Graduate Study and Research Overview Fundamentals of Graduate Study M.Ed Session 1

Master’s of Education Program Classes Committee Proposal/Project –NIH / IRB Portfolio What about Bob: Chair Princess Bride: As you wish Unintended Consequences

Educational Research What is research? –“Research is a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” Code of Federal Regulations for the Protection of Human Subjects

Educational Research Why is educational research important? –Effectiveness –Money What are the study’s conclusions? What exactly is the evidence for those conclusions? Have you ever tried a new idea in your classroom? Did it work? How do you know? Monty Python: Logical Argument

Educational Research Where do I find it? –Journal activity: In a group of two or three, look at three different journals. For each journal, answer the following questions: What is the purpose of the journal? Who is the journal audience? What types of articles are in the journal? –Compare and contrast the three journals

Type of Educational Research Quantitative –Using some sort of numerical data to compare Reflective Exercise 1.2 Operational definitions: a characteristic is defined by the activities used to measure it. Princess Bride: Data Collection

Type of Educational Research Qualitative –In-depth exploration of an event or culture. –Investigating the event rather than looking to numerically compare the event.

Types of Qualitative Research 1.Participant-Observation 2.Ethnography 3.Photography 4.Sociometry 5.Case Study 6.Unobtrusive Measures 7.And more...

Parts of a Research Report Abstract Introduction –Previous related research –Describe the path that led to the current research question. –Purpose or research question Method –Participants –Research design –Procedures

Parts of a Research Report cont. Results –Narrative and summary data Discussion –Discuss results –Implications –Further needs for research

APA Overview Jurassic Park: Chaos Theory