EDUC 502 Class Session 3

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EDUC 502Class Session 3

• September 19, 2005
• Dr. Groth

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Overview of Requirements for Article Presentations

• Be prepared to present the article on the date
  corresponding to the number you drew on Sept. 12
  (e.g., if you drew 1, 2, or 3, your present on
  Sept. 26 if you drew number 28 or higher, you
  present on Dec. 5.
• Prepare a one-page handout containing the
  following information and email it to me at least
  one hour (REQUIRED) before your presentation (i)
  A summary of the article, including its main
  research questions/hypotheses, its relationship
  to previous literature, its methodology, its
  results, and its significance (ii) 3-5 questions
  to engage your classmates in discussion of the
  article and issues surrounding it.

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Overview of Requirements for Article Presentations

• During your presentation, plan to spend 10-15
  minutes summarizing the article and 15-20 minutes
  leading a class discussion. Try to ask questions
  that have a broad appeal, across disciplines.
• OPTIONAL You may wish to prepare a PowerPoint
  presentation to accompany your presentation. If
  so, please email me the PowerPoint presentation
  and I will post it on our class website.

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Further Resources for Locating Articles

• ERIC through the library can track down
  documents from www.eric.ed.gov.
• Ingenta (go to www.salisbury.edu)
• Elsevier Science direct
• JAKE
• Research Port
• Library online card catalog
• Last resort Interlibrary loan need to have
  Gull Card activated at circulation desk.

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Putting Together your Semester Project

• Recall that there are five main sections to your
  semester project Introduction, Research
  questions/hypotheses, Literature Review,
  Methodology, and Expected Significance.
• Tonight, we will be discussing the first three
  components of the semester project.

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• General characteristics of research
  questions/hypotheses
• Implies the possibility of empirical
  investigation
• Identifies a need for the research
• Provides focus
• Provides a concise overview of the research

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Sample research questions/statements
• This study examines the differences between
  males' and females' attitudes toward mandated
  high school drug testing programs.
• What are the differences between freshmen,
  sophomore, junior, and senior students' attitudes
  toward mandated high school drug testing
  programs?

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Researchable problems imply the possibility of
  empirical investigation
• What are the achievement and social skill
  differences between children attending an
  academically or socially oriented pre-school
  program?
• What is the relationship between teachers'
  knowledge of assessment methods and their use of
  them?

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Non-researchable problems include explanations of
  how to do something, vague propositions, and
  value-based concerns
• Is democracy a good form of government?
• Should values clarification be taught in public
  schools?
• Can crime be prevented?
• Should physical education classes be dropped from
  the high school curriculum?

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Sources of research questions/statements
• Casual observation
• The relationships between the cognitive and
  affective realms
• The effect of positive and negative reinforcement
  
• Deductions from theory
• Use of math manipulatives
• Learning and instructional style congruence
• Related literature
• The use of math manipulatives in secondary
  schools
• The comparison of state and national dropout
  profiles

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Current social and political issues
• Gender and race equity
• Inclusion policies
• Practical situations
• Evaluating a specific instructional program
• Evaluating a specific school restructuring effort
  
• Personal interests and experience
• Teaching statistics from an applied perspective
• Effectiveness of non-threatening classroom
  assessments

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Replication of previous studies
• Checking the findings of a major study
• Checking the validity of research findings with
  different subjects
• Checking trends or changes over time
• Checking important findings using different
  methodologies
• Clarification of contradictory research results

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Hypotheses are tentative statements of the
  expected relationships between two or more
  variables
• There is a significant positive relationship
  between self-concept and math achievement
• The class using math manipulatives will show
  significantly higher levels of math achievement
  than the class using a traditional algorithm
  approach

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Putting Together your Semester Project Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

• Reasons for using hypotheses
• Provides specific focus
• Provides for testing of the relationships between
  variables
• Directs the investigation
• Allows the investigator to confirm or not confirm
  relationships
• When supported provides empirical evidence of the
  predictive nature of the relationships between
  variables
• Provides a useful framework for organizing and
  summarizing the results and conclusions

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Putting Together Your Semester Project
Literature Review (Ch. 3)

• General purpose of lit review - to relate
  previous research to the current problem being
  investigated
• Provide contextual understanding
• Contribute to the overall evaluation of the
  credibility of the research
• Indicate whether the nature of the research is
  targeted to the reader's needs

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Putting Together Your Semester Project
Literature Review (Ch. 3)

• Criteria for evaluating the review of the
  literature
• Does the review cover previous research
  adequately? (For our project, at least 10
  relevant research articles needed)
• Does the review cover the actual findings from
  other studies?
• Is the review current? (For our project,
  inclusion of articles from the past 5 years)
• Does the review summarize and analyze previous
  studies?
• Is the review organized logically by topic, not
  author?

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Putting Together Your Semester Project
Literature Review (Ch. 3)

• Criteria for evaluating the review of the
  literature (contd.)
• Does the review briefly summarize minor studies
  and discuss major studies in detail?
• Is the review of major studies related explicitly
  to the current research problem?
• Does the review provide a logical basis for the
  hypothesis/research question?
• Does the review help to establish the
  significance of the research?

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Putting Together Your Semester Project
Literature Review (Ch. 3)

• DO NOT wait until the last week of the semester
  to start your literature review. You should
  really have it done before the midterm exam.
• As you draft your Introduction, research
  questions/hypotheses, and literature review, you
  may send them to me to look over (up until
  Thanksgiving after that, youre on your own).

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Class Exercise

• Evaluate the quality of the research
  questions/hypotheses and the literature review in
  the following three studies beginning on the
  following pages printed in the text Study 1, p.
  316 Study 2, p. 327 Study 3, p. 340.
• Be prepared to give the rest of the class your
  opinion on the quality of the Introduction,
  Research Questions/hypotheses, and Lit Review for
  each study.

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Homework Assignment

• Textbook p. 48 (4, 7, 8, 12) answering some of
  these will require a bit of extra reading in the
  text.
• Textbook p. 75 (8, 11) these will also require
  a bit of extra reading in the text.

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Class Session Part II Ethics in Educational
Research

• Federally-funded institutions of higher learning
  must maintain ethics boards to monitor the
  research activities of faculty and students.
• The Salisbury University board website is
  http//www.salisbury.edu/grants/Committe20on20Hu
  man20Research/CHR20Home20Page.html

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Class Session Part II Ethics in Educational
Research

• In determining the ethics of a study,
  universities generally apply the following
  guidelines
• Participants understand the nature and purposes
  of the research and freely give their consent to
  take part in the study.
• Research does not involve undue stress on study
  participants.
• Risks/benefits analysis. How do the potential
  benefits compare to the risks for participants?
• Privacy of subjects and confidentiality of
  identifiable information is maintained.

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Additional Homework Exercise

• Name four guidelines institutions of higher
  education apply to determine if a study is
  ethical (see previous slide). Choose a study and
  evaluate it against the guidelines.

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In-class exercise

• Using the four criteria specified, determine if
  the classroom research study shown in A Class
  Divided would be approved by a University ethics
  board. Be prepared to take a position and defend
  it in class discussion.