ESR - Educational Statistics and Research

Students learn about research tools and strategies of problem investigation to critically analyze research studies, clinical assessment tools, clinical reports, and program evaluations relevant to Educational Psychology and School Psychology. Topics of investigation include identifying research hypotheses and questions, ethics in the conduct of research, criteria for a sound literature review, structure and uses of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques. Measures of central tendency and dispersion, measurement error, correlation, t-tests, analysis of variance, and chi-square tests are introduced within the context of multiple research designs. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Educational Psychology program or consent of instructor. 2 semester hours

Students apply research tools and strategies of problem investigation to the formulation of original small-scale research proposals and plans for program evaluation relevant to Educational and School Psychology that embody acceptable standards of reliability, validity, and ethics. Students develop sound and testable research questions and hypotheses, conduct an abbreviated literature review, and use quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques. These techniques may include measures of central tendency and dispersion, measurement error, correlation, t-tests, analysis of variance, factor analysis, chi-square, meta-analysis, observation, interviewing, case study, and questionnaire construction. Prerequisite(s): ESR502 - Research Analysis for Educational Psychologists or equivalent course or consent of instructor. 2 semester hours

Students will explore the definitions, purposes and dimensions of assessment in Early Childhood Education (ECE birth through grade 3) settings. Students will analyze various forms of assessment, within particular historical, cultural, socio-political and ethical contexts. Students will learn meaningful ways to interpret and incorporate results from various standardized assessment tools into their teaching practice, as well as other forms of assessment. Students will practice how to create multiple assessment tools based upon their area of teaching and interest. Prerequisite(s): None 2 semester hours

Students explore research paradigms and methodologies by studying their own educational settings and contexts. Students investigate topics that are of interest to them and learn how to retrieve, critique, and summarize published research. They produce and evaluate their own data to understand their classrooms and their students' achievement, behaviors, and attitudes. Working collaboratively and independently on small projects and assignments, students learn different approaches to data collection and evaluation considering issues of credibility, reliability and validity. This course requires a minimum of 15 hours of field-based activities. Students who have taken ESR506 and ESR507 may not receive degree credit for ESR505. This course is for students in M.Ed. programs. Prerequisite(s): None 3 semester hours

Students explore the distinctions and relationships between research paradigms used to facilitate school change. Various data collection methods specific to the paradigms are introduced and practiced in order to gain insight into their applications for leaders in educational settings. Topics related to assessment and technology-based strategies are introduced to support and facilitate the use of research and research based decision-making in these settings. Students work collaboratively to plan, conduct and present research projects representing each paradigm. The research projects are school-based, done in conjunction with their required internship component, and are consistent with guidelines suggested by the Educational Leadership Constituent Consortium. Prerequisites: None; 3 Semester Hours

Students explore educational issues from historical, social, psychological, and philosophical perspectives through this integrated interdisciplinary forum. A problem-based inquiry approach enables students to link theory and practice at multiple levels, including that of the individual, the classroom, the school community, and larger society. Students use the literature from educational psychology and educational foundations to actively examine educational issues and to critique their own assumptions about human learning and development and proper educational experience. Through interpretive and empirical inquiry, students further expand their understanding of these issues as well as their understanding of educational research processes. 2 semester hours (offered only in the IDS program)

This course focuses on participants as teacher researchers and change agents in their classrooms, seen as dynamic places of interaction. Participants conduct an action research project. Through recursive cycles of planning, implementing, observing, reading, conversing, and interpreting, they analyze their data as a means to make meaning of classroom experience. Participants explore ways to incorporate their knowledge of technology through their research experience. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the M.Ed. Field-based program and ESR510 3 semester hours

Students explore research paradigms with an emphasis on practitioner research and its role in education. Students examine their own educational views, histories, and values, and choose topics for small-scale projects and assignments that introduce them to different research designs and methodologies. Data from several sources will be collected and analyzed. Course readings are used to exemplify various methods and styles of conceptualizing, conducting, and presenting research. Students will learn about ethical considerations in educational inquiry and the skills necessary to critique research. This course requires a minimum of 15 hours of field-based activities. Students who have taken ESR506 and ESR507 may not receive degree credit for ESR514. This course is for students in the M.A.T. program. Prerequisite(s): none. 3 semester hours

This course is the first in a four-course action research sequence. It introduces the nature and processes of teachers' classroom inquiry to enlighten instruction and improve student learning. Towards this end, the course introduces traditions and conceptions of action research and its relation to other forms of inquiry. It emphasizes the role of teachers as researchers of their own practices and contexts in terms of their students' learning and construction of meaning. Candidates begin to explore their classrooms as complex systems shaped by interpersonal, cultural, and political/structural dynamics. Candidates build a framework for their own action research as they write their autobiography and their action research proposal. This course if for students in the M.Ed. Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Program. Prerequisite(s): None. Co-prerequisite(s): None. 2 semester hours

This course is the second in a four-course Action Research sequence. It focuses on candidates becoming teacher researchers and change agents in their classrooms. Candidates begin collecting data based on their Term I Action Research plan. They analyze these data and search for resources that can give alternative viewpoints and interpretations of their plans and of their data. Candidates also examine appropriate technology as they collect, document, analyze, and report the progress of their study as it transpires. This course is for students in the M.Ed. Teaching, Learning, and Assessment program. Prerequisite(s): ESR531. Co-requisite(s): None. 2 semester hours

