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I.               Course Description

Introduction to Research in Education is a three-credit course that focuses on the major methods and techniques of educational research.� It is primarily intended for students of education.� The course prerequisite is full admission to graduate standing or permission from the instructor. 

II.            Goals and Learning Outcomes

The overall goal of EDRM 700 is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to critically evaluate educational research.� The measurable learning outcomes used to determine the degree to which this goal is being met follow:

• Students will describe the research process.
• Students will apply research terminology to educational and everyday settings.
• Students will analyze a described situation and select/explain the appropriate method of analysis.
• Students will interpret the meaning of data analysis findings.
• Students will critically analyze published works.

III.         Required Readings

• Fraenkel, J. R., and Wallen, N. E. (2002) How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York: McGraw Hill, 5^th edition
• Selected course handouts

IV.��Overall Structure of the Course

The course is designed to provide students with a variety of contexts for understanding and evaluating research methods and processes.� Students will be expected to apply all terms and concepts presented in the course to research problems and studies.� The typical class session will consist of:

• Simple experiment
• Lecture/discussion tying the readings to the experiment
• Group sessions applying the week's readings and lecture material
• Question/answer session

V.���Course Requirements

Students are required to participate in group and class discussion, take two examinations, and complete assigned homework.� Students are expected to attend class, complete the weekly readings before class, ask questions, and turn in assignments on time.

Homework
Graded homework will be assigned approximately six times. The homework must be turned in the following class session.

Examinations
The midterm will cover material from the first half of the course and should take approximately 1.5 hours to complete. The final exam will be comprehensive and may take the total time allotted for a class session.

VI.���� Course Policies

Homework will not be accepted after the due date.� Exceptions will only be made in extenuating circumstances and at the discretion of the instructor. 

The examinations must be taken as scheduled on this syllabus and as announced in class. Exceptions will only be made in extenuating circumstances and at the discretion of the instructor.� Make-up exams will differ from those given in class, but will cover the same material.� The examinations are open book. 

Students who have disabilities requiring special arrangements for class participation or test administration should notify the instructor of the need for such arrangements at the beginning of the semester.  

Students in this course should be familiar with the university policies on Academic Responsibility contained in the Carolina Community: Student Handbook & Policy Guide, 2005-2006.� Violations of academic responsibility in this course will be handled as stipulated in that publication.  

VII.�� Assessment and Grading

Students will be evaluated on homework assignments and two examinations.� The examinations will be objectively scored using a scoring key.� The homework assignments will be graded on a scale from 0 to 100, reflecting percent of possible points earned.� Grades will be assigned using the following weights:

Homework	30%
Midterm	30%
Final	40%

Grades will be assigned as follows:

90%	A
85%	B+
80%	B
75%	C+
70%	C
65%	D+
60%	D

VIII.� Course Outline

Topics for each class meeting are listed below.� However, circumstances may call for a departure from this schedule. Any changes to the schedule will be made in advance.� Homework assignments will be handed out one week prior to the due date.

DATE	TOPIC	READINGS
Jan 11	Introduction to Research	Chapter 1  pp. 3-14, 16-22
	How we know	Chapter 2  pp. 28-34
	Types of research	Chapter 4  pp. 55-66
	Research questions	Chapter 7 p. 118
	Ethics
Jan 18	Qualitative Research	Chapter 18
	Overview	Chapter 19  pp. 449-464
	Observation	Chapter 20  pp. 481-494
	Interview
Jan 25	Qualitative Research	Chapter 21  pp. 511-519, 521-525
	Ethnographic studies	Chapter 22  pp. 547-556
	Historical research
Feb 1	Assessment	Assessment handout
	Assessment as research
	Assessment and Accountability
	Best practices
	Creating an assessment plan
	Homework 1 due
Feb 8	Data Collection	Chapter 6
	Data collection instruments	Chapter 7  pp. 119-128 130-135
	Validity, reliability, objectivity	Chapter 8  pp. 157-159, 165-171
	Correlation	Chapter 10  pp. 213-217, fig 10.21
	Sampling
Feb 15	Survey Research	Chapter 17  pp. 395-402, 407-410
	Threats to internal validity	Chapter 7  pp. 142-151
	Types of test scores
	Measurement scales
	Standard scores
	Homework 2 due
Feb 22	Midterm
Mar 1	Descriptive Statistics	Chapter 10  pp. 200-212
	Frequency distributions	Chapter 3
	Bar charts, pie charts
	Histograms, stem plots
Mar 8	Spring break
Mar 15	Correlational Research	Chapter 15  pp. 337-353
	Statistical inference
	Multiple regression
Mar 22	Causal Comparative Research	Chapter 16  pp. 367-375
	Homework 3 due
Mar 29	Inferential Statistics	Chapter 11
	Research hypothesis	Chapter 12
	Hypothesis testing	Chapter 23  pp. 570-572
April 5	Internal Validity	Chapter 9
	Experimental Research	Chapter 13
	Homework 4 due
April 12	Single Subject Research	Chapter 14  pp. 307-320
	Article Critique
	Homework 5 due
April 19	Review/Practice Final
	Homework 6 due
April 29	Final  (5:30pm)