Syllabus (EDFR 6300.61 Fall 2012) THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE
College of Education
Syllabus (EDFR 6300.61 Fall 2012)
Conceptual Framework & Knowledge Base
The conceptual framework contains four core
concepts that are themes through which we
organize and deliver our programs; hence
they are central to our vision of professional
educators and scholars. These include:
Interculturalism
Interrelatedness
Inquiry
Pedagogical Leadership
College of Education (COE) Mission
Statement
To prepare highly skilled professionals to assume roles and positions in teaching,
research, educational leadership, and human development.
To provide undergraduate and graduate programs based on proven best practice,
knowledge acquisition, reflective inquiry, critical thinking, and respect for the
cultural and linguistically diverse learner.
To continuously develop a dynamic local, state, national, and international,
dimension that promotes innovations and contributes to scientific educational,
economic, and social change.
College of Education (COE) Vision Statement
The vision of the College of Education is to be consistently recognized as fullyaccredited and as a nationally and internationally respected college in the areas of
science, mathematics, educational technology and intercultural dimension (language,
literacy, culture and interdisciplinary studies in regard to preparing teachers,
counselors, administrators, educational researchers, and professional at all levels, not
only for the school system but for other economical and service areas which require
training, human resources, development and life-long learning.
Teacher preparation programs of the College of Education will be central to the
mission of the University and will have national prominence. It will be at the
forefront in programs for English Language Learners and, through teacher
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preparation, P-16 and life-long education initiatives will be a model for helping to
close the student achievement gap.
All of these will require the COE to be noted for the quality of its graduates, the
scholarship of its faculty, and the leadership and service they provide to the local,
regional, and national educational communities in the previously mentioned areas.
Note: Be advised that the College of Education conducts ongoing research
regarding the effectiveness of the programs. You will receive one survey in the final
semester prior to graduation regarding your program during your time here. A
second survey will occur within one year following graduation from or completion
of a program, and will be sent to your employer. This survey will focus on the
preparation received at UTB. Please remember that your response to these surveys
is critical to UTB excellence.
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EDFR 6300.61: Foundations of Research in Education
Fall 2012
College of Education
Department of Teaching, Learning and Innovation
Instructor: MingTsan Pierre Lu, Ph.D.
Telephone: (956) 882-7674
Email: [email protected] (Preferred method of contact)
Office location: EDBC 2.308
Office hours: Monday 5pm-6pm; Tuesday 9am-12pm; Wednesday 4pm-5pm.
If you’d like to see me but the hours listed above are not good for you, you may email me
to set an appointment.
Class time: Fully online. Suggested time for study: Tuesdays 6:00pm– 9:00pm
Lecture: Online
COURSE DESCRIPTION
CRN: 114371
Foundations of Research in Education (3)
The course is an introduction to research methodology in education. It focuses on
the relationship between research problem, questions and design and introduces students
to techniques for collecting and analyzing research data. The course emphasis is on
writing an analysis and synthesis of research methodology and findings in empirical
articles.
Textbooks:
(1) Patten, M. L. (2012). Understanding research methods (8th ed.). Glendale, CA:
Pyrczak Publishing. (P) (Required)
(2) Willard, C. A. (2010). Statistical methods: A work-text approach. Glendale, CA:
Pyrczak Publishing. (W) (Required)
(3) Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E., & Airasian, P. (2012). Educational Research. Competencies
for Analysis and Applications (Tenth Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education Ltd. (Recommended)
Reference Textbooks:
(1) Galvan. J. L. (2006). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and
behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. (GJ)
(2) American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association. (APA)
(3) Johnson, B. & Christensen, L. (2012). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative
and mixed approaches (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. (J&C)
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PURPOSE:
All educators are either practitioners or consumers of research. It is important that
students of education know and understand the elements of research in order to be able to
evaluate critically and/or conduct research to enhance one’s professional skills, and
advance the knowledge of the field. This course will provide students with a basic
framework for understanding and evaluating education research studies. It will also
provide knowledge of the various types of research designs used in educational research
and the procedures for conducting research studies.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The overall goal of this course is to introduce you to the fundamental procedures
and issues related to quantitative and qualitative research. Specific objectives for the
course include to:
Describe the role of philosophy, epistemology, and theory in education research;
Explain the nature of the different types of research paradigms/methods in
education;
Demonstrate understanding of research design: how research methodology is
selected given a problem, how the data are analyzed and interpreted; how research
is reported; and the implications of the findings to theory, research and practice;
Compare and contrast quantitative and qualitative research methods;
Describe and interpret various statistical techniques, such as descriptive (mean,
median, mode) and inferential (e.g. t-test, correlation) statistics;
Describe data collection and analysis techniques in qualitative research;
Demonstrate skills in using the library and internet resources to identify peer
reviewed empirical research articles;
Analyze and evaluate reports/articles of empirical research in education;
Demonstrate the ability to synthesize research literature by writing a review of
literature;
Communicate knowledge and ideas through writing well-developed academic
papers which follow disciplinary genre and formatting requirements.
