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2. Educational Research and Development
Educational research and development RD is a process used to develop and validate educational products. The step of this process are usually referred to
as the RD cycle, which consist of studying research finding pertinent to the product to be developed, developing the product based on the findings, field
testing, and revising it to correct the deficiencies found in the field-testing stage Borg and Gall, 1983: 772. The goal of educational research is to develop
products, discover new knowledge, and answer specific questions about practical problems. The contribution of educational RD is becoming a way to bridge the
gap between research and practice. It takes the findings generated by basic and applied research and uses them to build tested products that are ready for
operational use in the school or institutions Borg and Gall, 1983: 773. There are 10 major steps in the R D cycle:
1. Research and information collecting
It includes review of literature, classroom observation, and preparation. 2.
Planning The most important aspect of planning is the statement of the specific
objectives to be achieved by the product. Planning is necessary to anticipate needed materials, professional help, and field-test sites. Planning includes
defining skills and stating objectives.
15 3.
Develop preliminary form of product This part includes preparation, handbook, and evaluation. An important
principle in this part is to structure the product so as to permit obtaining as much feedback as possible from the field test.
4. Preliminary field testing
It includes the using of instruments such as interview, observation and questionnaire to collect data. It is conducted in from 1 to 3 schools, using 6 to 12
subjects. The purpose of this step is to obtain an qualitative evaluation of the new educational product.
5. Main product revision
It includes revision of the product as suggested by the preliminary field-test result.
6. Main field testing
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the educational product under development meets its performance objectives. It includes conduction in schools
and collecting data in pre-course and post-course performance. 7.
Operational product revision It includes revision of the product as suggested by the preliminary field-test
results. 8.
Operational field testing The purpose of this step is to determine whether an educational product is
fully ready for use in the school without the presence of the developer. It must be
16 complete and tested in every respect. It includes the conduction in schools and
analyzing the data collected. 9.
Final product revision It includes revision of the product as suggested by operational field-test result.
10. Dissemination and Implementation
Dissemination is a process of helping potential users become aware of RD products. It is necessary to demonstrate that the RD product is implemented
according to the developers’ specification. While implementation is the process of helping the adopter of an RD product to use it in the way intended by the
developers. Those two include the report on product at professional meetings and journals.
3. Learning with Multimedia
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