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ETR 520

Introduction to Educational Research

Dr. M C. Smith

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Blackboardhttp://webcourses.niu.edu

Z-number and Z-ID password

(815) 752-7738

or

http://www.niu.edu/acs/stud-email.html

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Blackboard• You will find:

– ETR 520 syllabus• course requirements and optional project(s) with

complete instructions

• due dates for assignments

• on-line lecture notes and PP overheads

• Weekly/daily schedule of topics

• Assigned readings

• Grading criteria

• External links (resources)

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ETR 520 Core assignments

• (1) Educational research problem paper

• (2) Library database search and paper

• (3) Critique of research study paper + QAA

• (4) Research methods and design paper + IRB application QAA

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Optional Professional Development Activities (PDAs)

• First PDA options:– attend & evaluate graduate research colloquium– interview an educational researcher– attend & evaluate professional research conference

• Final PDA options:– mini-proposal for research study– comparison evaluation of 2 research papers– review of research literature paper– Internet (WWW) site search and evaluation paper

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Other course-relevant information

• Individual vs. paired or team collaboration

• In- and out-of-class participation

• BlackBoard for course announcements, discussions, and other materials

• APA (5th ed.) required for papers

• Revising and resubmitting papers

• Final course grades (“criteria-contract”)

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Learning about educational research

• What is educational research?

• Can anybody do educational research?

• What are the activities of educational researchers?

• Is educational research like other forms of social science research?

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Activities of Classroom Teachers That Parallel Formal Research Practices:

-planning activities (teaching, research)-maintaining records of activities and students-gathering information about students

observing studentsinterviewing students

-developing, administering, and scoring classroom (student) assessments (e.g., tests and other paper-and-pencil measures-identifying teaching, learning, and assessment problems

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Activities of Classroom Teachers that Parallel Formal Research

• asking questions and forming hypotheses

• monitoring and evaluating changes in teaching and learning

• collaborating and sharing information with others

• professional development practices (e.g., conferences, workshops)

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Some Benefits of Educational Research

• Helps teachers to:– grow professionally– engage in self-analysis– learn new solutions to old, persistent

problems– communicate more effectively with other

teachers, administrators, and parents.

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RESEARCH METHODS:

the systematic, purposeful ways in which the scientist obtains and analyzes information for some purpose--usually to discover new knowledge.

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Educational Research:

is concerned with a variety of educational problems, including

human learning and the conditions under which learning can best be

accomplished across settings and for many different kinds of tasks.

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Is Educational Research Scientific?

Scientific inquiry: the ultimate aim of any science is to generate and verify theory.

Scientific inquiry can be defined as the search for knowledge by using recognized methods in:

-data collection-data analysis-data interpretation

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PURPOSES of SCIENCE

• describe phenomena (e.g., aspects of student learning)

• predict phenomena (e.g., student achievement)

• control phenomena (e.g., aspects of instruction)

• explain phenomena (e.g., instruction-learning

relationship)

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Theory: predicts and explains natural phenomena (including human behavior).

Although there are many theories of human learning, and of good instruction, much educational research is atheoretical.

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The Scientific Method:

(1) Researcher moves inductively from observations of specific phenomena (e.g., student behavior) to formulating a hypothesis (an educated guess) about the general situation (e.g, how students best learn). (2) Proceeds deductively from the logical implications of the hypothesis, that is, from the general situation to the specific case.

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Steps in the Scientific Method

• 1. Formulate a hypothesis.

• 2. Test the hypothesis.

• 3. Accept or reject the hypothesis.

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Sources of Knowledge

• Authorities and experts

• Customs and traditions

• Our own lived experiences• Inductive reasoning (specific to general)

• Deductive reasoning (general to specific)

• The scientific method

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Educational research cannot produce definitive answers!

• It can provide working concepts, language for understanding these concepts, data, and hypotheses that allow for the investigation of various possibilities:

• (e.g., “How does reduction in class size affect teacher-student interaction and, subsequently, student achievement?”)

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Educational can be used to rule out certain approaches or

methods as ineffective and can suggest plausible hypotheses

about promising new methods.

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Misconceptions About Scientific Research

• 1. There is one right, best, or most scientifically sound method for conducting true research.

• 2. All methods or research techniques are equally sound or appropriate.

• 3. Research is too difficult for the layperson to understand or to carry out.

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Misconceptions (Cont’d):

4. Conducting and interpreting research is easy; it’s just common sense.

5. If a study is published in a scholarly journal, it must be good and the findings true.

6. If a study is flawed in some way, it is not of any value.

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Misconceptions (continued)

• 7. If the research is truly scientific, it must be totally objective and value free.

• 8. The results of a single, well-done study are conclusive.

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Skepticism

• (1) An attitude of doubt or a predisposition to incredulity in general or toward a particular object;

• (2) the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain;

• (3) the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt or criticism characteristic of skeptics.

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