EDUC3006,Fall2015(216-­‐1)Crowley, Fertman, Russell,Tananis

Instructional Team

University of Pittsburgh School of Education Doctor of EducationProgram

Fall 2015 (216-­‐1)

EDUC 3006: Practitioner Inquiry 2 (PI2, 3 credit hours)

KevinCrowley,PhDProfessor
822LRDC
412-­‐624-­‐fficeHours:Byappointment / CarlFertman,PhDAssociateProfessor
155TreesHall
412-­‐648-­‐7191OfficeHours:Byappointment / JenniferRussell,PhDAssociateProfessor
808LRDC
412-­‐624-­‐fficeHours:Byappointment / CindyTananis,EdDAssociateProfessor
4314WWPH
412-­‐648-­‐fficeHours:Byappointment

MeetingTimesFace-­‐to-­‐Face:

Saturday,September12,8amto12pmSaturday,October3,8amto12pm Saturday,November7,8amto12pmSaturday,December5, 8amto12pm

Online:

Asynchronous viacourseweb.pitt.edu, August31–December19

PractitionerInquiryCourseSeries

TheDoctorateofEducation(EdD)isthehighestattainableacademicdegreeforeducationalpractitioners. ThedegreeisdesignedtoprepareeducatorstoassumeleadershippositionsacrossthePre-­‐20educationsectorinschools,organizations,governmentoffices,andsupportagencies.1 ThePractitionerInquiryaspectoftheEdDprogramincludesafour-­‐coursesequencethatbeginsduringthefirst on-­‐rampsummertermandthencontinuesinallthreetermsofthesecondyearofstudy.Thefirst courseduringtheon-­‐rampsummerintroducesthebroadconceptsofpractitionerinquiryandanumber

of methods anddesigns to frameandstudyproblemsof practice.

PractitionerInquiry2and3extendearlierlearningandprovideanarsenalofinquirytoolsandstrategiesthatwillserveyouwellasaninquiringscholar-­‐practitionerthroughoutyourcareerbyconsideringproblemsofpracticewithinspecificinstitutionalandbroadersocialcontexts. Additionally,thesecoursesaredesignedtohelpyouchooseaninquiryapproachtoapplytoyourproblemofpractice. Thefinal decisionabouttheinquirymethod(s)youwilluseforyourfinalProjectfortheEdD(Project4)ismadebetweenyouandyour advisor. The finalinquirycourseinthe four-­‐coursesequenceprovidesan

1Another doctoral degree, thePhD,is specifically designed toprepare researchers for academic appointments in

universities and colleges to continue a researchagenda ineducation.

opportunitytocompletepilotworkandrefinementofyourthinkingrelatedtotheactualinquiryof

Project4.

CourseDescriptionandObjectives

PractitionerInquiry2(PI2,EDUC3006):ThiscourseisthesecondoffourPractitionerInquirycourses requiredintheEdDprogramofstudy.Thiscourseisdesignedtoprovideyouwithinvestigatingyour ProblemsofPracticeinaparticularcontextandsettingthatapartofaninter-­‐connectedsystem.

Asaresultofcourseengagement,studentswill:

Understandhowproblemsofpracticearebestunderstoodasbeingpartoflarger interconnectedsystemsandbeabletousetoolstovisualizeand/orarticulatethecomponents ofthesesystems(e.g.,rootcauseanalysisandsystemsimprovementmaps)

Understandhowcasestudyisaanappropriatemethodologyforexploringthesystemthat producesaproblemofpractice

Learnwhenandhowtouseavarietyofdatacollectionmethods(e.g.,interviews,surveys, observations,documentcollection)tolearnabouthowtheirproblemsofpracticemanifestina specificlocalcontextviathepeople,outputs,andprocessesofthesystem.

