EDF 600 Research Methods in Education
                                                           Morehead State University
                                                                     Spring 2006

 

Instructor:  Lola Aagaard, PhD.
Home phone:  606-784-4920 (has answering machine)
Office phone:  606-783-2531 (has voice mail)
Office location:  Ginger Hall, 504A (enter through 503, then all the way down the hall, next to last door on the left.  Or, stay in the outer hallway past 503 and knock on the door marked B504 – my name is on it.)
E-mail: l.aagaard@morehead-st.edu
Web page:  http://people.moreheadstate.edu/fs/l.aagaard

Candidates may call me at home anytime after 6:30 a.m. and before 9:30 p.m., except for the hours between sundown Friday night and sundown Saturday night.  I will check my e-mail twice a day and respond as soon as possible, except for the 24-hour period of Friday night to Saturday night.      

Office hours:  I will always be in the office during the hours below unless I’m out of town for the day.  I will be in my office at other times, also, so always call there first if it is before 3:30 p.m.  If I don’t answer the phone – leave a message!  I may just be down at the copy machine and will call you right back.  If you would like to meet with me in my office, send me an e-mail or give me a call to make an appointment.

Monday – 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.  
            Tuesday – 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
            Wednesday – 9:00-11:30 a.m., 1:30-2:30 p.m.
            Thursday – 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m., 3:00-5:00 p.m.
            Friday – by appointment

Prerequisites:  Admission to graduate school.

Catalogue Description:  Selection, delineation, and statement of a research problem, techniques of bibliography building, methods of organization, recognized methods of investigation, application of statistical methods to research problems, and style standards for research writing.

Texts:  Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E., & Airasian, P.W. (2003).  Educational research: Competencies
                       for analysis and applications (8^th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill
                       Prentice Hall.

                                                                    OR

            Gay, L.R., & Airasian, P. (2003).  Educational research: Competencies for analysis and
                    applications (7^th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall. 

            Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5^th ed.). (2001).
                    Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. 

Websites:  My website will have the syllabus, notes, links, and sometimes assignments posted on it:            http://people.moreheadstate.edu/fs/l.aagaard

The publisher’s companion website for our text has chapter summaries, quizzes, links, etc.:  http://www.prenhall.com/gay

Blackboard site:  There is a Blackboard supplement for this course that has a copy of the syllabus and my notes available for download.  I have enrolled all of you on it and you will post some of your assignments there and sometimes respond to other class members’ work.  There are is an example paper, some valuable links, and other information there, also, that I will point out to you as the semester goes along.  Class may be held on Blackboard rather than face-to-face once or twice throughout the semester.

Course Objectives: At the conclusion of this course candidates will be able to:

1.      Recognize the varying research methodologies, epistemologies, and ideologies prevalent in educational research;

2.      Recognize and define research problems related to work situations;

3.      Locate and evaluate research literature from sources such as the Educational Resources Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), EBSCO Academic Search Premier, Google Scholar, and the Internet;

4.      Clearly state a research question or hypothesis;

5.      Determine adequate procedures for sampling, data collection, and data analysis;

6.      Interpret research results and draw conclusions from them regarding the research problem;

7.      Present research results both orally and in writing.

8.      Use APA style citations and referencing in a written research report.

Course Structure:  Class sessions will consist primarily of lectures, whole and small group discussion, and small group work. 

Course Requirements:

1.  Attendance in class is important.  If an emergency arises and you cannot attend one night, please try to reach me in advance (by phone or e-mail) and e-mail any assignment to me or send it with a classmate.  You will have to make up any in-class activity/assignment on your own. 

2. Candidates will conduct an actual quantitative research project (including collection and analysis of data) with specific portions of the project being due at intervals throughout the semester (as detailed in the schedule below). Research topics should be linked to education in some way. This project will culminate with a final written report (outline is included in this syllabus) and oral presentation by each candidate. 

The portions of the research paper that are handed in throughout the semester will be graded and returned for correction.  Candidates may redo them once and resubmit them to the instructor within two weeks for a higher score.    

            3. Students will turn in or post some individual portions of their research papers to the discussion board
      for comment and critique by other class members. 

4.  There will be two tests – a mid-term and a final.  These may be a mix of short answer, multiple choice, application exercises, and perhaps even a take-home component.  Candidates will be provided a review sheet/study guide 1-2 weeks prior to each test and they may prepare an 8 ½ by 11 inch cheat sheet (handwritten, both sides) for use during closed book tests. 

Plagiarism prevention requirements:

            1. All candidates must complete an on-line tutorial on identifying plagiarism (see the instructor’s website for the URL).  Completing the on-line quiz with 100% will allow you to print out a certificate.  All candidates must bring this certificate to class on January 26.  No further assignments will be accepted from candidates until they present a certificate from the tutorial.  The certificate indicates that candidates are familiar with what is and is not plagiarism in academic writing.

            2.  Whenever a candidate paraphrases or quotes a literature source in any assignment or paper turned in for this class, a highlighted copy of that portion of the source must be included with the assignment.  (For example, if you quote or paraphrase something from p. 78 of a particular article, you must turn in a copy of p. 78, with the section you quoted or paraphrased high-lighted.  See the example attached.)

Academic Dishonesty Policy:

The university academic dishonesty policy in the MSU Graduate Catalog allows faculty members to issue sanctions to candidates determined to be guilty of plagiarism (taking the ideas or written words of another without appropriate citation).  Papers containing any plagiarism (in whole or part) will be heavily penalized:  11 percent will be deducted for each instance where appropriate citations or quotation marks are lacking (up to 33 percent total).  The second draft of any paper that still contains more than three provable instances of plagiarism will receive a score of zero.  Any second draft paper with substantial plagiarism will be reported to the CLAH chairperson, College of Education Dean, and the MSU Dean of Students. 

Grades: Grades will be assigned based on the following breakdowns:

Paper portions – 50%
            Oral presentation and Blackboard participation – 10%
            Tests – 40%

Accommodation for Disabilities: In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please notify the instructor within the first two weeks of class if you have a condition or disability that requires some type of accommodation.

Standards Addressed:  The content and activities involved in this course address portions of the following Standards:

   New and Experience Teacher Standards: 

            NTS I / ETS 3 – Designs/Plans Instruction
            NTS IV / ETS 6 – Assesses and Communicates Learning Results
            NTS V / ETS 7 – Evaluates Teaching/Learning
            NTS VIII / ETS 2 – Content Development
            NTS IX / ETS 10 – Implements Technology 

            ETS 1 – Demonstrates Professional Leadership

   Counselor Standards:

            Standard 1 – Program Management, Research, and Evaluation
            Standard 2 – Assessment
            Standard 8 – Demonstrates Professional Leadership

   ISLLC Standards:

            Standard 1 – Soliciting the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community:
                        1. information sources, data collection, and data analysis strategies;
                        2. effective communication.

            Standard 2 – Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth:
                        1. measurement, evaluation, and assessment strategies.

NCATE Themes:  The content and activities involved in this course address the NCATE Themes of Conceptual Framework, Technology, Professional Community, Evaluation, and Performance Assessment.

Conceptual Framework:  “Educators as Architects:  Designing Environments Where Students Construct Knowledge and Develop Skills” is the conceptual framework upon which the College of Education has built its educator preparation program. This course will build upon the conceptual framework through its emphasis on active learning and problem solving.  Candidates will learn to conduct a research project in the real-life context of a school by determining an authentic question that needs to be researched and learning how to carry out the research.  Candidates will also learn to use appropriate technology for background literature research and the statistical analysis of numeric data.

 

EDF 600 – Educational Research Methods – Final Research Report Outline

(Keep all headings in this order.  Everything should be in sentence/paragraph form written in 3^rd person and past tense.  Only 2 direct quotes are allowed – all other references to the research literature must be paraphrased.)

I.  Introduction
    A. Review of related literature
    B. Problem statement
    C. Hypotheses (alternative or research hypotheses)
    D. Operational definitions
    E. Significance of the study (rationale, or “so what”)

II. Method:
     A. Type of research design (correlational, experimental, quasi-experimental, causal-comparative, etc.)
     B. Subjects and sampling – who were your subjects and how did you get them?  (Describe how many there were and what gender, age level, grade level, or other important characteristics that might be of interest to the reader.  You could even put in a table of some sort, if you like.)
     C. Instrumentation – describe any instruments used to collect data (surveys, tests, etc.)
     D. Procedure -- how and under what conditions were the data collected?
     E. Data Analysis – what statistical technique was used on the data and why (testing for differences between two means, or looking for relationship, or have nominal data, etc.)? 

III. Results
       A. Tables of means and standard deviations (or other descriptive data appropriate to your data), with accompanying sentence(s) pointing them out, commenting on them.
       B.  Tables of results of statistical test(s), with accompanying sentence(s) pointing them out, commenting on them.  (In many cases these results can be combined into one table with the descriptive data.) 

IV. Discussion/Conclusions
       A. Conclusions regarding your hypothesis – based on the statistical results, did you find any relationships or differences or not?
       B. Implications of the findings – what do they mean as far as action in the real world or relation to a theory in your literature review?  Do they support the literature on this topic or are they differing from most of it?  (Cite a specific study or two that they support or contradict.)
      C. Limitations of your study – what might have intervened between you and a correct conclusion?  (Threats to internal validity, such as differential sampling (non-random)?  Too small a sample?)  Or what limitations are there on your generalizing these results to people outside your sample (threats to external validity, such as you had only special education students in your study and so you can’t generalize to the regular education population)
      D. Recommendations for future research – what would you suggest the next study be to follow up on the results of yours?  (A replication of yours with a different sample or sampling technique, perhaps?  Add a variable or change an instrument?)   

V. References (at least 10 – all must be cited in the paper, but you can use no more than 2 direct quotes total.  The rest you must paraphrase.)