This course is the third in a four-course action research sequence. In this course candidates continue their action research study, collecting and analyzing data, writing responses to their research questions, and critiquing, synthesizing, and reflecting on relevant literature. Through recursive cycles of planning, implementing, observing, reading, conversing, and interpreting, they use their emerging analyses to make meaning of the classroom experiences of their students and of themselves. Incorporating appropriate technology throughout these processes, candidates explore ways to enrich student experiences and enhance classroom success. This course is for students in the M.Ed. Teaching, Learning, and Assessment program. Prerequisite(s): ESR532. Co-requisite(s): None. 2 semester hours

This course is the last course in a four-course a action research sequence. It marks the completion of the candidates' action research projects as they become more aware of the relationship of the research process to personal, professional, and institutional change. Candidates reflect on their data, construct patterns, note changes in their practices, and prepare a final product communicating what they have learned about their work and student learning. The final product from the action research is completed in appropriate technological formats as candidates explore uses of their inquiries to enrich professional and institutional change. They explore ways to continue, in an ongoing fashion, the self-assessment processes of reflective practitioners. This course is for students in the M.Ed. Teaching, Learning, and Assessment program. Prerequisite(s): ESR533. 2 semester hours

1-4 semester hours

This course provides the student with the opportunity to explore current or specialized topics in the field of educational research. 1-6 semester hours

The primary goal of this course is for students to develop the proposal for their doctoral dissertations or equivalents. This will involve definition of a research problem, review of the related literature, and design of appropriate procedures and instruments for pursuing the problem, review of the related literature, and design of appropriate procedures and instruments for pursuing the problem. As part of the class activities, students are also exposed to the research problems, related literature reviews, and methodologies developed by students from each of the other doctoral programs. Prerequisites: ESR610, ESR612, ESR614, ESR616 or ESR618. The completion of comprehensive qualifying examinations is also recommended. 2 semester hours

In this course, students explore multiple theories of knowledge and research and the ways in which these theories are enacted in contemporary educational and interdisciplinary contexts. Students investigate the nature and language of epistemological claims as they are created and legitimized through scientific, philosophical, historical, cultural, and personal renditions of knowledge. Students examine the implications of specific paradigms of knowledge for critiquing, conceptualizing, conducting, interpreting, and using research within a variety of settings. Critical reflections on the intersections of knowledge, power, identity and context are emphasized throughout the course. Prerequisite(s): Doctoral standing or approval of doctoral program. 2 semester hours

Students explore assumptions and techniques of empirical-quantitative research in the context of schools and education with a focus on practitioner research. Approaches and methods for data collection, analysis, and interpretation are introduced. Topics to be covered include basic and intermediate level descriptive and inferential statistics, ethical consideration in conducting and presenting research, and issues of reliability and validity in assessment. Students are expected to conduct and report on a small-scale research project in their own setting by collecting and interpreting numerical data. Statistical software (e.g. SPSS) is introduced and used by students to analyze their research project data. The course includes a minimum of 15 hours of fieldwork. Prerequisite(s): Doctoral standing; ESR610 3 semester hours

This course introduces conceptual and practical assumptions, contributions, limitations, and controversies of interpretive and critical research. Viewed as paradigms, interpretive and critical research engages ontological and epistemological positioning. Drawing from various traditions and processes, students will become aware of the complexities of research contexts and relationships and how they are embedded in community, culture, language, history and power structures. Through field research and theoretical dialogue, students will begin to understand and grapple with inherent tensions in the interplay among purpose, methodology and ethics, while cultivating a personal understanding of their relationship to the research, contexts, and participants. Prerequisite(s): Doctoral standing; ESR610 or consent of instructors 3 semester hours

Students explore assumptions and techniques of empirical/analytic research in the context of schools and the larger context of education. The course builds on the knowledge gained in ESR612 by focusing on the approaches and methods for data collection, analysis, and interpretation assumptions, and limitations of empirical/analytic studies that use multiple measures. Students are expected to conduct and report on a small-scale research project in their own setting by collecting and interpreting quantitative data. Statistical software (e.g., SPSS) is used by students to analyze their research project data. The course includes a minimum of 15 hours of fieldwork. Prerequisite(s): Doctoral Standing; ESR610 and ESR612. 3 semester hours

This course extends the understanding and skills developed in ESR614. It will focus on specialized strategies and design; advanced methods of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data; ethics and policies of research; and current uses and issues associated with educational research. By completing a self-designed project that will advance some phase of their work, students will focus on the "doing" of interpretive/critical research as a practical, ethically regulated engagement in "knowing, doing and being." Prerequisite(s): Doctoral standing; ESR610 & ESR614 or consent of instructors 3 semester hours

In this course students analyze and critique theories, paradigms, and methods of practitioner-focused research that impact district educational policy and decision-making. This includes evaluation, experimental, and various forms of both quantitative and qualitative research. Students also study research that informs and influences product development (e.g., achievement tests, software, textbooks, training programs), policy decisions, and evaluation techniques utilized in the field by principals, superintendents, and state-level educational administrators. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, Educational Specialist Program, or with permission of the Program Director. 3 semester hours

In this course students study the methodologies, assumptions, and the techniques for various types of data collection and analysis used by educational leaders. The course begins with an overview of student data as a form of organizational performance (e.g., test scores, graduate rates, attendance, etc.) then moves to the broader issues of evaluation, experimentation, quantitative analysis, and interpretivist analyses. The course ends with a review of current research and trends in data-driven decision making. Throughout the course students analyze cases to develop a practitioner's knowledge of research, evaluation, and data use for school improvement. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, Educational Specialist Program, or with permission of the Program Director. 3 semester hours