CourseFormat

ThiscourseisdividedintofourMODULES. Eachmoduleisledbyatwo-­‐personinstructionalteam(aleadandsecondaryinstructors). Twootherinstructorsassistwitheachmodule. Whilefittingintoanoverallstructurethatachievestheobjectivesabove,eachmodulealsowillhaveitsuniqueflavorand characteristics. Activitiesandmoduleassignmentsmayvary;organizationofgroupsandin-­‐classwork maybedifferentaswell. Thisalsoprovidestheopportunitytoexperiencetheteachingstylesand expertiseoffourdifferentfacultymembersrepresentingquitedifferentareasofstudywithineducation.

Thefourmodulesarebrieflydescribedbelow.Moreinformationoneachmodulewillbeavailableprior tothebeginningofeach. Eachmodulewillincludeascheduleforreading,writtenwork,andonline worktosupportyourlearning.

Module / Face-­‐to-­‐Face / ModuleDates / Faculty(Lead
andSecondary)
1 / USINGCASESTUDYTOUNDERSTAND
PROBLEMSOFPRACTICE:Overviewofthe logicandmethodsassociatedwithcase studyandunderstandingthesystemthat producesyourproblemofpractice / September12 / August31
Sept7
Sept14
Sept21 / Dr.Russelland
Dr.Fertman
2 / STAKEHOLDERNEEDS:Understandinguser
orprioritypopulation/groupperspectives andneedsassessment / October3 / Sept28
Oct5
Oct12 / Dr.Tananisand
Dr.Crowley
3 / ORGANIZATIONALCAPACITY:Understanding
howorganizationalpolicyandcapacity
relatetoyourproblemofpracticeinitslocal context / November7 / Oct19
Oct26
Nov2
Nov9 / Dr.Crowley
andDr.Russell
4 / COMMUNITYANDBROADERCONTEXTS:
Understandinghowbroadercommunityand policycontextsshapetheproblemof practice(i.e.,knowingandmanagingyour environment) / December5 / Nov16
Nov23
Nov30
Dec7 / Dr.Fertman
andDr.Tananis

DoctoralProjects

TheEdDStudentHandbookmorethoroughlydescribestheProjectsyouareresponsibletocomplete acrosscoursesandexperiencesintheprogram. NoProjectsarefullycompletedduringthiscourse, however,manyoftheskillsandstrategiesyoudevelopinthiscoursearecriticaltoyoursuccessful completionoftheprogramandassociatedProjects. Thoseskillsandstrategiesaredescribedabovein theCourseDescriptionsandObjectivessection

Prerequisites

PractitionerInquiry1isarequiredprerequisiteforthiscourse.

Texts

Thecoursematerialsincludebooks,bookchapters,andjournalarticles. Thesetextsareavailablefor purchaseattheUniversityStoreonFifth. ThetextsarealsoavailableatAmazon.com,half.com,and othersources. AllrequiredreadingsbeyondthetextsareprovidedinCourseweb. GototheCLASSROOMarea,thentotheclassWEEK. ReadingsarewithintheREADINGSlinkforeachweek.PleasevisitCoursewebandalignyourreadingwiththecourseschedule.

Bryk,A.S.,Gomez,L.M.,Grunow,A.,LeMahieu,P.G.(2015).LearningtoImprove:HowAmerica's

SchoolsCanGetBetteratGettingBetter.Cambridge,MA:HarvardEducationPress.

Yin,R.K.(2014).Casestudyresearch:Designandmethods.5thEdition.ThousandOaks,CA:Sage

Publications.

ThefollowingtextsarerecommendedbutnotrequiredandarealsoavailableattheUniversityStore: AmericanPsychologicalAssociation(APA).(2009).PublicationmanualoftheAmericanPsychological

Association,6thed.Washington,DC:Author.[referencecopiesinlibrary]

Booth,W.C.,Colomb,G.G.,Williams,J.M.(2008).Thecraftofresearch,3rded.Chicago,IL:University

ofChicagoPress.[multi-­‐userebookviapittcat.pitt.edu]

PreparationforEngagement

ReadingandWriting

Doctoralstudyrequiresagooddealofreadingandwriting. Wecometoknowandbetterunderstandthecoreconceptsinourfieldandtheprofessionalandacademicdiscoursethroughreading. Wefurther engageinthatdiscourseourselvesaswewriteandrefineourthinking. Youshouldexpecttoreadand re-­‐read,towriteandre-­‐write-­‐-­‐-­‐asyoufurtherengageintheconversation,ratherthanlookingatspecificreadingsorwrittenpiecesasdisconnectedassignmentsoractivities.

