Prototype and Pilot Testing

I hope everyone is doing well. The end of the school year is so hectic. I have had so many projects due at work. I can't believe we are so close to finishing the school year. My pilot testing went well. I had great subjects who took the process seriously and had great suggestions for improvement of my project. I have had great feedback from teachers at my school as well. I have made many improvements on my site and have ideas for more. I'm glad school is out so that I have time to perfect it.

Late for Class

It's 5:04 and I'm supposed to be at the PD campus for class with Dr. Baek. Instead I'm waiting for my DVD burner to encode the video for the tonight's presentation for the incoming 6th graders.
It's some version of Murphy's Law that makes technology slow down or simply quit working when the machine senses you are in a rush. "The speed at which technology operates is inversely proportionate to the need of the technology user." ...or something like that. It's an old saying I just made up. At any rate, it's moving at a snail's pace.

This does give me time to read my notes. ...tap, tap, tap...sigh

End of the School Year

I hope everyone is doing well and progressing at a reasonable pace. I am finding that with the end of the school year comes great demands on my time. There does not seem to be anything that I can give up or neglect. As a result, I'm not getting as much done as I would like, on my project. I am so hoping to complete the testing of my site before school ends but I need volunteer teachers and they, too, are busy. I've had several volunteers but when they see the time committment, they are not as happy to accomodate me. I'm not going to let it stress me out though. If I don't finish 'til fall, oh well...it's a disappointing thought but I can only do what I can do.

But I'm not going to give up trying!

Prototype Testing

I complete my alpha testing last week and learned a great deal from the results. I'm making some additional changes to the website using the suggestions I received. It is very useful to get feedback from a fresh pair of eyes. It's all coming together. What I am dreading is going back to complete the literature review. That is just painful!

IRB Training

On my April 11th post, I said I was done with the IRB training and that it took only a couple of hours. As it turns out, I did not complete the correct Group training. I should take the advice I give my students and read ALL of the directions. I received a note from the IRB office telling me to complete the training and then they'd review my application. I did manage to complete it in 2 days, but it was very time-intensive. In the Group 2 training (for Social Behavioral Research Investigators) I believe there were 15 modules!! Each takes 15-30 minutes to complete.

I just got the news yesterday that my application was approved! Yes! But my website isn't finished.
Where will I be on Mother's Day weekend? With my mother? With my children?
Of course not, I'll be working on my prototype
website........to be continued.

May 4

This has been a hectic week between school assignments and work. I finally completed my IRB application and submitted it today! Yay! Another milestone reached! In retrospect, it wasn't so difficult, but because it was the first time filling it out I was careful to make sure I had all the i's dotted and t's crossed. Now back to the grindstone (lliterature review).

April 26th

I'm back on track now that I met with Dr. Newberry this week. I've clarified some things and have begun (again) to write the IRB proposal. I've written two surveys but need to complete the third. The IRB proposal should be done for submission on May 4th. This weekend will be crunch time for the lit review. I hope to complete a large part of it. The book has been helpful in wading through so much information. The authors methodical approach is useful. I've also been working on my Chapt 1. It's funny that I can talk so much (too much) but when it comes to writing, it's much more difficult.