A500.9.4.RB – Course Reflections

Richard Martinez

December 18, 2015

MSLD 500

                The course Leadership Foundations in Research was a major eye opener for me. It really opened my eyes in the critical thinking aspect. I have always thought that I had some basis of critical thinking due to my 28 years in the Army and being in several high leadership positions leading anywhere from around 30 to 380 Soldiers at any given time depending on my duty position at the time. But this course taught me a great deal about critical thinking. I was always an analytical thinker but never really thought about my own thinking to improve it. Another area that was very new to me was the SEE-I concept. SEE-I which stands for S: State it, E: Elaborate, E: Exemplify, I: Illustrate. Applying this concept to my critical thinking has allowed me to ask the right questions to get a clearer thoughts. I now find myself using it in almost everything I do now. The blog portion of the assignments was also very new to me. I have never been one to put my thoughts down on paper, I never had a journal or anything like that. The first couple of blog assignments did take me a little while to put my thoughts to paper but I found that I became very interested in writing down my thoughts. My wife has been trying to get me to write a book about my 28 years in the Army and I never knew how to go about it. This blog has given me several ideas and options now.

                There were two areas within the learning and assignments that I did have difficulty with. The first was the Concept Map. I have a basic and I mean basic idea of how the program for the concept map works. I feel that this is something that should have a separate block of instruction on rather that the students learning on their own. This was by far one of the hardest assignments and it was reflected in my grades in the first three assignments. I have been improving my knowledge of the concept maps and what’s needed for each assignment. The second area that showed some difficulty is the ePortfolio. There has been no instruction on the use of this online tool. It has been one big trial and error for me in setting mine up. I believe that that in the future classes there should be some form of instruction on the concept map and ePortfolio online tools used in this course. Especially since they will be used throughout the Leadership Master’s degree program.

                Over all I am very pleased and really did enjoy this course of instruction. I felt it was very beneficial to me and my future in the Master’s Degree in Leadership program. The action research project was very informative to me even though I have a background in Research through the Army. It showed me another side of research that I feel enhances my current abilities. I now understand and feel that it is very valuable to complete this course before moving on to any other course in this degree program. I think that this course has set me up with keys skill sets that will allow me to do very well in the future course that I need to take to complete my Master’s Degree in Leadership.

A500.8.2.RB – Good Presentation Design

Richard Martinez

December 9, 2015

MSLD 500

            Based on my background in the U.S. Army my thought process on a good presentation design will most likely be very different than most individuals. PowerPoint presentations were a daily routine for me in the military specifically the last twelve years while I served in various senior leadership positions. In the Army the purpose of most presentations was to deliver a vast amount of information to senior leaders. Some presentations were done for training Solders on a specific topic. For the most part they conveyed information to a group of individuals. So with the amount of information being presented sometimes it was very difficult to have a well-designed presentation. In these presentations we used photos, graphics, charts, and text in bullet format. We would apply transitions from slide to slide and even incorporate video as well. But based on our learning this week on good presentation design the military presentations that we did would most likely be considered poor designs. The most important thing for us was to present the information and most of the time the slide format was given to us by our higher headquarter. Only specific emblems were changed depending on who you were briefing. So basically if you were briefing your next higher headquarters you would put their Unit emblems on the slides and not yours.

            Not all slides in the military were designed to present an abundance of information. We did some presentation to be used as a training devise for our soldiers on many different subjects. On these presentations we had more freedom to create a good presentation design. When creating a good presentation design there are a few key things that you want to keep in mind. First what is the purpose of your presentation what are going to be the key topics and what are you expecting from your audience? You have to be able to present all your key information in the allotted time frame. Plan your presentation out first on a dry erase board or pen and paper. This gives you an idea of what your presentation will look like. This is referred to as “analog mode.” If it’s possible include stories that can help you explain complicated ideas. The stories must underscore the point of your information in your presentation. Keep your text to a minimum on your slides and even have no test at all on some slides. The slides act to support the narration which is the presenter. It’s also a good point to not read word for word from the slide. Keeping your slides simple is also part of the good design. Many people tend to make slides that are too busy and that can be very confusing and distracting. Avoid Microsoft templates, clip art, or cartoonish line art and use high quality graphics and photos to enhance your presentation. Limit one idea per slide if possible unless side by side comparison is called for.

            When designing your slide presentation there are four key elements to incorporate into you design. These are Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. Contrast shows the differences in the slides and is done through the manipulation of space through color choices, text selection, and the positioning of the elements on the slide.  By applying these four elements will greatly enhance your presentation. The end state is to design a well-balanced presentation that keeps your audience focused on you and the information that you are presenting.

A500.7.3.GA – Quantitative Research Reflection

Richard Martinez

December 3, 2015

MSLD 500

            In my last blog I discussed Qualitative Research and summarized the main elements. In this blog entry I will be discussing Quantitative Research its main elements as well as advantages and disadvantages. Quantitative Research is defined as research that is centered on scientific approaches and produces data that looks to form relationships between two or more variables and uses statistical methods to exam the connections. This research aims at explanation and answers primarily to why. Quantitative research will test hypotheses, it will look at cause and effect and it will make predictions.

            The group studied in quantitative research is usually larger that in qualitative research and its more focused on numbers and statistics. Quantitative research data will identify statistical relationships and objectivity is critical. There are several strengths and weaknesses associated with quantitative research. There are four primary strengths associated with quantitative research. The first is that it permits the research and explanation of social structures and methods that are not directly observable. It is also well-suited for quantitative description and comparisons between groups and areas. Another strength is that it describes changes. The last strength is the analysis and explanation of casual dependencies between social phenomena. A disadvantage or weakness of quantitative research is that it is only applicable for measurable or quantifiable data. Another disadvantage is it presumes relatively extensive information on the subject matter to be able to ask the right questions. Quantitative research produces a static view of the reality and is difficult to study processes or dynamic data. And the final primary weakness is that quantitative research does not have a full description of the participant’s perspectives or intentions and meanings.

            The research process consists of multiple steps beginning with your research idea. From here you must conduct a literature review and then a theoretical formulation of the research problem. From here we move to the next step which is the empirical research questions. Next is the research design or planning which may include experimental design, longitudinal design, cross-sectional design, and case study design. The next step is that data collection. Data collection can be completed by a questionnaire, structured interview, unstructured interview, observation, participant observation, document analysis, and unobtrusive measures. Each of these data collection methods can be used in all four of the research designs. After data collection then data must then be analyzed. From here the next step is to answer the empirical research questions and then the theoretical interpretation of the results. After that the next step is the comparison with earlier research and then finally your conclusions.

            Quantitative research tends to only generate proved or unproven results and there is very little room for grey areas or uncertainty. This form of research is usually time consuming and can be expensive especially if the design has to be adjusted and the research retested. Quantitative research is also seen as unbiased.