BlendedCourseFormat

Forthiscourse,inadditiontothe16face-­‐to-­‐faceSaturdayhoursofclasstimeoutlinedintheschedule,youareexpectedtospendanadditional24hoursonlineinactivediscussionandexplorationofresourcesincludingdiscussion,accessingprovidedandotherresources,andcompletingassignments.

Thisdoesnotincludethetimeinadditiontoclassthatyouareexpectedtospendonreading,studying, andcompletingassignments. Fordoctorallevelcourses,aminimumof1.5hoursisrequiredforevery instructionalhour. Toadequatelymanagethecontentrequirementsforthecourses,youshouldplan forthefollowing,atminimum: 16classhours+24activeonlinehours+60hoursclass-­‐relatedwork=

100minimalhoursofactiveengagement.

PlanningforOnlineLearning

TheOnlineLearningPlantemplatehasbeenintroducedinthedoctoralprogramtoprovideyouan opportunitytoconsiderthevariousfacetsofyourlifeandthedemandsonyourtimeandenergy. Itis foryouruseonly-­‐-­‐-­‐itisnotanassignmentorgradedactivity. Afterconsideringthefullsyllabusforthis

course,includingtheonlinerequiredactivityandassignments,andadditionalacademicandprofessional responsibilitiesyouhave,usethetemplateprovidedinCoursewebandcompleteyourpersonalonline learningplanforthisterm.

OnlineDiscussion

Thecoursewillmakeuseofvariousformsofonlineconversation. Thesemaybeintheformof

discussionboards,wikis,orblogs. Asyouengageinonlineconversationconsidertheformatadintentof yourpostings. Forexample,contributionsmaybe:

oInitial responsesthatintroducemajorconceptsrelatedtothequestionorissue,

oSecondarycommentarythataddstotheconsiderationofconceptsalreadyintroduced

oAlternativeresponsesthatintroduceeitheradditionalmajorconceptsorcritiquesofalready introducedconceptsthatfurtherthediscussion.Additionally,

oAllresponsesshouldpointtotheliteratureandincludein-­‐textcitations,whenappropriate.

Referencelistsofmaterialsshouldalsobeincludediftheyarenotcommontotheclass(beyond theclasstextbooks)

oConsidertheformatandplacementofyourpostforappropriatenesstothereader,and

oDiscussionisconsideredpartofprofessionalandacademiccommunicationandshouldbe appropriatetothosesettings.

Assignments

GeneralExpectations

AssignmentsaretobesubmittedelectronicallyviaCourseweb(exceptasnotedbyaninstructor). Use APAstyleforallcitationsandreferences.Submitworkinaneasilyreadable11-­‐or12-­‐pointfont,double-­‐spaced. Attendtothewordrangesspecifiedintheassignments.Lateworkslowsdowntheprocessofreviewandworkonsubsequentassignments.Latesubmissionswillbereducedinpointsearned.

Grading

Foreachofthecourseassignments,instructorswillprovidegradingrubrics. Instructorswillusethe gradingrubricstodeterminepointvaluesandtofacilitatecommunicationaboutthestrengthsand improvementareasofyourwork. Pointvaluesonindividualassignmentswilldetermineyourfinalgrade inthecourse.Rubricsareintendedtofacilitatecommunicationandgradingratherthantodirector determineyourperformance.

Studentshavebeenrandomlyassignedaparticularinstructorwhowillbegradingtheirthreemajor courseassignmentsacrosstheterm. Sincetheassignmentsbuildoneachother,thiswillhelptoprovide somecontinuityandconsistencyforstudentfeedback.ModuleInstructors(leadandsecondary)will gradeallModuleAssignments. Ifyouhavequestionsaboutyourgrades,besuretocontacttheinstructorwhoisresponsibleforthegradeyoureceive.

