Conducting research on any subject matter involves careful planning, exploration, design, methodology, explanation and conclusion. The process involves a cognitive awareness of some behavior, conducting research to study the behavior, and deriving conclusions based on the research findings. I selected my research paper “Does the use of video enhance task management training” as my artifact for the Research Student Learning Objective. Due to the complexity of the research project, every class taken in the Masters Cohort program contributed in some form to my research project. In particular three classes were responsible for the composition, review, and submission of the completed project, SED 600 “Educational Technology Research Methods”, SED 690 “Special Topics in Educational Technology”, and SED 697 “Preparation for the Masters of Arts”.

 

Artifact Selection Process

I decided to a development project creating a training course in Adobe Flash as I noticed a need in my work environment to provide additional training with our enterprise system backup application, Netbackup. The Netbackup application is used to backup important data to disk or tape media. I observed employees struggle to understand key concepts with the application. I would point them to the training manuals but without specific instructions relevant to our site, they experienced difficulties comprehending the material. I realized that constructing a graphical interface to explain the key concepts presented in the manuals and associating those concepts with elements in our environment, I could remove learning complexities. In addition to performing a work-related needs assessment, my project allowed me to examine individual views on learning preferences.

 

The participants involved in my research project included ten individuals, eight were Information Technology employees and the other two were from non-technical positions. My research project was created in Adobe Flash and included pre and post surveys with questions geared towards determining the subjects learning preferences. After taking the pre-survey the subjects were given seven short tutorials on the Netbackup application. Two of the tutorials were presented by a video presentation and the others were administered through the use of text and graphics without audio. When the tutorials were complete they were given a quiz to gauge how well they comprehended the material. After the quiz a post-survey was given to assess their overall view of the presentation methods used in the tutorials. Interestingly, although the majority of the subjects indicated video as their learning preference they scored lower on quiz questions generated from the video portion of the tutorial.

 

Relation to Student Learning Objective

The development of this project involved significant research. I utilized tools such as Google Scholar, CSUN’s Digital Library, ERIC, JSTORE and the Journal of Education Technology. After the research was complete I performed a synopsis of the material to determine the relevance to my project. The literature review conducted in SED 690 was crucial to the project as I examined previous research performed relating to learning method studies. The goal of my project involved determining the most effective method to present new material, video or graphical displays with text.

 

In reviewing the researched material most studies indicated that the use of video provided a superior learning experience. After an analysis of all the literature, I believe each presentation method had a direct affect on outcomes based on the context in which it was used. For example, using video to explain how to select which date to use for a file restore is better than a graphic depiction pointing to a particular date. The user can make associations of why a particular date was selected. Upon completion of my project I found no conclusive evidence that video provided the best learning experience. Future studies should consist of a larger pool of recipients as my research study was conducted with just 10 participants. In addition, of the seven tutorials only two were presented in the form of video. Perhaps an even number of the tutorials should be presented using each method.

 

My development project was by far the most intricate exercise of the entire program. I became aware of the moral implications while conducting research and protecting the privacy of individuals. Part of the process involved the collection of consent forms which was of great value as I began to understand the ethics behind conducting research and my moral responsibility to the participants. The literature review provided a historical perspective on my topic and gave me insights of how to conduct a professional study. The gathering of information from the surveys allowed me to obtain statistics and formulate conclusions from the results. The creation of my development research project paper, presented for this Student Learning Objective was by far the most beneficial contribution to the Master’s program, as the artifact presented demonstrates my abilities, knowledge, and research skills attained by the program. I have also grown personally and professionally with the completion of this project.