COURSE TOPICS
There are four main units of educational research-related topics that we will be
covering in this course:
Unit 1: Introduction
Purposes of research
Types of research (basic, applied, evaluation)
Standards for research in education:
o AERA standards for reporting on social science research (2006)
o AERA standards for humanities-oriented research (2009)
o AERA ethical standards and human subject protection/IRB
Role of literature and building on prior knowledge
Unit 2: Statistics
Research Questions and Hypotheses
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Sampling: Random and non-random
Variables
Measurement scales/ types of data
Analyzing/ representing data statistically
o Descriptive statistics:
 Frequencies, percentiles, normal curve
 Measures of central tendency: mean, median, and mode
 Measures of variability: range, interquartile range, and standard
deviation
o Correlation, t-tests, ANOVA
Unit 3: Quantitative Designs
Types of research designs: Experimental, Quasi Experimental and NonExperimental
o Definitions/characteristics of the design
o Purposes and uses
o Strengths and limitations of the design
o Validity issues and threats
o Reliability considerations
Unit 4: Qualitative Research
Characteristics, purposes and logic of inquiry in qualitative research
Data collection methods/fieldwork
o Participant observation
o Interviewing
o Text records
o Video and audio records
Data analysis (brief overview, not in depth discussion)
o Pattern identification (themes, categories, domain analyses)
o Discourse analyses of language data, including issues in transcribing
records
Sample traditions/designs, for example, ethnography, case studies, grounded
theory, narrative research, discourse analyses
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
There are four major assignments: 1. Research Proposal Project (Final Paper), 2.
Homework Assignments & Quizzes, 3. Examinations, and 4. Contributions &
Participation. In addition to the major assignments, there is the optional 5. Learning
Presentation for extra credit.
1. Research Proposal Project (30%)
The Research Proposal Project should include the following two elements: the statement
of research problem and the research literature synthesis.
Statement of Research Problem
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Students will choose a topic of interest and use this topic as an anchor for selecting and
analyzing research articles and for doing the literature analysis. The research topic chosen
will be narrowed down (or expanded) to reformulate into a problem for research. The
research problem will include the context and need for studying the topic, the participants
to be studied, and the potential research design that would address the problem. The
statement of the problem will draw on at least four peer-reviewed research articles (See
AERA empirical standard I).
Research Literature Synthesis
As part of the course students will read peer-reviewed research articles and will analyze
the articles applying the knowledge gained from class lectures, discussions, and textbook
reading. The analyses will consist of investigating the similarities and differences in
ways researchers carried out and reported the research studies on a topic of interest to the
student. The final research literature synthesis will consist of the synthesis of literature
based on the analyses carried out throughout the course. The articles must be from at
least three different peer reviewed journal articles and should include different kinds of
research methodologies.
Note: To ascertain your writing progress, you will be asked to hand in your Research
Proposal Project draft (containing either the statement of research problem or the research
literature synthesis, or both) in the middle of the semester, either Oct. 30th, 2012, or on
Nov 6th, 2012. This draft is required but will not be graded. You will only be provided
with some feedback from the professor for your improvement.
The Research Proposal Project is due on Dec. 4th, 2012.
2. Homework Assignments and Quizzes (30%)
In addition to the other main assignments listed in the syllabus, students are responsible
for completing all homework assignments as well as taking tests and/or quizzes as
required by the course instructor. Sample assignments might include group work on
developing a research question, carrying out a mini-observation or interview, doing a
statistical analysis or its interpretation, completing assignments from the textbook, or
those developed by the professor. Quizzes and tests may also be used by the professor to
monitor student learning. Students are required to complete all the assignments and tests
or quizzes as required by the professor for the course.
Article Analysis
One of the assignments is an article analysis. Students will select an empirical research
article and will analyze the article focusing on the research design and the relationships
between theory, methods, and claims. Analysis will be conducted to identify research
questions, theoretical framing, research design and methods for participant selection, data
collection and data analysis. By analyzing research methodology as reported in the
article, the students will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the research report and
the claims the author(s) make. AERA research reporting standards should be used in
evaluating the research article.
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Examinations (25%)
There will be two examinations evaluating your learning outcome throughout the
semester. The examinations will take a total of 25% of your final grade. They will
include questions related to the educational research topics and concepts covered in the
course. The midterm exam will take 10% of the total grade and is scheduled on Oct. 9th,
2012. The final exam will take 15% of the total grade and is scheduled on Dec. 4th, 2012.
Contributions to the Course & Participation (15%)
Students are expected to come to all on-line classes prepared and to participate in
appropriate ways. Contributions and participation will be in the form of discussions in
designated online discussion board/ forum as well as through writing responses.