GradingScale:

Point
Total / FinalLetter
Grade
97-­‐100 / A+
94-­‐96 / A
90-­‐93 / A-­‐
87-­‐89 / B+
84-­‐86 / B
80-­‐83 / B-­‐

CourseAssignments

Assignment1:PaperProposal DUESeptember28,201520/100points

Draftaproposalforyourcasestudyproject(culminatingclassassignment)thatempiricallyexaminesthe systemthatproducesyourproblemofpracticeinaspecificlocalcontext(i.e.,onespecificorganization). Theproposalwillfollowastandardtemplateandbeinbullet/textboxformatratherthanaformal writtennarrative.Itwillincludeaplanforthedatayouwillcollectthissemesterforyourcasestudy. ProposalsaredueSept.28thtoinstructorsbutyouwilluploadtheproposalsforfeedbackfromasmall groupofpeersduringtheweekofSept.21st.

Assignment2:PaperOutline DUENovember7th,201520/100points

Fillinthepaperoutlinetemplate(tobedistributedviaCourseweb)providinganoverviewofthe followingforyourfinalposterandpaper:

Problemofpractice

Descriptionoftheorganizationalcontextyouareinvestigating

Rootcauseanalysis

Whatyoulearnedaboutyourproblemofpracticefromtheuserortarget’sperspective

Whatyoulearnedaboutyourproblemofpracticefromanorganizationalperspective

Whatyoulearnedabouthowthebroaderenvironmentshapesyourproblemofpractice

Assignment3:PosterandPaper DUEDecember5,201520/100points

Writea12to15double-­‐spacedcasestudy(~3000words)summarizingwhatyoulearnedabouthowyourproblemofpracticemanifestsinaspecificcontext.TheoutlinesubmittedforAssignment#2shouldguideyouranalysisandwriting.

Preparea“poster”foravirtualpostersessionduringthelastclassthatpresentsyourcasestudyof yourproblemofpracticeinaspecificlocalcontext

ModuleAssignments–variousduedates40/100points

Theseassignmentsaresmallerexercises(smallwrittensummaries,onlinediscussion,etc)connectedto eachofthefourmodules. Theyaredesignedtosupportyourengagementwiththeassociatedreadings andtoassistyouinunderstandingthematerialandtheworknecessaryforthemajorassignmentslisted above. Eachmoduleinstructionalteamwillprovidefurtherdetailsoftheseassignmentswiththe modulematerial.

University,School,andInstructorPolicies

AcademicIntegrity

Theintegrityoftheacademicprocessrequiresfairandimpartialevaluationonthepartoffacultyand honestacademicconductonthepartofstudents.Tothisend,studentsareexpectedtoconduct themselvesatahighlevelofresponsibilityinthefulfillmentofthecourseoftheirstudy.Itisthe correspondingresponsibilityoffacultytomakecleartostudentsthosestandardsbywhichstudentswill beevaluatedandtheresourcespermissibleforusebystudentsduringthecourseoftheirstudy. Cheatingandplagiarismwillnotbetolerated.StudentssuspectedofviolatingtheUniversityof PittsburghPolicyonAcademicIntegrity,fromtheFebruary1974SenateCommitteeonTenureand AcademicFreedomreportedtotheSenateCouncil,willberequiredtoparticipateintheoutlined proceduralprocessasinitiatedbytheinstructor.StudentsinthiscourseareexpectedtocomplywiththeUniversityofPittsburghPolicyonAcademicIntegrity,whichcanbefoundonlineat

Attendance

Regularandpromptattendanceisanessentialpartoftheeducationalexperience. Althoughstudentsareexpectedtoattendall“in-­‐class”sessions,ourworkingprofessionalstudentssometimesfind themselvesincircumstancesthatcausethemtomissclassmeetings.Allstudentsareexpectedtoattend everyscheduledmeetingofeachclassontime. Exceptionsmaybemadeforwork-­‐relatedactivities, illness,orvalidemergencies. Insuchcases,pleasecontacttheinstructorforthemodulethatyouare missing,todeterminethemostappropriateformatformakingupmissedclasswork. Keepinmindthat thiscoursemeetsonlyfourtimesthroughouttheterm-­‐-­‐-­‐missingoneofthosesessionsconstitutesasignificantportionoftheface-­‐to-­‐facetime.

