Week 4

I gained a lot more information on research strategies from this week’s guided assignment. I found the Academic Search Premier tool to be very helpful, especially with the option to view only peer reviewed articles. With the use of the Leatherby Library and this tool I felt like I was really researching quality scholarly materials. I honestly did not face any difficulties this time around due to the step by step instructions provided by our instructor.

The article I found introduced me to another intervention strategy used to aid in the development of children with ASD. The article was on the impact of Advancing Social-Communication and Play (ASAP) intervention on the deficits of language and social skills in preschoolers with ASD. I had never heard of this intervention before and was intrigued to find more research on play based strategies. My hope from this research is to find evidence based intervention techniques that I can apply to my curriculum in my preschool autism classroom. I hope to continue to find valid intervention strategies that can be applicable to my life. 

Week 3

I was able to gain new information on my topic thanks to the sample chapter provided by the book's publisher's website. On Guilford's website, found here, I was able to access the table of contents, sample chapter, summary, author information, and reviews. While my search in the Leatherby Library lead me to this book, it was the publisher's page that I got most of my information from. I found it frustrating that the Leatherby Library did not have more information on the book than just a brief abstract. It would have been very helpful for the library to either have the same information as found of the publisher's page, or at least a link to the webpage. Yet, it was due to the advanced search feature used on the Leatherby Library that I was able to find this book. Doing a basic keyword search yielded too many results to realistically go through. Therefore I found the advanced search tool to be the most beneficial. It reduced my search from over 600 results down to 6. As I continue my search I hope to be able to find real life applications of PRT. I also hope to find lesson plans using PRT strategies in the classroom.

Week 2

This assignment was difficult for me. I spent many hours looking through sources and narrowing down my research idea. What started with just autism, lead to early intervention strategies, only to be narrowed down further to Pivotal Response Training (PRT) in learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It took me looking through many, many articles to come up with this topic. I had a difficult time finding sources from scholarly journals and other similar sources. I would find titles and abstracts that were interesting and on topic only to be disappointed to find out I had to pay for the rest of the text. Our book, Research Strategies, warned me of this. People do not put out information for free. It took me over an hour to finally succumb to this and start a different route in my research attempts. My next strategy was a Google search with an emphasis on url domains ending in .edu or .org. There was a lot of information on PRT, but mostly just basic overviews of the topic. I finally found two sources that had detailed information on what PRT is, how it is implemented, and the outcomes of this intervention. I have done research papers in the past, but really focusing on applying the CRAAP criteria made it more challenging. Because of this I believe my sources are stronger and will prove to make a better basis for a research paper.

Week 1

Hello. My name is Sara and I am a Senior at Brandman University. I am majoring in Applied Studies. This major worked best for me as I have an eclectic variety of courses at Brandman and at the junior college I attend(ed).  I have attended Brandman University on and off for 8 years. Due to personal and family circumstances my educational journey has taken quiet the scenic route, with stops at parenthood, many different moves, new jobs, and just at the many points of my wonderful life. Although I wish I could have finished sooner I am happy to now be at the end of this certain path with my Bachelor Degree set to be completed in December. I currently, and for 4 years, have worked as an instructional aide, the last two years being in a preschool autism classroom. It is here that I have found my passion in which I want to pursue for a career, a Special Education Teacher. After I complete my degree in December I plan to enroll in the intern program in my area and begin my teaching internship. This is such a long awaited goal and I am so excited for this next piece of my journey.

As I begin to think about my research topic I initially just think- Autism! I know this is a broad subject with so many potential routes but I know that is where I want to start. Being in the field I am any knowledge pertaining to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will be beneficial and interesting to me. I am looking forward to narrowing down this topic. Areas of information literacy that I hope to improve on are the ability to evaluate information critically and to incorporate selected information into my knowledge base and value system, as discussed in ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards.