This course is web enhanced.  Many supplemental materials found on the Internet have been linked to this page.  Weekly course notes, activities, discussion guides and internet links have been posted on the course calendar.  The syllabus is an internet site for the course.  As a site it is going to evolve throughout the semester.  So check often to enjoy the course to its greatest advantage.    email me
 

Antonia D’Onofrio Hyatt Hall 320 499-4289 (voice mail), or fax to 499-4623 Office hours - Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, or by appointment

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Course description: Designed to encourage students to become more critical consumers of educational research, the course introduces concepts, principles and methods that are commonly recognized as fundamental to the design and implementation of educational research studies. The course has a conceptual focus and encourages students to find applications for research methods in the everyday practice of education, especially with respect to research based teaching and learning.

Course text  - The knowledge base,  by Bill Trochim.  Go here.
 

Course objectives: Students will be exposed to lectures, classroom activities, internet experiences, assignments and readings that: 1. Improve knowledge of fundamental aspects of educational research, its problems and questions; 2. Improve understanding of the assumptions that are commonly employed in educational research; 3. Develop familiarity with integrated literature reviews that contribute to the crafting of research questions, construct development, variable selection and the selection of measurement strategies; 4. Recognize and define basic research concepts and principles including, but not limited to, the following:   Independent and dependent variables, operational definitions, various forms of hypotheses, levels of measurement, statistical reliability, logical and statistical validity, measurement error, various types of research designs, and a variety of inference tests; 5. Correlate research questions with appropriate choices of statistical analyses; 6. Correlate research questions with appropriate choices of research design; 7. Distinguish research problems that are amenable to quantitative designs from those which are better evaluated with qualitative designs.

Student evaluation Class attendance is not considered part of your final grade.  However, class attendance and class participation, in the classroom and also during online assignments, are essential because the knowledge and skills needed to complete assignments will be presented incrementally and reinforced through project based teaching and learning. Students will complete the following activities in order to receive a final grade for the course: 1. A take-home final. The form of the assignment will be as follows: You will critique a research study found in a research journal. Each student may locate a published study individually, and then submit it to me for approval.  The guidelines you will use to complete the critique are linked below. 50 percent of your final grade. Guidelines for this study are found at the link below.  Guidelines for the critique    2. Students will write a total of 5 reaction papers, one every other week in which you evaluate their understanding of assigned readings. I will submit a set of questions for which you will compose a 500 word response.  Your response must be posted in the electronic forum at egroups.yahoo.com.  Your four best reaction papers will be counted toward your grade.  This activity will begin the third week of class and end on the 11th week of class. 50 percent of your final grade.   Grading criteria Student work will be graded using the following criteria: synthesis of lectures, readings and course experiences;  originality; critical assessment of the thanking of others;  logical coherence;  writing quality;  use of library resources and materials on the internet.  Grading rubric

Course policies: There is no absence policy.  Students should arrange to get notes and handouts from colleagues. All written assignments are due by the end of the semester.  There will be an automatic incomplete if this deadline is not met. Students must be financially cleared by the Registrar's deadline in order to participate. There is no class during Spring break. Academic fraud of any kind will result in a grade of F. Students are encouraged to use tape recorders. Grading scheme: A equals 85 points or higher;  A- equals 80-84 points;  B+ equals 75-79 points; B equals 70-75 points, B- equals 65-69 points; C+ equals 60-64 points; C equals 55-59 points; less than 55 points equals F.  The final grade is based on the average of all online assignments and the grade assigned to the final paper.

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