IncompleteGrades

Forthiscourse,anI-­‐Gradewillbegrantedonlyifthestudenthasactivelyattendedtothecourse requirementsbutneedsextendedtimetocompletetherequiredworktomeetminimumexpectations. IfanIncompletegradebecomesnecessary,theinstructorswillrequireyoutoproposeaplanofaction outlininghowyouwillcompletetheworkwithinnomorethanonetermfromtheendofthecourse (andpreferablyashorterperiodoftime).

GrievanceProcedures

Thepurposeofgrievanceproceduresistoensuretherightsandresponsibilitiesoffacultyandstudents

intheirrelationshipswitheachother.Whenastudentbelievesthatafacultymemberhasnotmethisor herobligations(asaninstructororinanothercapacity)asdescribedintheAcademicIntegrityGuidelines,thestudentshouldfollowtheproceduredescribedintheGuidelinesby(1)firsttryingtoresolvethematterwiththefacultymemberdirectly;(2)then,ifneeded,attemptingtoresolvethematterthroughconversationswiththechair/associatechairofthedepartment;(3)ifneeded,nexttalkingtotheassociatedeanoftheschool;and(4)ifneeded,filingawrittenstatementofchargeswiththeschool-­‐levelacademicintegrityofficer[Dr.MikeGunzenhauseristheAssociateDeanandIntegrity Officer].Formoreinformation,seetheSchoolofEducationAcademicIntegrityGuidelines.

DisabilityServices

Ifyouhaveadisabilityforwhichyouareormayberequestinganaccommodation,youareencouraged tocontactboththeinstructorandDisabilityResourcesandServices(DRS),140WilliamPittUnion,(412)

648-­‐7890, .(412)228-­‐5347forP3ASLusers,asearlyaspossibleintheterm.DRSwillverifyyourdisabilityanddeterminereasonableaccommodationsforthesecourses.

StatementonClassroomRecording

Toensurethefreeandopendiscussionofideas,studentsmaynotrecordclassroomlectures,discussion and/oractivitieswithouttheadvancewrittenpermissionoftheinstructor,andanysuchrecording properlyapprovedinadvancecanbeusedsolelyforthestudent’sownprivateuse.

CommunicationwithInstructors

Sendingemails: Becauseoftheonlinenatureofthecourse,wearesettingupspecificguidelinesfor emailcommunication.

Posenon-­‐personalquestionsofgeneralinterestandinformationviathe“CourseQuestions”BlogonCourseweb. Answerswillbepostedthere.Similarly,posttechnicalconcernsinthe“TechnicalQuestions”blogarea. Schooltechnicalstaffwillmonitorthatareaforyourconcerns.

Contactinstructorsbyemailonlywithquestionsofspecificinterestthatcannotbesharedwith thewholeclass.

Whenemailing,pleaseuseyourpitt.eduemailaddress. Youcanemaildirectlyfromthecourse mail. Pleasebecarefulaboutthis;Pitthasan aggressivespamfilteringsystem,andmanystudentsemailingfromgmailaccounts,etc.,find theiremailsdonotreachfaculty.

Telluswhoyouareandhelpusfigureoutwhatyouneed:Inthesubjectline,indicatethe coursenumber.Bedescriptive. Toavoidconfusion,signyouremailwithyourfirstandlast name.

Telephonecallsorofficeappointments: Youmayneedtohaveaconversationaboutsomethinginthe course.Wewillarrangeeitheratelephone“officehours”orameetingasneeded.Emailoneofusand

letusknowyouravailabletimeanddays. Wewillbegladtoscheduleaconferencebetween9amand5 pmMondaythroughFriday,atamutuallyconvenienttime.