Second-Half Semester Self-Assessment

Goals:
• Goal 1: Understand and implement the steps required for the formalized research process
• Goal 2: Gain approval from the necessary parties in order to conduct a pilot study
• Goal 3: Gather a body of research related to my topic and synthesize it into a literature
review

In-Field Activities:
1. Collaborating with Dr. Hines: Since the mid-point of the semester, I have mainly
communicated with Dr. Hines via email to finalize plans for my IRB application. She also
shared three reading resources through email to build my understanding of qualitative
research. We held a Zoom conference, where she supplied feedback regarding my IRB
application responses and my initial interview questions. This feedback helped me revise
both my application and my interview questions. Collaborating with Dr. Hines has supported
my pursuit of goals 1 and 2 since she has added to my understanding of IRB requirements
and interviewing practices, and she also helped finalize my application for IRB review.
2. Reading about Qualitative Research Practices: Dr. Hines shared a chapter entitled,
“Frameworks for Qualitative Research,” to introduce me to qualitative research frameworks.
That chapter guided the design of my research study; I specifically chose to use an
interpretive perspective with both individual interviews and archival pieces. Later on, she
shared two readings entitled, “Qualitative Interview Studies: Learning through Experience,”
and, “In-depth Interviewing”. These readings taught me about how to prepare for qualitative
interviews, as well as how to conduct them. All of these readings supported my
understanding of designing and planning research and drew me closer to meeting goal 1.
3. Completing the IRB application: Dr. Hines shared an organizer with me which included the
questions from the IRB application and exemplar responses. I spent around 5 hours writing
my own responses, revising them, and plugging them into the UGA website. The UGA IRB
site also requires prospective researchers to submit drafts of their recruitment email, consent
form, and interview questions they intend to use, so I spent around 2 additional hours
 creating those. All of this naturally built my understanding and implementation of research
since it is an essential component of the process (goal 1), and it also prepared my to receive
approval from the IRB (goal 2).
4. Researching related literature: I continued researching content for my literature review via
UGA Libraries, which consumed about 10 more hours (in addition to the 10 hours from the
first half of the semester). I spent this time learning more about teacher mindsets surrounding
gifted education, teacher training across the United States, and state gifted education policies.
After reading each article, I wrote a brief summary and citation in an annotated bibliography.
This was my first activity tied to goal 3; gathering this body of research prepared me to
create my literature review.
5. Planning the literature review: I cut out each source from my annotated bibliography. I went
through each summary and categorized the sources by themes. I found four themes in all:
gifted policies, teacher training, teacher mindsets, and evaluating gifted programs. After
making these groups, I designed outlines for each category, which articulated subtopics and
details I wanted to include in my literature review. I also wrote correlating sources to the side
of each detail. In all, I spent around 5 hours planning my review, which is a necessary step of
research (goal 1) and was critical in synthesizing my body of research (goal 3).
6. Writing the literature review: I spent about 11 hours writing and revising my literature
review. My colleague read it, and we met virtually so I could receive feedback from her. I
used that feedback to further revise my work. In all, my review summarizes the available
research on my four identified categories, and it is about 8 pages long. Completing this
review helped me accomplish goal 3. I will be able to use this when I create an article to
publish my study.
7. Revising the IRB application: After submitting the IRB application, an IRB reviewer reached
out to us, and he asked for a few revisions to my application. Namely, he requested I switch
Dr. Hines to the principal investigator, and that I make minor adjustments to my consent form
and clarify that we are not using an external site for research. I was able to make these
changes and re-submit the application. The following day, we received word that this study
was approved by the IRB and deemed as “exempt”.
Personal Accomplishment:
Although I have grown in several areas through this practicum, I am most proud of my
work related to goal 3: the planning and creation of my literature review. I have never conducted
this much research surrounding one focus, so I grew in my informational reading skills and
learned how to record my learning in an organized, concise way as I consumed information.
Typically when I write, I do not plan extensively; I write as I go and then dedicate a great amount
of time to revising. For this process, however, I created a method to consider all of my sources,
categorize them, and ultimately synthesize them in an organized manner. I was surprised to find
how seamless it felt to write the literature review once I had created organized outlines. Honestly,
I have reconsidered my typical writing process and even practiced using a more organized
planning structure for my GCE comprehensive exam. This may have changed how I write for
future projects!
I am proud of my finished product. I feel that my literature review is steeped in research
and conveys the most important information surrounding my topic. I have not written an article
for a scholarly journal yet, but I hope this work could fit into a peer-reviewed piece of writing
and could introduce scholars to concepts surrounding gifted education policies and teacher
mindsets. I believe it will continue to guide my efforts as I research subjects for my study and
analyze data from the interviews and archival pieces. As I continue this project (even after the
practicum course is over), I anticipate even further growth in my research and writing skills.

Final Summative Report

• Goal 1: Understand and implement the steps required for the formalized research process
Effectiveness rating: 3
I believe I pursued this goal very effectively, but I have not yet met it. I have a strong
understanding of all research elements leading up to this point, such as how to conduct research
with human subjects; how to decide on a research topic; how to design a qualitative study; how
to apply for IRB review; how to examine fitting literature for research; how to design and supply
interview questions; and how to plan for and create a literature review. My knowledge is strong
in these research elements because I have implemented them. I am only partially complete with
this project, though, and still require practice in actually interviewing subjects, analyzing data
from qualitative research, and synthesizing it into a scholarly article. After that, I will learn how
to submit my article to journals and how to publish work. Until I can conduct in-field research, I
cannot fully say that I understand the research process and have implemented it exceptionally;
however, I think I have put forth my greatest effort and achieved what I could within the time
frame allotted.
• Goal 2: Gain approval from the necessary parties in order to conduct a pilot study
Effectiveness rating: 3
Due to the current circumstances surrounding COVID-19, my timeline for submitting my
IRB application was delayed. I submitted my application about four weeks after I originally
intended, which initially made me feel ineffective in the pursuit of this goal. I put forth a great
deal of effort to ensure that my application was thorough and well-constructed, though, so it
included all of the necessary components. I received feedback from Dr. Hines, which was very
helpful in refining my work. Luckily, the IRB only took a few days before contacting me with
revision suggestions, and the reviewer commented that the study was in, “great shape”. I was
able to make the few changes, and the IRB approved the study the next day. Since I received
positive feedback from the reviewer and was able to achieve exempt status, I feel that I was very
effective in designing my research and conveying how we would conduct it respectfully. I am
grateful that the IRB moved at a fast pace, so I was still able to achieve approval before this
semester ended. Now, I am beginning the recruitment of research subjects, so I am moving to
the next phase of research before the semester concludes.
• Goal 3: Gather a body of research related to my topic and synthesize it into a literature
review
Effectiveness rating: 4
As mentioned previously, I felt like I exceeded this goal; not only did I complete all of
the needed work for this, but I have extended my knowledge in more areas than I originally
anticipated. I have created a literature review which I will be able to incorporate into a scholarly
article, and I have also grown in my reading, writing, and organization skills. The pursuit of this
goal has changed how I view planning within the writing process. Essentially, my effort and
creativity helped me succeed in this area, and I am proud of the final outcomes I achieved.