TEAC 800
Week 2 - Educational Research and Inquiry
This week we will move from our collective reflection upon the nature of teaching and begin our formal study of education research and inquiry.
Read Section I of the Jaeger text, "Disciplined Inquiry in Education: A New Overview" by Lee Shulman, pp. 3-29 (note: there was an error in the syllabus with the page numbers; it is correct to read chapter 1).Lee Shulman is challenging us to think about research in education, teaching and learning in intellectually serious ways ("disciplined"). Lee was at Stanford U, and recently retired from the position of presidency of the Carnegie Foundation, a project focused on the scholarship of teaching.
As you read, pay particular attention to the following questions. You do not need to send written answers, but rather use these to focus your reading. Consider this a heads-up for “what is important” in this chapter, from your instructors’ perspectives.
a) What is disciplined inquiry? How does it differ from casual observation or casual interpretation?
b) Why is it important to identify a research question first and then choose a method? What could be a problem if you choose a method first?
c) What is the relationship between a research question and the method employed to answer it?
d) Why is generalizability an important issue in education research?
Study Response Questions for Week 2
1) (Author’s view) What is Shulman saying? What is his thesis? Identify and state three points he states so elegantly or emphatically that you quote them or closely paraphrase them. What terms (vocabulary) or concepts seem particularly important here?
2) (Reader’s view) Have I read or experienced anything that reiterates or challenges what is being argued here? What words do I need to look up and/or what concepts do I need to revisit to feel confident that I understand what the author is saying? What questions about doing research does this chapter raise for me?
3) (Field’s view) What happens when I Wikipedia and/or Google Lee Shulman’s name? Lee Shulman mentions John Dewey several times. This is a name you should become familiar with as an educator. What can you learn about John Dewey? After reading this chapter, which citations might I want to look up?
4) (Synthesis/Application) Consider the teacher you observed for 15-20 minutes. Please write about: What kind of disciplined inquiry would yield useful knowledge about this person’s teaching? What kind of research questions might be posed and why?
DUE THIS WEEK (FEBRUARY 10TH):
--Response to observing another teacher (guidelines handed out on campus and also under Assignments Week 1), posted on the main Discussion Board in Blackboard.
--Study Response Questions for Week 2 (post on the Discussion Board in Blackboard; look for a mid-week announcement to tell you whether to post these on the main Discussion Board or whether we have put you into groups and to post these on your group’s Discussion Board)
WORK ON THIS WEEK (announcement/email):
1. Read Chapter 1 of the textbook (chapter by Lee Shulman, pp. 3-29). Please note that while the syllabus correctly says you should read chapter 1 this week, the page numbers were incorrect. Answer the four study questions for week 2 (find them under Assignments Week 2; post your answers in the discussion board)
2. If you haven’t already, observe another teacher for 15-20 minutes. Post your thoughts on the Discussion Board; guidelines for this posting were handed out on campus, and are also under Assignments Week 1.
This next one is not due this week, but we strongly suggest you get started soon:
3. Think about an issue in mathematics education that interests you, either from the ideas generated in class, or another idea you have. Please note: you are in no way obligated to use this issue for all of the assignments for the course. For now, just think of one of the issues that was interesting and try to find one research article about that issue. Give yourself some time to browse on the computer so you aren’t necessarily using the first article you find. Explore choices. Go to and click on e-Resources, then E or Education to find ERIC (FirstSearch). Try typing in some keywords to find a research article about the issue you identified; you may use research or “educational research” (yes, use quotation marks around a phrase when searching by keyword) as keywords to try, along with your issue.
4. Once you find a research article to use for the Research Analysis Assignment, please email the following information about your research article to the instructor: title of article, author(s), source (i.e., journal name), and year of publication. You need to have found an article by February 17th.
Although the Research Analysis Assignment is not due until March 2, once you have a research article approved, we suggest you:
4. Actually READ the research article that you found, using the general reading guidelines handed out in class (and also on Blackboard Course Documents), and also read through the Research Analysis Assignment (now on Blackboard Assignments).