ArgosyUniversity
COURSE SYLLABUS
E7111
Introduction to Advanced Academic Study and Writing
Faculty Information:
Faculty Name: Tom Mikolyzk
Campus: Chicago
Contact Information: Phone: 708-263-3973 e-mail:
Office Hours:
Short Faculty Bio:
Course description:
This course demystifies the doctoral level research process and provides a solid foundation for academic writing by analyzing and evaluating current research articles, literature reviews, and dissertations. Emphasis will be placed on APA style guidelines, preparation for the doctoral comprehensive examination, and university publication requirements. It also includes a self-inventory based on state and national standards and develops a self improvement plan that is the basis for activities during internship.
Course Prerequisites:None
Required Textbooks:
Cone, J. D., & Foster, S. L. (2006).Dissertations and theses from start to finish: Psychology and related fields(2nded.).Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (APA).ISBN: 1591473624Lyne, L.S. (2008).A cross section of educational research:Journal articles for discussion and evaluation(4thed.).Pyrczak Publishing. ISBN:1884585809
American Psychological Association.(2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association(5th ed.).Washington, D.C.:Author.ISBN:1557987912
Recommended Textbooks:
DISSERTATION PROCESS
Babbie, E. R.(2001). The basics of social research.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.ISBN: 0534519040Bryant, T. (2004). The portable dissertation advisor.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ISBN: 0761946969
Butler, F.P. (1999).Business research sources: A reference navigator.New York, NY: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 025623003X
Galvan, J. (1999). Writing literature reviews. Los Angeles, CA: Prczak Publishing. ISBN: 1884585183
Girden, E. (2000). Evaluating research articles(2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 0761922148
Issac, S., & Michael, W.B. (1995). Handbook in research and evaluation: A collection of principles, methods, and strategies useful in the planning, design, and evaluation of studies in education and the behavioral sciences (3rded.).San Diego, CA: EdiTS.ISBN: 0912736321
Locke, L. F., Spirduso, W.W., & Silverman, S.J. (1993). Proposals that work: A guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals(3rded.).Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications.ISBN:0716917071
McNicol, A., & Pexman, P. M. (1999).Presenting your findings: A practical guide for creating tables.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ISBN: 1557985936
McNicol, A., & Pexman, P. M. (2003).Displayingyour findings: A practical guide for creating figures, posters, and presentations.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.ISBN: 1557989788
SURVEY DATA COLLECTION:
Babbie, E. (1990). Survey research methods.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN: 0534126723ACTION RESEARCH:
Stringer, E. T.(1999).Action research(2nded.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 0761917136Herr, K., Anderson, G. L. (2005).The action research dissertation: A guide for students and faculty.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 0761929916
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS:
Cramer, D. (1998). Fundamental statistics for social research(2nded.). New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN: 0415172039Levine, M., Berenson, M., & Stephan, D. (1999). Statistics for managers.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0130203122
Sweet, S. (1999). Data Analysis with SPSS. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 0205340571
QUALITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS:
Bogdan, R.C., & Biklen, S. K. (2003). Qualitative research for education. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Publishers. ISBN: 0205375561Creswell, J. W. (2002). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage PublicationsISBN:0761924426
Creswell, J. W. (1997). Qualitative inquiry and research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.ISBN: 0761901442
Delamont, S. (2001).Fieldwork in educational settings: Methods, pitfalls, and perspectives.Falmer Press.ISBN: 041524837X
Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publications.
Merriam, S. & Associates (2002). Qualitative research in practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publications. ISBN: 0787958596
Wolcott, H. F.(1990). Writing up qualitative research.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.ISBN: 0803937938
Writing Textbooks:
E-JOURNALS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND RESOURCES ON THE WEB
WEBLIOGRAPHY
Evaluating Internet Sources -Publication Guides -
US Federal Government and links to State and Local -
Government Printing Office Access -
The GrantmanshipCenter -
National Council of University Research Administrators -
Polaris Grants Central -
Proposal Writing and Research Development -
Online multiple-language dictionaries -
The New Teacher's Guide to the U.S. Department of Education -
ERIC -
Practical Teaching Ideas -
Education Resources -
Statistical software is helpful for data analysis when they start writing their dissertations.