Appropriate participation and contributions include, for example, sharing your
knowledge and insights on topics being discussed, answering the instructor’s and
classmates’ questions, posing questions, providing constructive critiques and feedback to
the classmates and the professor, posting comments on the course blackboard, and taking
responsibility for your own learning. You should contribute/ participate in the online
discussion/ forum for at least 10 times for the full 15 points (as each contribution is
counted 1.5 points).
Learning presentation (optional in the on-line course, for 5% extra credit)
The students will present their research literature syntheses (or their research proposal
project, which includes the statement of research problem) and their learning throughout
the semester in a 10-15 minute PowerPoint presentation. The presentation will consist of
two parts. The first part will include a presentation of the literature synthesis, focusing on
the relationship between research design and findings as contributions to the field/topic.
The second part will consist of 3-5 key concepts from the content of the class that the
student identifies and explains to the audience. The PowerPoint slides should be uploaded
to Blackboard. As an online course, this presentation is optional. You should inform the
instructor of your intent to present on or before Sept 18th, 2012.
EVALUATION AND GRADING PERCENTAGES
Research Proposal Project
Homework Assignments & Quizzes
Mid-term exam
Final exam
Contributions to the course/ Participation
30%
30%
10%
15%
15%
 The course requires extensive reading and writing. It should be taken within the
first nine units of the master’s program.
 No late assignments will be accepted except in extenuating circumstances at the
discretion of the instructor.
 If a student receives an unsatisfactory grade, the assignment can be resubmitted
within a week of receiving the grade (except for the final 2 weeks’ assignments).
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Grading Scale:
98 - 100
93 - 97.9
90 - 92.9
87 - 89.9
83 - 86.9
80 - 82.9
77 - 79.9
73 - 76.9
70 - 72.9
67 - 69.9
63 - 66.9
< 60
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
In this online class participation is important. When deciding your grade for this class,
these factors will be considered:
1) Participation in class/ online discussion.
2) Turning in all written assignments on time.
3) Papers showing depth, thought and careful effort.
Course grades:
A
Outstanding scholarship. Performance that significantly exceeds the requirements
and qualitative expectations of the course. Superior mastery of subject matter.
Initiative and self-direction leading to significant study and related activity
beyond course requirements.
B
Good Scholarship. Performance that fully meets all the requirements and
qualitative expectations of the course. Solid mastery of subject matter.
C
Marginal Scholarship. Performance that barely meets the requirements and
qualitative expectations of the course. Marginal mastery of subject matter. Does
not meet the expectations of graduate course work.
Note: Course assignments, due dates, etc are subject to change at the discretion of the
professor. Changes will be announced with ample time.
Writing Requirements
All proposals, theses, and dissertations for either the Ed.M. or the Ed.D. programs should
use the APA format according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th edition). All written assignments for this class should follow the APA
format for citations and style. It is highly recommended that you purchase a personal
copy of the APA manual to assist you through your graduate program (the spiral bound
version is much easier to use than the paperback version). However, purchase of the APA
manual is not required for this course and copies are available in the reference sections of
both the University libraries. (The essential components of the APA format are available
via some online resources.)
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SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS (SAP)
UTB/TSC monitors academic progress every fall and spring semester to identify
those students who are experiencing difficulty with their courses. Satisfactory
Academic Progress (SAP) is based upon two components: GPA of 2.0 or higher
and successful course completion of at least 70% of course work attempted.
Students remain in good standing with the university and Financial Aid when both
criteria are met. Students who do not maintain these required minimum standards
will be placed on probation or suspension as appropriate. The complete
Satisfactory Academic Progress policy and the Undergraduate Satisfactory
Academic Progress for Financial Aid policy can be found in the current
Undergraduate Catalog.
To receive credit for a course, a graduate student must earn a grade of at least C.
Academic departments may require a higher grade for the course to be counted
toward the student's degree. To include a course in the Program of Work for a
graduate degree, a graduate student must earn a grade of at least C. More
information about the Program of Work is given in the graduate catalog.
Academic Probation and Suspension
In order for a degree-seeking graduate student to remain in good academic
standing, the student must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0
(3.0=B on a 4.0 scale). A student whose overall GPA falls below a 3.0 in a given
semester is automatically placed on academic probation the following semester.
Academic probation constitutes a warning of insufficient level of progress. Within
the following nine semester credit hours, the overall GPA must return to 3.0 or
above or the student will be suspended for a minimum of one semester. A student
who receives a grade of F in any course is automatically dismissed from the
graduate program.
