This team will be responsible for presenting a discussion
on all aspects of the sections that are listed below. To
help organize the seminar, I have assigned individuals to be in
charge of one or more topics, although everyone in the group may
and should participate in the on-going discussion, adding comments
when appropriate.
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research
1. (a) Present an overview of experimental research, Chap.
13. What is experimental research? Include definitions
and descriptions. What types of hypotheses and questions do
experimental research designs address and what are some research
problem areas in which experimental research would be the
preferred model to use? Review steps for organizing an
experimental research plan. Provide some of your own
examples of the kinds of questions these types of studies address.
Then, present a similar overview of quasi-experimental research.
1 (b) - What are internal and external validity? How do they
apply to experimental and quasi-experimental research?
What research designs are most frequently used in experimental
research? What research designs are more frequently
used in quasi-exp. research? Why? Provide
one or two of your own examples of studies that might use either
research design. What is a single-subject design?
Illustrate and explain various experimental and quasi-experimental
designs using standard experimental design notation.
1 (c) – Present and discuss one of the following studies:
(Shimazu, 2005) “Language Course Taught with Online Supplement
Material: Is It Effective?” or the (Tienken and Maher, 2008)
or (Kroeger and Nelson, 2006) studies. What did you find to be the
strengths of this study? What were its weaknesses?
Mixed-Methods Research Designs
1 (d) – Present an overview of
mixed-methods research, Chap. 14. Include definitions
of terms and appropriate descriptions. What types of hypotheses
and questions do mixed –methods research address? Explain
conditions that would lead the researcher to use multiple methods
to analyze data rather than emply one approach?
Provide some of your own examples of the kinds of questions these
types of studies address.
1 (e) – Present and discuss the Mitchell, et al (2004) study,
“Friendship and Choosing Groupmates: Preferences for
Teacher-Selected vs. Student-Selected Groupings in High School
Science Classes” or (Anthony and Nicotera, 2008) Review
responses to questions 1-6 in Expercise 14.1. What were the
strengths of this study? What were its weaknesses?
TEAM 2: DUE
DATE 11/20/2012 Discussion of Qualitative
Research Methods:
Ethnographic and Historical and Case Study Research Chap.
10
2 (a) Your group is responsible for presenting a discussion on all
aspects of the sections that are listed below. To help
organize the seminar, I have assigned individuals to be in charge
of one or more topics, although everyone may and should comment on
the ongoing discussion:
2 (b) - Overview of Ethnographic Research What kinds
of questions/problems are addressed through ethnographic
research? What types of methods of research are commonly
used in this kind of research? Define and describe "List of
Important Terms" as terms apply to ethnographic research.. What
are some of the reasons teachers have for conducting ethnographic
research? What are some of the innate strengths of
this kind of research? Some inherent weaknesses?
2 (c) - Present and discuss the Myers (2005) study – “How
Elementary School Counselors can Meet the Needs of Students with
Disabilities” or Piker and Rex (2008); address points
covered in Exercise 10.1. What was the value in doing this
particular study?
2 (d) - The Nature of Historical Research: What kinds
of questions/problems are addressed through historical
research? What types of methods of research are commonly
used? What kinds of questions do researchers using historical
research try to answer? What are some of the strengths of
this kind of study? What are some of its weaknesses?
2 (e) – Present and discuss the Berlin and Lee (2005)study,
“Integrating Science and Mathematics Education: Historical
Analysis" or Merritt and College (2008): Specifically
relate the scope of this study to the way it is organized and
conducted. What were its conclusions? What
were the study’s strengths? What questions
remained unanswered?
Case Study:
2 (f) - (See me for a copy of this study). “What
Happens During H.S. Chemistry Lab Sessions?” Discuss in detail
what the sections of the study were. (Purpose, Method,
Findings). Discuss the results in terms of what a case
study does that other types of research mostly quantitative)
do NOT do.
2 (g) - Describe the case study. (Chem Lab study) Why
is this a case study and a descriptive study? Explain the data
collection process. What was observed? Why were these
variables
chosen? How was the data actually collected and
tabulated? Was there a hypothesis?
TEAM 3: Due date: 11/20/2012
Survey Research – Chap. 11
3 (a) –Chap. 11 - Review of
survey research. Include definitions and
descriptions. What types of hypotheses and questions does survey
research try to answer? What considerations must be taken
into account? Describe the research process
involved. What are some strength and concerns related to
this mode of research? Provide some examples of the kinds
of questions this type of study addresses.
3 (b) – Review and
critique: McCray and Wright (2004) “An Analysis of
Secondary School Principals’ Perceptions of Multicultural
Education” or Sanchez and Lopez (2009). Provide an
overall description of this study – Purpose , findings,
strengths and weaknesses. Refer to the “List of
Important Terms” to identify features of the study.
TEAM 4: Due
Date: 11/20/2012 Non-experimental Quantitative Research ,
Chap. 12
Your teams will be responsible for presenting a discussion
on all aspects of the sections that are listed below. To
help organize the seminar, I have assigned individuals to be in
charge of one or more topics, although everyone may and should
participate in the ongoing discussion.
