can promote conditions where winning grants will become an end in itself rather than a mean to accomplishing something worthwhile. All these sounds all so familiar. All are not alone :)

graphical method in physics