Scholars Before Researchers

Using the 4R’s, I decided to take an approach and focus on the researcher, and what may have been the motivation for writing such a concise article titled Scholars Before Researchers and how one should partake on creating a literature review, and how one can build a foundation moving forward with their research project. The article was concise, clear, and provided tools to move forward in this field. My initial goal was to find other sources of literature both individuals have written, and to find some biographical information online to find some insight on their backgrounds which may have influence on their writing, but had to make a revision of focusing on one author. Each individual has a plethora of accomplishments and personal experiences, so narrowed it down to one author. Therefore, this blog will focus on specifically David N. Boote.

 

The authors  of Scholars Before Researchers  are David N.Boote and Penny Beile. From a Google search, I found that both David and Penny are professors at the University of Central Florida in the school of Teaching, Learning and Leadership.  I believe their proximity as co-workers was conducive for their collaborative work on their article. The manuscript for Scholars Before Researchers was submitted on December 10th, 2003, and was accepted May 6th, 2005 after revisions.

 

David N. Boote

Through the University of Central Florida website, I was able to find David Boote’s CV.I used David’s CV as the basis with providing an understanding of a historical background of academic and work experiences. I wasn’t able to find any personal mention of his life outside an academic career, which may/or may not, suggest David has set up boundaries on his digital footprint.

 

“IMG_5602: University of Central Florida Library”by ATrumbly is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Education

My initial thoughts on David was that he is an American, and his a product of the United States educational system. However, David’s CV implies that he is the product of the Canadian school system. Being Canadian myself, there is some patriotic pride that an accomplished scholar has Canadian roots.

David received a Bachelor of Independent Studies in education and physics from the University of Waterloo in 1994, but was teaching Physics in a classroom from 1991 to 1992 and was also a programmer for IBM in 1990 and 1991.

 

It was important to determine how the Bachelor of Independent studies is organized, so did a search and found out the following excerpt from the University of Waterloo website outlining the Independent Studies Program which stated the following:

“While students in Pre-Thesis Phase may take regular university courses, they are expected to engage in a significant amount of independent study and are encouraged to develop a perspective beyond that of an individual discipline.”

From my understanding, the Independent Studies Program is a mix between work experience and academic courses at the university.

David’s CV also outlines that he received an entrance scholarship to Lakehead University in 1989, but declined it. I feel David’s career to his start in the educational field is far from traditional, where experiences outside of academic world were given value along with attending academic classes for his Bachelor of Independent Studies (B.I.S.). I feel most individuals wouldn’t turn down a scholarship, as it is financial aid and a source of pride and accomplishment. As such, it may provide some insight as to the internal drive of following one’s own path for motivation and learning reflective of choosing a non-traditional educational experience.

Shortly afterwards, David went on to Concordia University to obtain his M.A. in Educational Studies, and then received his interim professional certificate for British Columbia. David worked as a contract researcher for the BC Ministry of Education for a short period, was a researcher assistant for Simon Fraser University, and an instructor for courses  at Simon Fraser University. David received his PhD in Curriculum Theory and Implementation from Simon Fraser University in the year 2000, and then continued his career to the present at the University of Central Florida.

 

Continued Research and Accomplishments

David is also an Ad-hoc manuscript and proposal reviewer. He has a lengthy list of accomplishments, but will make note of the Journals he currently reviews listed below:

Journal of Mixed Methods Research  2010-present

Journal of Teacher Education 2010-present

David is an active participant and contributor to his field of research and work, which is also reflected in his membership to the American Educational Research Association. David has many publications, book chapters, and articles under his name and those he collaborated with others that one would need to refer to his Curriculum Veritae, as it is a copious amount of literature citations. Overall, David is an advisor to the upper echelons of academics, and has been a dissertation supervisor for 23 papers and currently supporting 2 in-progress.

Summary

Simply put, David N. Boote is a juggernaut in his field in teaching, learning and leadership.  Deciphering David’s CV provides glimmers of how David’s personal career historically took shape. David wears many hats, and through his work provides support to the field of education. David has based his career on writing literature, reviewing literature, and guiding others to meet their goals in completing their doctorate thesis.  With David’s collaborative work on  Scholars Before Researchers  with Penny Beile, the authors had to analyze and synthesize research from specialists in their field in relation to setting up a foundational framework for others to create and analyze a literature review. Overall, the Scholars Before Researchers  article is a guide that is concise and supportive for academics. Learning about David made the article more personal, and lent to the experience and knowledge needed to create the article itself.