Jingwei Viola Liu
Systemic Improvement Indicator D
Indicator D: Establish and leverage strategic partnerships to support systemic improvement.
Artifact:
Artifact & Course Description:
Course Title
GREV 701: Methodology and Research Design
Course Description
This course was to develop skills and knowledge necessary for the conceptual understanding of peer-reviewed research. The foundations necessary to be critical of research were presented. Research terminology was also emphasized. While the course emphasized research design, the research process from start to finish was examined.
Project Description
This was a research study proposal. The aim was to compare a new cloud education model to a traditional teaching and learning model in teaching algebra in Chinese universities. This is because cloud education has been successfully deployed in many countries in post-secondary learning, but not in China. Because cloud education has never been attempted in Chinese universities, it should be studied on a small scale before fully implemented.
Three Chinese universities would participate in the study: Peking University, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi TV and Radio University. Peking University is a large, prestigious university, while Shaanxi Normal University is a second-tier university, and Shaanxi TV and Radio University is the lowest-tiered university. Outcomes measured would be class performance, cost, value of choice and need for outside resources.
Reflection
This exercise enlightened me to the possibility of testing large-scale systemic change within a post-secondary infrastructure. The results of a study like this could have a very strong impact on an entire system’s outcomes in terms of educational performance as well as cost. Partnering with these differently-tiered universities is important, as the student bases would be different. My career focus is on supplementing younger Chinese students who are attending public schools with online educational tools, but these are the same children who will hopefully later attend these universities. It is very important to work to develop optimal online educational tools for students at every level, and partnering with schools and universities is necessary to focus on the subpopulations who might benefit the most.
Working together on a research project like this with multiple institutions as part of a larger educational system is the type of effort necessary to establish and leverage strategic partnerships. Research like that in the proposal can facilitate using these partnerships to support systemic improvement.