Event

Tools of the Trade: 3 Presentations on Getting Started in Research

Saturday, September 20th, 2008, 6:30 PM - 8:45 PM

Speaker: Luke Fryer, Trevor Holster, and Peter Carter

Students in TESOL courses are often required to undertake research projects, but experience as classroom teachers may not have equipped them with the tools needed to collect, organize, and analyze their data. Three mini-presentations are aimed at introducing important research tools at a level accessible to novice researchers and classroom teachers who may lack specialized backgrounds in research or statistical analysis.

Where academic writing begins and ends: An Endnote, Luke Fryer
Endnote may be the most commonly used referencing software. This presentation will outline why so many academics perceive it to be an indispensable tool for researching and writing. The presentation will include: 1) an overview of its key features, 2) a brief tutorial for getting started with making your own library, 3) elaboration on a few of its often unused but essential features, and 4) a demonstration of how Endnote can be at the center of both your literature search and support the writing of your literature review.

How high can they jump? An introduction to Rasch measurement, Trevor Holster
Using classroom tests as research instruments brings up problems of score weighting- raw test scores show how many times a candidate was successful, how many times the candidate jumped, but not how difficult the test items were, how high the candidate can jump. Rasch measurement, using widely available software tools such as Winsteps, makes conversion of raw scores into measures of ability quick and easy, showing how high candidates can jump. This presentation will introduce the basic concepts of Rasch measurement and then demonstrate some simple applications of interest to classroom teachers and researchers.

Getting SPSSed for beginners: A basic guide to data handling, Peter Carter
When teachers first start to conduct their own research, organizing data can be a major source of frustration and confusion. This presentation aims to highlight some of the ways in which teacher-researchers can help themselves by setting up their data handling appropriately. We will look at ways in which Excel can be used alongside the statistics software SPSS to support teachers in their data analysis.

Organization: Fukuoka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Fukuoka JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1,000 yen

Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map

Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Contact Fukuoka JALT

Trevor Holster