SPSS 11.0 FOR Mac OS or SPSS 13.0 Graduate Version.Software for statistical analysis of data in table format.Able to compute parametric and non-parametric tests of significance, compute effect size and create graphs or figures.Available at at local college books stores (such as University of California), online campus bookstores or through E-Bay.About $190
Endnote 8 for Students Only[Endnote 7.0 for Mac] Software to create reference databases, create and format in-text citations and reference lists.Available at Amazon.com for $94.99.
PERIODICALS
Kappan -Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE) -
Journal of Information Systems Education -
Learning and Leading with Technology -
Journal of Computing in Higher Education - www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~carolm/jche/
Educational Leadership -
Reading online -
Teachers College Record -
Current Issues in Education -
DeLiberations -
Harvard Educational Journal -
Education Next-
Academic Leadership-
Journal for Research in Mathematics Education –
IEJ International Education Journal -
National Forum Journal-
Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management –
Course Length:7.5 weeks
Contact Hours: 45
Credit Value: 3
Program Outcomes:
Course Objectives:
- Become adept at using APA style formatting.(Program Outcomes in EL: 2.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 2.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 2)
- Critically evaluate prior research that supports or confirms the proposed study.(Program Outcomes in EL: 1.2, 3.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 1.2, 3.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 3, 6, 9)
- Evaluate current literature and compile reference list.(Program Outcomes in EL: 2.1, 3.2; Program Outcomes in IL: 2.1, 3.2;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 2, 6)
- Critically discuss expected results in the context of knowledge of relevant theory, policy and practice.(Program Outcomes in EL: 1.4, 2.1, 3.1, 9.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 1.4, 2.1, 3.1, 9.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 1, 3, 7)
- Consider possible conclusions that take into account limitations of their research.(Program Outcomes in EL: 1.4, 3.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 1.4, 3.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 3, 7, 9)
- Develop a perspective for a dissertation.(Program Outcomes in EL: 3.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 3.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 3)
- Complete a self-inventory based on state and national standards.(Program Outcomes in EL: 3.1, 4.2, 5.6; Program Outcomes in IL: 3.1, 4.2, 5.6;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 6, 10)
- Develop a self-improvement plan that is the basis for activities during field experience.(Program Outcomes in EL: 1.4, 3.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 1.4, 3.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 3, 7)
- Understand the major prospects of the dissertation process.(Program Outcomes in EL: 3.1; Program Outcomes in IL: 3.1;Program Outcomes in CCExL: 3, 9)
Assignment Table:
Week / Topics / Readings / Assignments1 / Field and Internship Experience
The Comprehensive Examination
Field Experience
The Dissertation Guide
Article and Electronic
Dissertations Online Search
/ Cone & Foster
- Chapter 1: What are Theses and Dissertations and Why Write a Book about Them?
- Article 1: Involving Students in School Violence Prevention: Are They Willing to Help?
- Article 8: The Significance of Language and Cultural Education on Secondary Achievement: A Survey of Chinese-American and Korean-American Students.
- Article 29: Program to Reduce Behavioral Infractions and Referrals to Special Education.
1.1. A classmate asks you to critique the first draft of a literature review she has written for a class assignment. While reading the draft, you realize that she has, for the most part, simply summarized one study after another—each summarized in its own paragraph. Based on the information in this chapter, what advice would you give her? Justify your answer.
1.2.Do you have any specific future goals and/or activities that might influence your selection of a topic?If so, describe them.
1.3.Suppose the topic you are considering is “career counseling.” At the time of this writing, 2,038 journal articles were retrieved via a basic ERIC keyword search. Name a demographic variable that could be used to delimit the topic and, hence, retrieve a more manageable number of references.
