Graduate Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form

For Courses Numbered 6000 and Higher

Note: Before completing this form, please carefully read the accompanying instructions.

1. Course prefix and number:ELEM 6000 2. Date:

3. Requested action:

New Course
X / Revision of Active Course
Changing a 2-hour course to a 3-hour course
Revision & Unbanking of a Banked Course
Renumbering of an Existing Course from
from / # / to / #

4. Method(s) of delivery (check all boxes that apply for both current/proposed and expected

future delivery methods within the next three years):

Current or Expected

Proposed Delivery Future Delivery

Method(s): Method(s):

X / On-campus (face-to-face) / X
Distance Course (face-to-face off campus)
Online (delivery of 50% or more of the instruction is offered online)

5. Justification (must cite accreditation and/or assessment by the graduate faculty) for new course or course revision or course renumbering:

ELEM 6000 Professional Development, Trends, and Issues in Elementary Education (2 s.h.) will become a 3-hour course. The graduate faculty of the Elementary Education program have met and determined that additional credits should be added to this course to accommodate the expectations of the action research project in response to DPI Standard 4 ‘Student Learning’ which states that “Teacher leaders facilitate leadership in student learning through evidence-based practice informed by research. They understand and apply research in child and adolescent development, cognitive development, and general and specialized pedagogy.” The name of the course will be changed to Action Research Planning in Elementary Education to accommodate the increased research focus.

6. Course description exactly as it should appear in the next catalog:

6000. Action Research Planning in Elementary Education (3) P/C: EDUC 6480 or EDUC 6482 or SCIE 6500. Development of an action research project linking teaching and professional growth to trends and issues in elementary education.

7. If this is a course revision, briefly describe the requested change:

Change title from Professional Development, Trends, and Issues in Elementary Education to Action Research Planning in Elementary Education.
The course is reconceptualized to allow students to develop their action research projects, write their literature review, begin the process of IRB Approval, and present their research proposal to a team of peers and faculty. As a result, the name will be changed to Action Research Planning in Elementary Education. The change is also being made to add 1 credit hour to ELEM 6000.

8. Graduate catalog page number from current (.pdf) graduate catalog: 168

9. Course credit:

Lecture Hours / 3 / Weekly / OR / Per Term / Credit Hours / 3 / s.h.
Lab / Weekly / OR / Per Term / Credit Hours / s.h.
Studio / Weekly / OR / Per Term / Credit Hours / s.h.
Practicum / Weekly / OR / Per Term / Credit Hours / s.h.
Internship / Weekly / OR / Per Term / Credit Hours / s.h.
Other (e.g., independent study) Please explain.
Total Credit Hours / 3 / s.h.

10. Anticipated annual student enrollment: 40

11. Affected degrees or academic programs:

Degree(s)/Program(s) / Current Catalog Page / Changes in Degree Hours
MAEd Elementary Education / p. 154-157 / No changes in degree hours (see attached memo)

12. Overlapping or duplication with affected units or programs:

X / Not applicable
Notification & response from affected units is attached

13. Council for Teacher Education (CTE) approval (for courses affecting teacher education):

X / Applicable and CTE has given their approval.

14. Service-Learning Advisory Committee (SLAC) approval

X / Not applicable
Applicable and SLAC has given their approval.

15. Statements of support:

a. Staff

X / Current staff is adequate Because we are dropping a course, the revision does not change overall faculty load for program area.
Additional staff is needed (describe needs in the box below):

b. Facilities

X / Current facilities are adequate
Additional facilities are needed (describe needs in the box below):

c. Library

X / Initial library resources are adequate
Initial resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition of required initial resources):

d. Unit computer resources

X / Unit computer resources are adequate
Additional unit computer resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition):

e. ITCS resources

X / ITCS resources are not needed
The following ITCS resources are needed (put a check beside each need):
Mainframe computer system
Statistical services
Network connections
Computer lab for students
Software
Approval from the Director of ITCS attached

16. Course information (see: Graduate Curriculum and Program Development Manual for instructions):

a. Textbook(s) and/or readings: author(s), name, publication date, publisher, and city/state/country

Hendricks, Cher. (April, 2008). Improving schools through action research: A comprehensive guide for educators. Boston: Pearson. (2nd Edition)
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. (http://www.apa.org/books/4200060.html)

b. Course objectives for the course (student – centered, behavioral focus)

At the completion of this course the student will be able to:
1.  Define and describe methods for conducting action research.
2.  Analyze current teaching practices and how they relate to North Carolina Teaching Standards and trends and issues in elementary education.
3.  Design and submit an action research proposal linking teaching and professional growth to trends and issues in elementary education. This research proposal will include research question(s), a review of current literature, a description of the purpose/problem, a methodology section, and will follow APA guidelines.
4.  Create IRB documents and obtain permission for conducting action research project from ECU IRB Board.

c. Course topic outline

I. Overview of Action Research
a. definition and types of action research
b. examples of action research
c. action research guidelines
2. Connection to the NC Teaching Standards
a. state expectations; self-analysis
b. link self-analysis to research question
3. Development of the research proposal linking teaching and professional growth to trends and issues in elementary education
a. determining the research question
b.  defining the purpose/problem
c.  writing the literature review
d.  understanding and following APA guidelines
e.  constructing a rigorous methodology
f.  planning data collection
g.  completing the IRB Process

d. List of course assignment, weighting of each assignment, and grading/evaluation system for determining a grade

Requirements:
1. Individual plan for program completion. (10%) (Objective 2)
2. Analysis of teaching activity. (10%) (Objective 2)
3.Grammar proficiency quiz. (5%) (Objective 3)
4.APA tutorial. (5%) (Objective 3)
5.Literature review paper. (20%) (Objective 1, 2, 3)
6.Oral (with accompanying electronic presentation) and written presentation (notebook/binder) of action research proposal to faculty panel, including IRB approval. (50%) (Objective 1, 2, 3, 4)
Grading rubric for this assignment includes the following sections:
-research question
-definition of problem
-review of literature
-methodology (study design, setting, participants, data sources,
data analysis plan, etc.)
-references
-APA format
-IRB paperwork
Grading Policy
All materials will be evaluated by the instructor for the course. A 7-point grading scale will be used. The numeric grades will translate into the following letter grades:
100-93%=A 92-86%=B 85-77%=C Below 77%=F
All grades will be posted in grade book on a course management system. Each student can access his/her own grades at any time, but not the grades for the rest of the class. It is the instructor's right to deduct points from assignments turned in late; generally late assignments will be deducted one letter grade for each day they are late, including weekends. All materials submitted should be of graduate level quality--virtually free of spelling, grammar, or other writing errors. Failure to meet these expectations may also result in a lowered grade. There are no opportunities for extra credit provided.