Course Number:EDUC 5400A-02 CRN (89013)

Course Number:EDUC 5400a-02 CRN (89013)

Course Title:Action Research Pt. 1

Semester and Year:Fall Semester 2013

Class Meetings: Thursday Aug 15, Sept 26, Oct 3,(Dec 3rdor Dec 4th 11am-3pm) (and by schedule)

Place: TERRTime: 4:00-6:15

Instructor:Dr. Mari Ann Roberts

School and Office:Arts & Sciences - G205-F

E-mail Addresses:

Phone Number: 678/466-4720

Office Hours: 11:05 – 12:30 & 2-4Tues &Thurs. Also by Appointment or in-field

Course Materials

• Ling-Pan, M. (2008). Preparing Literature Reviews: Qualitative and Quantative Approaches. ISBN: 1884585760
• Yin, R. K.. (2013). Case Study Research (5th Ed.). ISBN: 1452242569.
• Johnson, A. P. (2012). A Short Guide to Action Research (4th Ed.). ISBN: 0132685868. E-Book ISBN: 013284916X
• Web Cam w/ Mic.
• Live Text Software
• Optional:
• Alber, S. M. (2011). A Toolkit for Action Research. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
• APA Made Easy

**Students are required to read all assigned chapters/articles prior to class and be prepared to discuss such when prompted.

** APA Help Websites: APA Tutorial , OWL @ Perdue APA Online Help

** Online Readiness Assessment Tool

Course Description

This is part one of a two-part hybrid online course that provides teacher candidates with an opportunity to develop an action research project based on coursework, practica, reflective practice, and clinical experiences. Here, candidates will study qualitative and quantitative methods of research, compile and synthesize relevant literature, and use content knowledge and skills to propose an action research project based on successes and/or concerns addressed during field and clinical experiences.

Course Goals

Action research (AR) is a paradigm of inquiry where the researcher’s primary purpose is to improve the capacity and subsequent practices of the researcher rather than to produce theoretical knowledge (Elliott, 1991). Improving practice means that the quality of the outcome of the process and products together are enhanced. A defining characteristic of AR is that the researcher initiates change based on a feeling that something needs to change to create a better human situation. The researcher provides direction toward realization and transformation of values through the process. Ends are not defined as specific goals or objectives before hand. Retrieved 8-01-13 from:

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Develop research questions to be used in an action research project.
2. Develop and draft an introduction to a research report that provides purpose and rationale for the research.
3. Conduct and draft a literature review.
4. Create a methodologically sound research proposal.

Teacher Education Policy

The content of this course syllabus correlates to education standards established by national and state education governing agencies, accrediting agencies and learned society/ professional education associations. Please refer to the course correlation matrices located at the following web site:

EDUC 5400a is a required course in the M.A.T. degree program. EDUC 5400a supports outcomes 1-5 of the MAT program which stress that a teacher prepared by CSU will be able to:

• Diagnose student needs
• Plan for student learning
• Facilitate student learning
• Demonstrate appropriate content knowledge
• Foster student well-being to promote learning

Conceptual Framework

The mission of the Teacher Education Unit is to prepare professional educators who engage in reflective practice and who are competent, caring, committed, collaborative,culturally responsive, and prepared to teach diverse learners in an ever-changing society. For the complete CSU Teacher Education Unit Conceptual Framework, follow the link below.

Course Evaluations

1. Johnson Questions, Yin, & Ling Pan Exercises – These are essentially workbook exercises that are meant to guide your reading and thinking about various components of the research proposal. When directed, you should complete them – as they will help you tremendously in thinking about your work and doing some of the pre writing for your proposal. I suggest you do them and keep them in an electronic portfolio. I will not collect all of them; however, selected ones of them will be submitted (see course schedule details for more info). When things get busy for you (as you KNOW they will) the first inclination is to skip these.However, I assure you that doing them when assigned will save you time on the back end of the semester when you are REALLY in need of aid.

1. Face-2-Face Check In’s – At times during the semester, you will be asked to submit various assignments, then, communicate with me directly in person or via Skype/OoVoo to discuss your progress. You are responsible for scheduling a time to meet with me during the week of the check-in. You must do all three – submit the work, schedule the meeting, AND have it by the due date in order to receive full credit for this assignment.

1. Literature Review Topic Outline – You will utilize relevant education journals and other resources to research a pre-selected topic, select articles relevant to that topic, and construct a literature review topic outline, which will summarize and evaluate each source.

1. Writing Group Logs – You will select at least one class “writing partner.” You should meet regularly, work together as a group to keep each other on schedule, edit one another’s papers, and keep each other sane in general. At the close of each meeting you should complete, and electronically submit a “Meeting Log” (see Appendix E for details).

1. Section Rough Drafts – You will submit a draft of various sections of your paper for feedback. You will be expected to apply any feedback received to future drafts. This grade will be based upon the quality of your draft and it clearly appearing to have been previously edited by your writing group.Unless otherwise instructed, late submission of drafts will only be accepted in the case of extreme emergency and, even then, will result in only half credit for the draft submission (see Appendix A for a rubric which will evaluate each section of your final paper). Further, the scheduled F2F will only be effective IF you have submitted a draft. If not, the lack thereof will negatively influence those grades as well.

