EDU 9800 – Basic Research Using Technology

Elsa-Sofia Morote, Ed.D.

morotee@dowling.edu

Cohort 8 Weekend Course- Students' Webfolios

Professor's webpage

Course Description

When reduced to its most essential elements, research is a process of identifying something unknown and then collecting data to make it known.  A research study needs to be designed so that it will answer the questions or test the hypothesis that you have identified.  The fundamental purpose of educational research is to increase our understanding of educational processes, practices, and issues.

Fortunately researchers have a variety of software packages available to them that can assist them in gathering, storing, analyzing, and presenting their data.  Students in this course will explore several of these computer software packages that will support their efforts in creating artifacts for their doctoral portfolio and for developing and writing their doctoral dissertation.  Presenting your dissertation in the specified format of the college is a requirement. This course will prepare you with the knowledge and skills necessary to incorporate various software packages, utilizing APA-style formatting of word documents, graphs and charts, and the specific requirements of Dowling College, to fulfill that requirement.

Required Texts:

Understanding Research in Education. Edward M. Wolpert and Bonnie Spiers. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company

Using SPSS For Windows – Analyzing and Understanding Data (3rd Ed.)

Samuel B. Green, Neil J. Salkind, Theresa M. Akey. Prentice-Hall, 2000.

MapInfo Professional User’s Guide. MapInfo Corporation, Troy, New York. Version 6.5. 2001.

Reference Texts:

Educational Research, Gall, Borg, Gall. Longman sixth edition

Document: Style & Publication Manual for all Proposals & Dissertations – Supplement to the APA Publication Manual, Fifth Edition. Dowling College School of Education, Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Technology, 2003.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition, 2001

Course objectives and Outcomes

1) Objective: Students will demonstrate understanding research in education.

Outcome: Students will develop a Panel Discussion that shows their understanding of basic research. Students (in teams) will prepare a 30 minutes class discussion using blackboard, PowerPoint, questionnaires, or any pedagogical discussion. This product will be worth 15 % of the student grade.

2) Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of APA-style and Dowling College requirements for the formatting of word documents, charts and graphs, within the doctoral dissertation.

Outcome:  Students will write a research proposal for a conference. They will include a copy of the “call for presentations” and conference proceedings guidelines.
This paper requires students to develop a research prospectus of approximately 5-7 pages (not counting references pages) double space after reading a meta-analysis or summary of current research findings on a specific topic. The research prospectus may include the following sections:

Rational of the study (central theme/discussion of major constructs)
Justification for this research study
Summary of previous research (including a critical assessment of the studies)

Theoretical perspective
Statement of the problem
Specific research hypotheses or research questions
Research design and method
Population and sample (description, selection, and size)
Data gathering methods (specific procedures)

This product will be created in Microsoft Word, and will include a hypothesis, as well as a literature review, developed of a short proposal and a summary, as well as charts and graphs from SPSS. This product will be worth 25% of the student’s grade.

3) Objective:  Students will demonstrate an understanding of software applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and MapInfo. 

Outcome:  Students will create a PowerPoint presentation that supports their presentation of their proposal.  The presentation will include imported facts, charts, and graphs from the various software packages reviewed. This product will be worth 20 % of the student’s grade.

4) Objective: Students will demonstrate an ability to create a portfolio in a web format (webfolio).

Outcome: Students will develop a webfolio in a web format using frontpage or other page builder. They will include all the relevant work done in this course in the portfolio. This product will be worth 15 % of the student grade.

Grade Distribution:

Webfolio 15%

Panel Presentation (Research understanding) 15 %

Peer Review 5 %

PowerPoint Presentation (Paper) 20 %

Class Activities 20%

Proposal  25 %

Tentative Course Outline

Prepare your draft of your conference presentation, bring your draft on July 13

 12:30-1:30 Lunch           

 12:30-1:30 Lunch                  

Proposals in Microsoft Word due on July 30. Send it via digital drop box