EED 595: Directed Comprehensive Studies
Dr. Susan BelgradWednesdays
Office: 818-677-4901Spring, 2009
I. Course Description:
EED 697 Comprehensive Studies is the capstone experience for graduate work in the EED MA Option. This course is designed to provide encouragement, support, and opportunity for you to complete your research report and the MA Portfolio. Assignments focused on leadership and professionalism are also part of the course, the final class of your MA program.
EED 697 will culminate with the comprehensive examination -- your portfolio presentation – on MONDAY, April 23 at TBD. At that time, your portfolio will be complete, including your research report, and you'll engage inconversations with members of the faculty to present your Portfolio. At the conclusion of the Portfolio Showcase, you will submit the portfolio to your instructor for scoring by the program faculty Graduate Advisor. Passing portfolio scores are reported to the Graduate Studies Office to indicate that the comprehensive exam requirement has been met.
- II. Conceptual Framework of the College of Education
The faculty of the Michael D. Eisner College of Education, regionally focused and nationally recognized, is committed to Excellence through Innovation. We believe excellence includes the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions and is demonstrated by the growth and renewal of ethical and caring professionals - faculty, staff, candidates - and those they serve. Innovation occurs through collaborative partnerships among communities of diverse learners who engage in creative and reflective thinking. To this end we continually strive to achieve the following competencies and values that form the foundation of the Conceptual Framework.
- We value academic excellence in the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills.
- We value the use of evidence for the purposes of monitoring candidate growth, determining the impact of our programs, and informing ongoing program and unit renewal. To this end we foster a culture of evidence.
- We value ethical practice and what it means to become ethical and caringprofessionals.
- We value collaborative partnerships within the College of Education as well as across disciplines with other CSUN faculty, P-12 faculty, and other members ofregional and national educational and service communities.
- We value diversity in styles of practice and are united in a dedication to acknowledging, learning about, and addressing the varied strengths, interests, and needs of communitiesof diverse learners.
- We value creative and reflective thinking and practice.
II. Course Requirements
A. Methodology:
The class as a whole will meet on ten occasions during the semester, as noted below, including the Portfolio Presentation. On other dates, the instructor will meet with individuals or pairs of students to support and discuss progress with the research project or address questions regarding your Portfolio. Additional individual meetings may be conducted via email or scheduled for other times; or an additional whole class session may be scheduled if needed.
B. Assignments/Assessments:
Each student will be responsible for organizing research project and artifacts of significant achievement of Induction and CSUN Student Learning Outcomes into a Final Academic Portfolio. The following items will be included in the portfolio:
1. Reflective pieces
2. Theoretical Understanding from analyses/discussions of reading assignments and
applications in elementary classrooms;
3. Final Research Report
4. Evidence of understanding of the changing role of the teacher in the classroom/school; evidence
of knowledge on reaching and teaching diverse learners; evidence of applying knowledge and
research in education, and evidence of leadership as a teacher mentor or child advocate.
An assignment sheet and rubric will be distributed that provides background and information along with and specific details to complete the required work.
The student's participation in the Final Portfolio Showcase is Mandatory.
C. The Research Report: Suggestions for Success
The following are general guidelines agreed upon by the faculty in the Michael D. Eisner College of Education:
1. Aim for a length of about 30 pages, double-spaced, 12 point type size not including references.
2. Use APA format/style correctly and consistently.
3. The use of first-person narrative is acceptable and appropriate.
4. Use headings to help a reader follow the organization of your report.
5. Provide a title page. Include a descriptive title (colons will be common) and your name.
6. Typical parts of the body of the report include the following:
a. An introductory section that creates interest in the topic, states and discusses the research
question/topic/projected outcome and its significance (i.e.) why you think it is important.
b. A literature review (background section) that defines key terms and provides information
about research and professional writing giving foundation to your study.
c. Methodology or Procedures section that describe the study's context, how data was
collected, and how data was analyzed.
1) Context: describe the school, the students, the teacher(s), but avoid using specific school or
student names.
2) Data collection: describe the several data sources and collection processes, as well as the
reasons for these choices. You may refer readers to an appendix (where, for example, you may
have a survey and a sample student response.). This section will be in "past tense" when you
write the report.
3) Data analysis: explain how the different types of data were considered and analyzed (tallied,
percentages calculated, essays scored using a rubric, content analysis, etc.). This, too, will be in
"past tense."
d. Findings sections that describe the outcomes of your study. There are usually two main choices for organizing this part: by results (most common) or by data sources (less common). Charts/graphs are recommended in this section.
An example: If the title of your study is "A Program of Journal Writing: Impacts on English
Learners' Writing Attitudes and Achievement in Two Fourth Grade Classes," the results section might be organized in one of these ways:
Organized by key results
- Student attitudes toward writing (citing evidence from surveys, journals, essays)
- Length of student writing (citing evidence from surveys, journals, essays)
- Sentence structures of student writing (citing evidence from surveys, journals, essays)
- Coherence of student writing (citing evidence from surveys, journals, essays)
Organized by data sources
- Survey findings (on attitudes, length, sentence structures, coherence of writing)
-Journal findings (on attitudes, length, sentence structures, coherence of writing)
- Essay findings (on attitudes, length, sentence structures, coherence of writing)
E. A discussion section that comments on the findings: what you learned doing this research and implications for your teaching, connections with other studies, expected/unexpected results, additional questions for research. This often proves to be one of the most interesting parts to write.
F. A short conclusion that provides closure and may refer back to the introduction or emerge from the findings discussion. Sometimes E and F are combined.
7. References: a minimum of ten (10) references, using a direct match system (if . it's cited in the report, it should appear in the references; if it's listed in the references, it should be cited in the report). Many will have around 15 citations, few of which may be internet references. Be sure to use APA!
8. Any appendices. Appendices are generally labeled Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.