For more information, please visit
http://www.utb.edu/vpaa/graduate/Pages/GradesandGrading.aspx
SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY
Students who engage in scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties,
including the possibility of failure in the course and expulsion from the
University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating,
plagiarism, collusion, submission for credit of any work or materials that are
attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for
another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student, or the
attempt to commit such acts. Since scholastic dishonesty harms the individual, all
students and the integrity of the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will
be strictly enforced. (Board of Regents Rules and Regulations)
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All scholastic dishonesty incidents will be reported to the Dean of Students. Do
not allow your peers to pressure you to cheat. Your grade, academic standing and
personal reputation are at stake. For a brief informative video on cheating and its
consequences click on “Academic Integrity at UTB/TSC” at this link:
http://www.utb.edu/sa/judicial/Pages/academicIntegrity.aspx
STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITIES
Students are expected to be diligent in their studies and attend class regularly and
on time. Students are responsible for all class work and assignments. On
recommendation of the instructor concerned and with the approval of the Dean,
students may, at any time, be dropped from courses. This may result in a “W” or
“F” on the student’s permanent record.
EMERGENCY POLICY STATEMENT
In compliance with the Emergency UTB/TSC Academic Continuity Program,
academic courses, partially or entirely, will be made available on the MyUTBTSC
Blackboard course management system. This allows faculty members and
students to continue their teaching and learning via MyUTBTSC Blackboard
http://myutbtsc.blackboard.com, in case the university shuts down as a result of a
hurricane or any other natural disaster.
The university will use MyUTBTSC Blackboard to post announcements notifying
faculty members and students of their responsibilities as a hurricane approaches
our region. If the university is forced to shut down, faculty will notify their
course(s). To receive credit for a course, it is the student’s responsibility to
complete all the requirements for that course. Failure to access course materials
once reasonably possible can result in a reduction of your overall grade in the
class.
To facilitate the completion of class, most or all of the communication between
students and the institution, the instructor, and fellow classmates will take place
using the features in your MyUTBTSC Blackboard and UTB email system.
Therefore, all students must use Scorpion Online to provide a current email
address. Students may update their email address by following the link titled
“Validate your e-Mail Account” in MyUTBTSC Blackboard Portal. In the event
of a disaster that disrupts normal operations, all students and faculty must make
every effort to access an internet-enabled computer as often as possible to
continue the learning process.
Emergency Notification System
UTB/TSC has implemented an emergency communication system to provide
students, faculty, staff and visitors with important information in the event of an
impending threat. This system allows UTB/TSC to send time sensitive
notifications via telephones, computers, indoor speakers in classrooms and
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laboratories, outside speakers, e-mail messages, and announcements on the
University’s home page: www.utb.edu. The notification methods used will vary
depending on the level of the emergency. Messages will communicate the current
situation and provide guidance for what action needs to be taken immediately.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)
Students with disabilities, including learning disabilities, who wish to request
accommodations in this class should notify the Disability Services Office early in
the semester so that the appropriate arrangements may be made. In accordance
with federal law, a student requesting accommodations must provide
documentation of his/her disability to the Disability Services counselor. For more
information, visit Disability Services in the Lightner Center, call 956-882-7374 or
e-mail [email protected].
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Tentative Action Plan:
Wk
Date
1
Unit I.
08/28 First class: Introduction; Overview
2
09/04 Types of research
3
09/11 Standards for research
4
09/18 Research Approaches; Literature
Review
Unit II.
09/25 RQ; Hypothesis; Sampling
Note04
10/02 Descriptive Statistics; Variables;
Measurement scales
10/09 Midterm Exam; Statistics
Note06/ Prepare for
Midterm Exam
Note07
Note08
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10/16 Descriptive Statistics; Inferential
Statistics
10/23 Inferential Statistics
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Unit III.
10/30 Measurement; Reliability
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11/06 Measurement; Validity
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11/13 Experimental Design; Quantitative
Designs; Statistical Tests
Unit IV.
11/20 Qualitative Research; Sampling;
Measurement
11/27 Qualitative Research Methods;
Data Analysis
12/04 Final Exam; Preparing Research
Reports
Note12
12/11 Last class: Class Presentation;
Wrap-up; Review
Note16
5
6
7
8
13
14
15
16
Topic
Tasks
Due Dates
Note01/ Syllabus/
Obtain Textbooks
Note02/ Think about the
Research Proposal Project
Note03
Presentation
Intent due
Note05
Note09
Note10/ Submit Final
Paper draft
Note11
12
Final Paper
draft due
Note13
Note14/ Prepare for Final
Exam
Note15/ Submit Final
Paper
Final Paper
(Research
Proposal
Project) due