Assignments:
1.1.Application
Write very brief descriptions of at least two preliminary topic ideas in which you have a personal interest. Explain why you think these topics are suitable for your study. Search all relevant sources for a survey article or study on the topic that you have chosen for your project.Identify sources (Websites, journals etc.) that are useful, summarize the article, and discuss your thoughts in approximately two pages. Be sure to submit your preliminary topic ideas in a Word document, with 12 pt font and double spacing.
1.2.Field Experience
Task# 1
Before the end of this course, attend a proposal or dissertation defense and observe the process. Note the elements of the defense such as the students’ presentation strategies, the approach of the faculty, and the standard procedural guidelines. Write a reflective paper on your experience and reaction after attending a defense, and submit it as a two–page, double-spaced document.
Task#2:
By Week 5, visit five different sites (school districts or appropriate organizations) where you could possibly do your internship in E7233 and analyze these sites. Submit this assignment as a Word document using 12 pt font and double-spacing. Make sure it does not exceed two pages. Also read the guidelines in and complete the Internship Form before beginning the assignment.
1.3. See Course Project toward the end of the syllabus.
2 / APA formatting, Review
Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Analyzing
Citations, Footnotes, and Bibliographies
APA - Title page
Prospectus v. Dissertation
Dissertation Sections / Cone & Foster
- Chapter 2: Starting Out: Assessing Your Preparation for the Task Ahead
- Chapter 5: Formulating and Communicating Your Plans: An Overview of the Proposal
- Quality of Content, Characteristics of Articles, and Parts of a Manuscript in Chapter 1: Content and Organization of a Manuscript
- Chapter 5: Manuscript Preparation and Sample Papers to be Submitted for Publication
2.1.You are writing a paper and are faced with an ethical dilemma about citing a source for an idea (such as not being able to recall the source but wanting to use the idea anyway)? How will you resolve this situation? Justify your response.
2.2. Identify at least five facts, concepts, or ideas you believe are “common knowledge” whose sources do not need to be cited. Provide reasons for your selections. Discuss them with your classmates to see if they agree with you.
2.3.The authors of a certain literature review wrote the statement: “Providing for defense and security is a singular and defining purpose of national government.” The context in which this sentence appears makes it clear hat the authors are referring to the national government of the United States. However, the authors do not cite a reference for the sentence. Do you believe they should have cited a reference, or do you think the sentence makes a statement that is common knowledge? Justify your response.
2.4.Interview someone who has successfully completed their doctoral degree and write a synopsis of your learning.After providing a brief overview of the person and their dissertation, share with us what advice they have for you as a new doctoral student.
2.5.This week, you learned that a literature review synthesizes the literature on a topic. In your own words, how would you define a “synthesis”? What features, in your opinion, constitute a good synthesis?
2.6.Consider a topic on which you might write a literature review. At this point, can you think of any criteria that you might use for the inclusion (and/or exclusion) of literature? Explain.
2.7.Speculate the three major reasons why you believe methodologically weak articles are sometimes published (even in highly respected journals.)
Assignments:
2.1. Application
Locate a dissertation in a library or the Argosy Online library and evaluate the literature review chapter.
2.2. See Course Project toward the end of the syllabus.
3 / Evaluating Prior Studies
Problem
Purpose
Background and Need for the Study / Cone & Foster
- Chapter 4: Finding Topics and Faculty Collaborators
- Article 33: Urban School Principals and Their Role as Multicultural Leaders Urban Education (Observation, collection of documents and interviews)
- Article 6: A Comparison of How Textbooks Teach Mathematical Problem Solving in Japan and the United States
- Article 10: The Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction on First-Grade Students' Vocabulary Development
3.1.One of your colleagues states that the study on psychoanalysis “proves” hypnosis works in cases of Multiple Personality Disorder. After this week’s lecture on evaluating studies, are you still inclined to take this statement at face value or would you be cautious about believing such a statement? Support your response with examples.
3.2.Debate: If a difference is statistically significant, is it necessarily large? If not, what does the fact that a difference is statistically significant tell you?
3.3.In your opinion, should writers of literature reviews state their own conclusions drawn from literature, or should they describe the literature in a cohesive essay but “let the facts speak for themselves” instead of stating their own conclusions? Discuss the pros and cons of both views. Support your response with appropriate scenarios.