1. IRB – NIH Online Training – You should complete and submit to me the appropriate IRB certificate indicating that you are prepared to conduct your research at CSU.

1. Final = Action Research Proposal Draft I, & Alber Frame 5.3 – (See Appendix A) you will write up your action research proposal andsubmit the best draft of your final paper that you can produce. The draft should reflect the semester’s worth of editing. The draft will be submitted with a completed Alber Frame 5.3. After submission of the draft, your writing group will have a final meeting with me where we discuss the quality of your drafts, IRB Apps.needed edits, and next steps.

1. Writing Group Evaluation - You are expected to schedule regular meetings (electronic or face-to-face), take notes at the meetings, and review the work of your partner and other peers by making relevant, constructive, valuable, evaluative comments. You will evaluate the level/quality of participation for your group members. A lack of accountability or responsiveness to your assigned partner(s) will reflect negatively in your final course grade (see Appendices C & D for details).

Course Grading:

1. Set I–Due Aug 21st – 100pts
2. Set II–Due Aug 28th – 100pts
3. Set III–Due Sept 26th – 100pts

1. One: RQ’s– Aug 30th– 50pts
2. Two: Lit Rev. Outline – Sept6th - 50pts
3. Three (Optional): Intro and Rationale–Oct 11th
4. Four: Methodology–Nov. 8th– 50pts

• Due Sept. 3rd

1. Log I:Research Questions – Due by Aug 28th – 40pts
2. Log II – Due by Sept 3rd - 40pts
3. Log III –Due by Sept 25th–40pts
4. Log IV –Due by Oct 9th – 40pts
5. Log V – Due by Oct 30th – 40pts

• Due Sept. 26th

• Due by Nov 13th

• Due Nov. 27th

1. Group Meeting w/ Action Plan – Due Dec 3 or 4 – 50pts
2. Completed IRB Application – Due Dec 3 or 4 – 50pts

• Due Dec 3 or 4

Course Schedule:Complete all tasks in the order listed.

• This is different
• Discuss classroom experiences so-far
• Review Syllabus and GA View
• The Research Proposal
• Try to list the steps you will have to take in this class and create a timeline for working on them (calendar handout).
• Establish Writing Groups
• Sign for Final Exam Dates

• Watch the following videos
• Things to Look For When Doing Online Research
• Setting Up for APA
• What is Plagiarism Part 1-4 (replace the word “footnote” with “cite”)
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• CAREFULLY Read Johnson Ch. 1-4
• Complete Set I Exercises:
• J. Ch. 2 Q 1,3, and 7
• J. Ch. 3 Q. 6-6 (reference classroom only)
• J. Ch. 4 Q. 1-2, 4, 6-8 (in #7, only select two high performing stud. and four low. Include surveys with submission.)

• Write Set I responses in GA View. (Scan and upload student surveys. Include them as an attachment to your responses).

• Read Yin Ch. 1 & 2
• Watch the following videos:
• How 2 Do Effective Peer Editing
• Peer Editing by Hand
• Using Google Docs for Peer Editing
• Using Word for Peer Editing
• How to Recognize and Find Scholarly Articles (Peer Reviewed)
• Read Ling Pan Ch. 1 – 5
• Watch the following videos.
• Lit Reviews
• Open-Ended Research Questions
• Read the following guidelines:
• Research Questions
• Have your first writing group meeting.
• In addition to completing the other meeting tasks, brainstorm your research questions.
• Designate a group member to submit your first meeting log (MLI) electronically to me. Include everyone’s proposed research questions in the log.
• Go to the CSU library and ask a librarian to show you how to access the ERIC education database.
• While in the library, complete Set II exercises:
• Y. Ex 1.1, 1.2, & 1.4
• LP. Ch.2 Ex. 1-13; Ch.3 Ex 1-10; Ch.4 1-5 & Ch. 5 1-13
• Develop a list of keywords that will help you in findingother articles to support your research.

• Have first WG meeting
• Upload first Meeting Log and all group members research questions to GA View.
• Write Set II responses in GA View.

• Continue searching for relevant articles and books in the area of your research question(s) (20-30 or more).
• Read Ling Pan Ch.6 & Ch.7
• Watch the following videos:
• Your Lit Review
• Part II - Your Lit Review
• Part III – Your Lit Review
• Have F2F One
• Begin work on a first draft of your Lit Review Topic Outline w/ Articles.
• Complete the following:
• Lit Review Topic Outline w/Articles
• Have your second writing group meeting.
• In addition to completing the other meeting tasks, review/edit Topic Outlines w/Articles.
• Designate a group member to submit your second meeting log (MLI) electronically to me.
• Edit Topic outline based on peer review and submit.

• Face 2 Face One –Have a Skype meeting with me to discuss:
• The progress of your lit. search
• The effectiveness of your research question(s)/ keywords

• Have second WG meeting – topic outline edits
• Upload second Meeting Log to GA View.
• Submit finalized topic outline to me electronically.

