Blended Learning: Research Perspectives, Volume 2 by Anthony G. Picciano My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting read. It's the next volume in the series on Blended learning.  This one was easier to find, but I still got it via ILL - same research project as I mentioned in my blog post yesterday.  I've often wondered why books like this exist in this day and age. Each chapter

Blended Learning: Research Perspectives Vol. 1 by Anthony G. Picciano My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not a bad read if you want some historical info on Blended learning.  I had a hard time finding this book, so I got it via interlibrary loan. It may seem a little dated, but I think it's useful for setting the scene for Blended learning.  I went through this with a specific research

Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology by D. Jean Clandinin My rating: 5 of 5 stars While I didn't read this book cover-to-cover I did find quite a few chapters quite useful in thinking about and designing my narrative inquiry project. View all my reviews

Narrative Inquiry: A Dynamic Approach by Colette Daiute My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Not a bad book, and not bad in structuring a methodology for researching a narrative inquiry. The approach given, however, makes me a little perplexed as to what separates this type of narrative inquiry from something like Discourse Analysis. View all my reviews

Thinking Collaboratively: Learning in a Community of Inquiry by D. Randy Garrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book to read, especially the section on Leadership as it connects to the community of inquiry framework. When the CoI was recommended to me (for my dissertation), I didn't really think a ton about it because the only context that I had encountered it in was classroom

E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for Research and Practice by D Randy Garrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars A nice, short, overview of the community of inquiry framework for those who are new to it. The book basically breaks down to 1/2 being about the CoI (discussing each part in details, and encompassing recent research), and 1/2 being application. It

Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research by John W. Creswell My rating: 5 of 5 stars A good primer on mixed methods research. I wish I had made this part of my original reading list last summer when I was conceiving of my (current version for my) dissertation proposal plan.  Mixed methods fits well with one of the reasons  I am using case study research as my approach. 

Learning Together: Peer Tutoring in Higher Education by Nancy Falchikov My rating: 3 of 5 stars Not a bad book. "Tutoring" in this book means anything between an the work that an "more knowledgeable other" (Vygotsky) does, to teaching assistants. There is quite a broad range to work with, and an interesting book to consult when thinking both about course design and program-level

Well, after almost 2 months, 8 drafts, and a lot of work, I've arrived at my update dissertation proposal. This thing grew about 15 pages since my last draft.  Yes, some pages are blanks by virtue of needed to start something on a next page, or to not break-up a table, but I did end up having to explain some things a bit more based on the literature.  Hopefully I can form a committee soon,

MOOCs by Jonathan Haber My rating: 4 of 5 stars While the book is a bit out of date (MOOCs have moved along since it was published) I still found it to be a good introduction to the phenomenon of the (albeit without really looking too in-depth at research done in MOOCs).I did have an opportunity to hear the author speak back in 2012 (?) at the Campus Technology conference in Boston.