{"id":111,"date":"2020-05-07T20:09:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T20:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/?p=111"},"modified":"2020-09-10T16:42:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T16:42:38","slug":"childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"ChildEx: A WordPress website for doing research in the classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 ez-toc-wrap-right counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#About_the_author\" >About the author<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#About_the_Tool_and_Class\" >About the Tool and Class<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Lesson_plan\" >Lesson plan<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Opening\" >Opening<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Body\" >Body<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Closing\" >Closing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Findingsassessment\" >Findings\/assessment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Accommodation\" >Accommodation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Reflection\" >Reflection<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Reflection_from_instructor\" >Reflection from instructor<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Preparation_timematerials\" >Preparation time\/materials<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Benefits_and_challenges_of_the_tool\" >Benefits and challenges of the tool<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#In-class_experience\" >In-class experience<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/childex-a-wordpress-website-for-doing-research-in-the-classroom\/#Ease_of_useranking\" >Ease of use\/ranking<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"About_the_author\"><\/span>About the author<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chigusa Kurumada<\/strong><br><em>Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator of the Rochester Kinder Lab<br>Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"About_the_Tool_and_Class\"><\/span>About the Tool and Class<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Title<\/strong><\/td><td>ChildEx: Turning the classroom into a language development laboratory<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Tool<\/strong><\/td><td>WordPress (<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.wordpress.com<\/a>)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Tool description<\/strong><\/td><td>WordPress is a blogging and content management system that can host documents, videos, audio materials, and other plug-ins.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Class\/Target Level<\/strong><\/td><td>BCS 259<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Course Title<\/strong><\/td><td>Language Development <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/4n5oab1x48tl4z6\/BCS%20259_syllabus_for_2019_ver3.pdf?dl=0\">(syllabus)<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Background information <br>about the class<\/strong><\/td><td>BCS 259 \u201cLanguage Development\u201d is an introductory lecture class for upper-level undergraduate students. It is a mid-sized class (approximately 50 students), with a highly heterogeneous group of students in terms of their background and interests. We cover diverse topics in the one semester course, aiming to provide an overview of studies on first and second language development in young children. The materials are richly structured with a number of video and audio materials, as well as a set of research papers that deepen students&#8217; understanding of the subject matter.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Lesson time<\/strong><\/td><td>A semester (75 minutes, 2x\/week, 15 weeks)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Number of students<\/strong><\/td><td>40-50 (divided into 10-15 groups of 2-5 people)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Learning outcomes<\/strong><\/td><td>Students <strong>learn<\/strong> about developmental milestones in language acquisition (WHAT) and their trajectories (WHEN), and <strong>investigate<\/strong> relevant cognitive and biological underpinnings (WHY). ChildEx is used alongside the Blackboard website as students embark on their group projects. Technical skills for interacting with open-source database are introduced throughout the semester and students present their own research questions, methods, and outcomes of their projects in an oral and a written format.<br><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"443\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/image-1.png 443w, https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/image-1-300x134.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px\" \/><figcaption>ChildEx website image. By C. Kurumada with permission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lesson_plan\"><\/span>Lesson plan<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Opening\"><\/span>Opening <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the first 8 weeks, students learn about important developmental milestones, encompassing diverse topics from lower-level speech perception to higher-level lexical and syntactic development. Every 4 weeks they complete a homework assignment (3 assignments in total) to familiarize themselves with components of experimental research on the topic of language development and learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Body\"><\/span>Body<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the 10th week we form small groups (2-5 people per group), and participants complete a worksheet (Assignment 4) to propose a research idea. With an approval from an instructor, they then proceed to conduct data collection and analysis using the publicly available, large-scale, dataset (\u201cCHIDES\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/childes.talkbank.org\/\">https:\/\/childes.talkbank.org\/<\/a>) and its graphic user interface (\u201cCLAN\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Closing\"><\/span>Closing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the last 2 weeks, each group makes an in-class final presentation using a template provided in ChildEx. Each presentation has 6 components (Title, Background, Research question and hypothesis, methods, data, conclusion, references cited). All the group members participate in presenting the results. After integrating feedback from the audience, students complete their final writing assignment to report on their research results and their insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Findingsassessment\"><\/span>Findings\/assessment<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their presentations are graded both by instructors (including TAs) as well as other students in the class on three scales: Clarity of research question, Clarity of methods, and Clarity of results. This constitutes 10% of their class grades. Their final-write up is assessed individually, which counts towards another 10% of their overall class grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Accommodation\"><\/span>Accommodation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An active use of ChildEx is strongly encouraged but largely optional and hence there is no accommodation. The instructor and TAs respond to students\u2019 questions via email or during their designated office hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reflection\"><\/span>Reflection<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reflection_from_instructor\"><\/span>Reflection from instructor<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ChildEx website helps provide a bird\u2019s eye-view of a work-flow leading up to the final presentation and the final write-up. WordPress is a versatile platform and the website\u2019s archival function allows students to brainstorm about their own research questions and gauge an appropriate size\/scope of a project that fits into the designated time frame. The interactive aspects of the tool (e.g., assignment submission and automatic grading) need to be updated and further developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Preparation_timematerials\"><\/span>Preparation time\/materials<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The website has been developed over the past 3 years with support from CETL. (An undergraduate student developed 3 different parts over the years). With the current contents, the instructor (and the team) spends roughly 5h throughout the semester for up-keeping of the tool. (~1h adding new materials at the beginning of the semester, ~2h in class introduction of the tool, ~2h of adding students\u2019 research outcomes at the end of the semester)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Benefits_and_challenges_of_the_tool\"><\/span>Benefits and challenges of the tool<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A chief benefit of ChildEx is to streamline the learning process and make all the materials publicly viewable and shareable. For instance, when the main instructor is on leave, a substitute instructor can easily use it as a cookbook to implement the research-oriented teaching methods. A main challenge so far is to update information according to version updates of the database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In-class_experience\"><\/span>In-class experience<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ChildEx is explicitly introduced and explained during class time. However, students are expected to use it in their own free time. No extra time or effort is expended for this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ease_of_useranking\"><\/span>Ease of use\/ranking<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The interface of WordPress is easy to use, and one can find ample documentations and relevant information online. With the help from the Digital Scholar initiative, we have thus far not encountered any problems that we were not able to solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ChildEx is used alongside the Blackboard website as students embark on their group projects. Technical skills for interacting with open-source database are introduced throughout the semester and students present their own research questions, methods, and outcomes of their projects in an oral and a written format.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,14],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brain-and-cognitive-sciences","tag-undergraduate","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslab.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}