Educational Research and Development

2.4.6 Educational Research and Development

Borg and Gall 1983:772 defines educational research and development or sometimes called as research-based development as a process used to develop and validate educational products. The products here not only refer to the material object, such as textbooks, but it also refers to the established procedures and processes, such as a teaching method. The process involves some steps which are studying research findings related to the product to be developed, developing the product based on these findings, field testing it where it will be used eventually, and revising it to correct the deficiencies found in the field-testing stage. These processes are similar with the instructional design‘s processes. The methods on the instructional design can be used in educational research and development. One of the instructional design models which has been discussed is from Lee and Owens which is drawn below. Figure 2.1 Steps on educational research and development based on Lee and Owens‘ instructional design model. Analysis Design Develop Implementat ion Evaluation It can be concluded that the instructional design process can be applied in conducting educational research and development. Developing a product is purposed to answer the research questions. In developing the product, the researches need to know the condition and the situation in which it is implemented, so that the product is appropriate with the need. Therefore, the process begins with analysis to collect the information about what product will be developed. It includes the analysis of students‘ need, teachers‘ need, and the facilities to implement the product. The second step is in design phase. It involves the preparation in creating the product such as project schedule, media devices that is needed in creating the product, and structure of the material. After the researcher is finished with all the preparation and their design, they are ready to develop and create the product. The initial product needs to be evaluated by the expert before it is implemented. The final product is ready to be implemented when it reaches the final revision and it gets positive comment by the expert. In the implementation, the researchers need to take note how the product works and how the performance itself. The evaluation can be done not only by the researcher. Students who use the product also can give the comment about the product. This data is evaluated in the evaluation phase. The result tells the researchers the whole performance of the product whether it answers the questions of the problem or not.

2.5 The Characteristics of Students in Elementary School