When I Think of Research......

                I have gained a lot of knowledge through this course and some of the main topics that I have learned that were very new to me was the ethics in research, the mixed method, and equity in research. These topics are very important due to consent and confidentiality keeping with participants, using the mixed methods to have a more defined and informative research, and equity is being fair and just towards the participants in research. I have learned to take extra precautions in research with children. Doing research as an undergrad was just the tip of the iceberg, not knowing the extras behind it. When I say extras, I mean the ethics and equity. Some of the challenges that I encountered was creating a research question for quantitative research. One question that I decided to make off of statistical data, I found that it was hard to make a hypothesis from it. The mixed method design also takes a mixture of data to make a research question so I believe that it will take more time.

                When it comes to planning, designing, and conducting research, I realize that it takes time and that there are precautions when having children and families as participants in their project. If you are doing interviews and observations, everything will not always go as planned and you may have to do some rescheduling. You have to always be mindful of participants in making sure they understand the purpose of the research whether it is cultural, families, or children. I have to make sure that my research has validity and that I can back up my data. As an early childhood professional this course can help me in possible future research that I may be able to help other children and families but to remember to have respect for those throughout the process as well. Thanks everyone for your support throughout this course!

Research Around the World

Early childhood Australia has a lot of research topics. The ones that stood out to me were the child health and nutrition topics. Those topics were about asthma and asthma management and baby and infant oral health. I chose these two topics because I know only a small amount of information on these topics. The website talks about asthma as being a frightening condition for children. It gives families advice on how to assist and support young children with asthma. There is advice for teachers as well as the families. Families are to provide an updated plan for the child’s doctor. Talk about what is normal for the child and their triggers, symptoms, and medication. All educators and carers are to be trained to administer asthma first aid.

 In baby and infant oral health, daily care is needed so that children don’t develop dental caries, resulting in the need for fillings or early extraction. It’s not just brushing that is required: bottles, dummies and diet all play an important role in how healthy a toddler’s teeth are. When a child presents with cavities, fillings or missing teeth due to decay before 24 months of age, it is known as ‘early childhood caries’. Although preventable, ECC is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease, five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. Dental check-ups are important for all children, to assess the developing dentition and to identify risk factors such as developmental enamel defects, unsupervised brushing and flossing, frequent snacking, on-demand breastfeeding past the age of 12 months, night-time bottle-feeding with liquids other than water, such as milk or fruit juice.

   

References

Healy, T. (2012), Annual Evaluation Report—Asthma Child and Adolescent Program. In possession of Asthma Australia, Kent Town, South Australia.

Tjeuw, D. M. (2015). Children's Health & Nutrition. Retrieved from Early Childhood Australia: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/parent-resources/childrens-health-nutrition/