• Read Ling Pan Ch. 8 – 12 & 14
• Read the attached article:

• Begin work on a rough draft of your lit. review. Use the article and chapters above to guide your process

• Face 2 Face Two –Have a Skype meeting with me to discuss:
• Your lit review outline

• Finish a strong draft of your lit. review. Use the article and chapters in module IIIa to guide your process.
• Have your third writing group meeting.
• In addition to completing the other meeting tasks, review/edit the Lit Review Rough Drafts.
• Designate a group member to submit your third meeting log (MLI) electronically to me.
• Revise your Lit Review Rough Draft based on the feedback you received from your writing group.
• Submit the following in class on Sept 26th:

• Have third WG meeting – lit review edits
• Upload third Meeting Log to GA View.

• Submit finalized lit review draftLing Pan Ch. 12 Exercises (HARD COPY)

• Watch the following videos:
• Research Ethics
• Informed Consent
• Milgram Experiment
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research - Marketing info. but still relevant
• Mac Ad Spoof
• Having Differences
• Go to the links below and read about CSU’s IRB requirements
• About IRB at CSU
• Protocol Submission Information
• Forms and Applications - Student Class Projects Application
• Go to your school board’s website and read about your school’s IRB requirements. Bookmark the page.
• Read Yin Ch. 2 & 4
• Read Johnson Ch. 6 & 8
• Complete Set III exercises:
• Johnson Ch. 6 Question 1 (submit FN), 4 (submit IV Q’s), 7 (Submit checklist), & 8 (Submit Survey)
• Johnson Ch 8 Question 3
• Yin Ch. 2 Ex. 2.5
• Yin Ch. 4 Ex 4.2

• Lecture on Research Methodology
• Work together on Alber Frame 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, & 3.6
• Fishbowl - Practice Interviews (if time)
• View Example Papers

• Begin work on a rough draft of your Proposal intro/rationale section. This should be the, “How did you get interested in this & why should we care about it?” section. Use your experiences, stats, etc. in this section.
• Begin work on a rough draft of your methodology section. It should include the following pieces:
• Context (you may be able to use data from your School Context Study from 5102)
• Participants
• Description of Proposed Intervention or Innovation
• Description of Proposed Data Collection Method(s)
• Possible Limitations/study challenges
• FINALIZE YOUR LIT REVIEW SECTION

• Write Set III responses in GA View

• Finalize a draft of your intro and rationale
• Have your fourth writing group meeting.
• In addition to completing the other meeting tasks, review/edit the Intro/Rationale Drafts.
• Designate a group member to submit your fourth meeting log electronically to me.
• Revise your Intro/Rationale Draft based on the feedback you received from your writing group.
• Submit the following to me by Oct. 10th:
• Revised Intro/Rationale Draft (HARD COPY)
• Continue work on your Methodology section.

• Lecture on Quantitative Research Methodology

• Have fourth WG meeting – intro/rationale edits
• Upload 4th meeting log to GA View

• Continue work on your methodology section.

• Submit a HARD COPY of your finalized intro/rationale draft to me

• Face 2 Face Three –Have a Skype meeting with me to discuss - Intro/rationale

• Continue work on your methodology section.

• Finalize a draft of your Methodology section.
• Have your fifth writing group meeting.
• In addition to completing the other meeting tasks, review/edit the Methodology drafts.
• Designate a group member to submit your fifth meeting log electronically to me.
• Revise your Methodology Draft based on the feedback you received from your writing group.
• FINALIZE YOUR INTRO/ RATIONALE SECTION

• Have your fifth writing group meeting – methodology section
• Upload 5th meeting log to GA View

• Submit the following to me by Oct. 31st
• Revised Methodology Draft (HARD COPY)
• Put all of the pieces of your paper (so far) together and check for transitions and advanced organizers.

• Bring me a finalized (HARD COPY) draft of your methodology section

• Face 2 Face Four–Have a a Skype meeting with me to discuss your methodology section

• Read Yin Ch. 3
• Begin work on your research timeline, appendices, abstract, and title page.
• Submit the following to me by Nov 13th
• NIH Online Training Certificate
• Begin work on the CSU IRBSTUDENT application.

• Upload a copy of your NIH Training Certificate to GA View

• FINALIZE YOUR METHODOLOGY SECTION
• Work on finalizing a draft of your entire paper
• Do a final check of your timeline, appendices, bibliography and APA usage. (Work with your writing group to do this).
• Do a final edit of your entire paper using Alber 5.3 (see me for this if you do not have Alber).
• Check your entire paper using the rubric (App. D) to ensure you have done all that is required.

• Group I ______
• Group II ______
• Group III ______

• Bring a copy of your paper (either electronic or paper)
• Bring a copy of your competed IRB App.
• Submit final group evals (sealed in an envelope for each of you).
• Submit IRB Student App via E-mail to IRB Office

• Group IV ______
• Group V ______
• Group VI ______

• Bring a copy of your paper (either electronic or paper)
• Bring a copy of your competed IRB App.
• Submit final group evals (sealed in an envelope for each of you).
• Submit IRB Student App via E-mail to IRB Office

Course Policy