Research Matters Webinar Series - Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Research
WEBINAR TITLE: Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Research
PRESENTERS:
NCTI presenter: Tracy Gray, Director at the American Institutes for Research - BIOGRAPHY
Guest presenters: Dr. Christina Whalen, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of TeachTown - BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Laura Lara-Brady, Research Scientist, TeachTown - BIOGRAPHY
DATE: Tuesday. Aug 23, 2011
TIME: 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern Time
Overview: Join the National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI) and the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) in a conversation about conducting and learning from Experimental and Quasi-experimental research. In this webinar, Dr. Tracy Gray, Director of NCTI, will introduce you to the recently launched Assistive Technology Research Matters research primer for your use in informed decision-making about research.
Dr. Christina Whalen, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of TeachTown, and Dr. Laura Lara-Brady, Research Scientist at TeachTown, will share how they conducted research to measure the efficacy of TeachTown: Basics®, an intensive instructional intervention for students with Autism. This research was conducted in conjunction with the Los Angeles Unified School District over a 3 month period in 2008-2009 school year and published in the May 2010 edition of the peer-reviewed journal, Autism.
An Experimental study is a type of evaluation that seeks to determine whether a program or intervention had the intended causal effect on program participants. There are three key components of an experimental study design: (1) pre-post test design, (2) a treatment group and a control group, and (3) random assignment of study participants. Quasi-experimental studies are similar to Experimental studies. While they may take on many forms, but may best be distinguished as lacking one or more of these design elements.
Who should attend?
Sales and design staff of learning and assistive technology companies interested in understanding the power of research to answer key questions about their consumers and natural use settings.
As a result of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify relevant resources on research, funding, and real-world examples of Experimental and Quasi-experimental research in the online Assistive Technology Research Matters research primer.
- Describe how Experimental and Quasi-experimental research differ from other kinds of research.
- Describe the elements of Experimental and Quasi-experimental research design and the importance of each to the applicability of the results obtained.
- Describe the process of analyzing the results of Experimental and Quasi-experimental research, including resources and tools used in analysis of the data.
ACCESS RECORDING FOR THE WEBINAR
Biography for Tracy Gray, Director, National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI); Managing Director, American Institutes for Research:
Tracy Gray is the Managing Director at the American Institutes for Research and directs the Center on STEM Education and Innovation that focuses on research and technical assistance to increase the pipeline for struggling students in STEM-related fields of study. In addition, Dr. Gray leads two national technology centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) — the National Center for Technology Innovation (www.NationalTechCenter.org) and the Center for Technology Implementation. These Centers promote the development and implementation of evidence-based technology practices and tools to improve the educational achievement of students with disabilities. She also serves as the Director for the Microsoft Math Partnership (www.mathpartnership.org) that provides technical assistance to teachers, administrators, and coaches of mathematics to implement high quality technology-enriched programs for middle school students.
Dr. Gray is a nationally recognized expert in education and technology who has led numerous initiatives in the United States and abroad that examine the impact of technology on educational achievement. She has published and lectured widely on issues related to the effective implementation of technology, particularly for those with special needs. Prior to joining AIR, she led the philanthropic initiatives to integrate technology in after school programs as the Vice President for Youth Services at the Morino Institute. In the Clinton Administration, she served as the first Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for the Corporation for National Service that launched AmeriCorps throughout the United States. Earlier, Dr. Gray served as the Deputy Director for the first American Red Cross AIDS Public Education program. In 2008, she served as a judge for the International Imagine Cup, sponsored by Microsoft that brings together more than 1000 students from around the world to compete on technology-related projects. In 2009 and 2010, she was selected as one of the international judges for the Tech Museum Awards to Benefit Humanity. She is co-editor with Dr. Heidi Silver-Pacuilla of the upcoming book "Breakthrough Learning - Advancing Educational Innovation with Assistive Technology" which will focus on innovations in teacher and learning to be published by Springer Publications in Spring 2011.
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Biography for Dr. Christina Whalen, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Co-Founder, Chief Science Officer, TeachTown
Dr. Whalen is a licensed psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst
specializing in autism and special education. She received her PhD at U.C.
San Diego and did her post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA. She has consulted
for many school districts and has run early intervention programs at Autism
Spectrum Therapies and University of Washington Autism Center. Dr. Whalen has more than 15 years of experience in research and clinical practice. She has presented at many professional conferences and has authored several peer-reviewed publications. She is the editor of the book Real Life, Real Progress for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Strategies for Successful Generalization in Natural Environments. Dr. Whalen has been a
Principal Investigator on 4 federal grants and has won 2 awards for research including the National Tibbett's Award from Small Business Innovative
Research and runner-up in the 2007 Technology in the Works competition from the National Center for Technology Innovation. She is currently the Chief Science Officer for TeachTown and works in the San Francisco Bay Area office of TeachTown and has been with the company since the very beginning in 2003. Dr. Whalen was recently appointed as a Consulting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine.
Biography for Laura Lara-Brady, Ph.D., Research Scientist, TeachTown
Laura holds a doctorate in Educational Psychology with a minor in Special Education and another one in Statistics and Research Methods. She was
previously a research associate and a consultant for the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ, where she helped developed a framework identifying the population of English Language Learners. Laura has presented her research in numerous conferences nationally and internationally and along with her bi-cultural background, has developed a sharp eye for educational research and research methods.
