Research

• SED RS 600: Introduction to Research
  This course introduces students to the skills and methods used in conducting research and in establishing the criteria for identifying research-based practice, interventions and curriculum in education settings. Students will become familiar with quantitative, mixed method, and action research approached to inquiry. Students will develop skills in conducting literature searched, examining empirical research studies and learning how to apply these methods to answer questions that are relevant to their graduate program area. Students should leave this course better consumers of research findings presented in the mass media, able to critically read primary research articles and able to participate in research-based efforts to improve education. 4cr, either sem.
• SED RS 620: Action Research and Practitioner Inquiry
  Overview of the foundations and techniques for conducting action research. Encourages the development of an inquiry stance within the practice of teachers, principals, and other school-based practitioners. Students engage in planning, collecting, and analyzing data through an action research project.
• SED RS 652: Qualitative Research Methods
  The historical and theoretical bases and the techniques for conducting qualitative research. Analysis of the questions for which qualitative research is best suited and how it differs from quantitative research. Consideration of ethical issues in qualitative research. Students critique published research and engage in planning a study, gaining entry, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting the findings. 4cr, either sem.
• SED RS 653: Quantitative Research Methods
  Conceptualization of quantitative research problems. Study descriptive and inferential statistics most commonly used for analyzing data in educational research including t-tests, ANOVAs, multiple comparisons, correlation, regression, and chi square. Emphasis placed on interpretation. Research project requires identifying a problem, gathering and analyzing data, and writing the results in APA format. 4cr, either sem.
• SED RS 654: Educational Inquiry and Proposal Writing
  Required of all doctoral students. Open only to matriculated doctoral students who have completed the prerequisites. Overview of foundational questions related to what is important and knowable about educational matters (including issues of objectivity and subjectivity) and how different empirical methods of inquiry respond to such questions. Topics include: standards of believability, persuasiveness, and utility in different kinds of inquiry and the relationships among theoretical, quantitative and qualitative methods in the cycle of scientific discovery. Emphasis is on formulating significant research questions, clarifying important concepts for research, and preparing sound research proposals. 4cr, either sem.
• SED RS 699: Research Apprenticeship
  Collaboration with a faculty member on funded or unfunded research. Particular focus will depend on the stage of design or implementation of the particular study, and may include formulation and refinement or research questions, design of the methodological plan, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and report of findings. Variable cr, either sem.
• SED RS 750: Advanced Research Seminar
  For doctoral students who have already clarified their research interests and are ready to work on their dissertation proposals. Provides direction on substantive and procedural issues in the design and conduct of research. Requires students to present drafts of their dissertation proposals for critique in seminar format and to contribute to the constructive criticism of proposals presented by fellow classmates. 4cr, 1st sem. Includes pilot study.
• SED RS 751: Program Evaluation
  Alternative approaches to evaluation; consideration of stakeholders; specification of multiple outcomes; program monitoring; formative and summative designs; practical guidelines for planning, conducting, reporting, and using evaluations; role of the evaluator; necessary skills; political, ethical, and interpersonal aspects. Applicable to curricular interventions, training programs, social action projects, social policies. Case studies and student proposals are critiqued in seminar. Requires some pilot testing. 4cr, 1st sem.
• SED RS 752: Seminar in Qualitative Research
  Designed for advanced doctoral students who are analyzing and/or interpreting qualitative data to work with other students under the direction of a faculty member. Students in the course will give presentations of their ongoing work, which will be subject to feedback form the entire semester. 4cr, 2nd sem.

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