3 (a) –Chap. 11 - Review of survey research. Include
definitions and descriptions. What types of hypotheses and
questions does survey research try to answer? What considerations
must be taken into account? Describe the research
process involved. What are some strength and concerns
related to this mode of research? Provide some examples of
the kinds of questions this type of study addresses.
3 (b) – Review and critique: “An Analysis of Secondary
School Principals’ Perceptions of Multicultural
Education” Provide an overall description of this study –
Purpose , findings, strengths and weaknesses. Refer to
the “List of Important Terms” to identify features of
the study.
4 (a) – Chap. 12 – Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Review of correlational research. Include definitions and
descriptions. What types of hypotheses and questions
do each of these try to answer? What is meant by post hoc
fallacy? Provide some of your own examples of the kinds of
topics/questions these types of studies could address.
4 (b) - Correlational Research Design - How is a
correlational study designed? What are the sources of data
and how are they collected? Specifically, what is interval
data, dichotomous data, and rank order or ordinal
data? Give examples of each type of data.
4 (c) - What are the names of the correlation coefficients
that measure different kinds of data? Provide some of
your own examples of the types of data that can be compared with
different types of correlational tests. Briefly
describe the purpose of the following correlations:
Product-Moment, Biserial and Point-Biserial, Phi Correlation
and Tetrachoric Correlation Correlations from rankings.
Multivariate correlations, partial correlation, multiple
regression, discriminant analysis, factor analysis
4 (d) - What are some examples of some published studies using
correlational analysis? p. 252 Describe the nature of
causal-comparative research p. 261
4 (e) – Describe and critique the Punyanunt-Carter et al study,
“Communication Based Emotional Support differences between
Professors and Teaching Assistants” p. 264 Respond to
questions 1-6 in Exercise 12.7
Team 5: Due Date: 11/20/2012 -
Discussion of Action Research and Evaluation Research -
Chap. 15.
This team will be responsible for presenting a discussion on all
aspects of the sections that are listed below. To help
organize the seminar, I have assigned individuals to be in charge
of one or more topics, although everyone in the group may and
should participate in the on-going discussion, adding comments
when appropriate.
5 (a) – Present an overview of action research described in
Chap. 15. What is action research? Include definitions
and descriptions. What types of hypotheses and questions does
action research try to answer? What are some research
problem areas in which a.r. would be the preferred model to
use? Review steps for organizing an a.r. plan. Provide
some of your own examples of the kinds of questions these types of
studies address (see exercise 13.3; how could an evaluation
study be done to evaluate the a.r. you design?
5 (b) – Present and discuss the Alsup et al study, “A
Comparison of Traditional and Reform Mathematics Curricula
…”. What was the study’s purpose, theoretical basis,
methods, participants, data collection, analysis, results,
conclusions, implications? What did you find to be the
strengths of this study? What were its weaknesses?
5 (c) – Present an overview of evaluation research described in
Chap. 15. What is evaluation research? How does it
differ from action research? Include definitions and
descriptions. What types of hypotheses and questions are
addressed in evaluation research? Review section on
organizing for evaluation research. Provide examples of
situations in educational settings in which evaluation research
would be conducted. Include a follow-up to the Alsup action
research study in terms of an evaluation study that could be
designed to evaluated the efficacy of the action
research. Contrast and compare action research
with evaluation research. Create two hypothetical studies
that would illustrate these points.
5 (d) – Present and discuss the Hayes study, “Assessment of a
Field-Based Teacher Education Program: Implications for Practice”.
Discuss purpose, methodology, including sampling, measurement
instruments and data collected, results and discussion. Respond to
questions 1-3 in Expercise 15.3. What questions were left for
future investigation? What were the strengths of this
study? What were some of its limitations?
Team 6: DUE DATE 11/20/2012
Discussion of Statistical Concepts and
Procedures ( See Appendix, pp. 331-349)
Your will be responsible for presenting a discussion on all
aspects of the sections that are listed below.
6 (a) Nature and Uses of Statistics; include
discussion on populations, samples, nature of parametric and
non-parametric statistics, examples of calculation and
interpretation of descriptive statistics using measures of central
tendency, variability, relative position, and relationships.
6 (b) Descriptive Statistics and Normal Probability Curve –
Discuss the characteristics of a normal curve, and relative
standings associated with the normal probability curve, including
percentile rankings, stanines, z scores, T scores. Do
Exercise A.2 on an overhead or on handouts.
6 (c) Calculation and Interpreting Inferential Statistics – Give
an overview of what is meant by inferential statistics. What
is it intended to do? What kinds of studies use
inferential statistics?
What is Chi-square? What is the standard error and confidence
limit? If time permits, work through example of correlation
coefficient Table A.6 and address significance issue.
6 (d ) Testing for Significance – What does it mean to “test for
significance?” Give an overview of significance and
its relation to points on the normal probability curve. What
types of errors can be made in using tests of significance?
Why? Review statistical terminology.