3.4.Visit your library and investigate a topic of your choice using the databases available there.
Assignments:
3.1.Application
In the samples given below, the authors’ have clearly stated the background and need for their own studies.
- Can you isolate and identify each of them?
- If you were to conduct research on the same topics, how would your phrasing and approach be different?
- The paper should not exceed 3 pages and must be submitted as a Word document. It should be double-spaced and in 12pt font. Include an additional page that lists your citations. The paper should be written in APA style.
“Previous research studies describing progressive classroom practices have focused on only one or two conditions, such as: prosocial education, which emphasizes cooperative learning and building a caring community (Development Studies Center, 1994); whole language theory and classroom practices (Freeman & Freeman, 1997; Goodman, Goodman, & Flores, 1979); learning conditions (Cambourne, 1988); and bilingualism and language acquisition (Collier & Ovando, 1985; Krashen & Iber, 1988). Although these and other scholars have contributed to our understanding of the potential for dynamic holistic learning environments, there is a need for more research on critical pedagogy and elementary school practices. Few studies are available (Hudelson, 1994; Moll, 1990; Pérez & Torres-Guzmán, 1996; Whitmore & Crowell, 1994) that demonstrate the application of critical pedagogy as it relates to elementary school bilingual students. These studies address questions of student learning, whole language instruction, and relationships between schooling and the sociocultural processes.”
Arce, J. (2000). Developing Voices: Transformative Education in a First-Grade Two-Way Spanish Immersion Classroom, A Participatory Study [Electronic Version]. Bilingual Research Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2005, from
ii.)Cross-Cultural Counseling
The need to evaluate cross-cultural counseling theories and practices as well as traditional theoretical approaches has been documented in the literature (Copeland, 1979, 1982; Gunnings & Simpkins, 1972; Smith, 1985; Sue, S., 1981). As indicated in the literature, to date, there does not exist a consensus on what theories, approaches and practices should be used within ethnic minority groups. Hilliard (1986) pointed out that research in the field of cross-cultural counseling has been relatively subjective. He asserted that there was a need to conduct research to provide evidence to support the various existing theories on cross-cultural counseling as well as to add to traditional counseling approaches.
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Additionally, the overall aim of this present study is to (a) bring attention to areas of need counselors have with respect to cross-cultural counseling, (b) sensitize counselor education program administrators to these needs for incorporation into current training programs, and (c) most importantly, since there is evidence to support the contention that most counselor education programs are not sure how to go about strengthening their multi-cultural components, it is hoped that the information generated from this study will add to this area.
Gillian, S.P. (1990). An Assessment of the Cross-Cultural Training Needs of South Carolina Counselors. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED364635)
3.2. See Course Project toward the end of the syllabus.
4 / Sections of Chapter One
Theoretical Foundation of the Study
Research questions and hypotheses
Limitations and Delimitations
Definitions
Significance of the Study to the Field of Education
In-text Citations / Cone & Foster
- Chapter 6: Reviewing the Literature
- Parts of a Manuscript (read half only) in Chapter 1: Content and Organization of a Manuscript
- Reference Citations in Text from Chapter 3: APA Editorial Style
4.1.Is it necessary to choose between a dichotomy of “highly qualitative approach” versus “highly quantitative approach” when writing a literature review? Debate.
4.2.What, in your opinion, is one of the most common flaws in writing literature reviews?
Assignments:
4.1. Application
Here is a sample of five paragraphs from Chapter One of a proposal that shows the outline of the topics that were discussed in the Literature Review of Chapter Three. Evaluate all using the criteria from Chapter 1. Then, retrieve the entire text of one of the sources to further evaluate the chapter in no more than two pages.
a.Distance Education
John Dewey's theory of learning and growth urges educators to think of learning as at once both social and cognitive (Dewey 1960, 1980, 1997). Schlosser and Anderson's (1994) Iowa model follows Keegan's theory of distance education in which the distance learning system must artificially recreate the teaching-learning interaction and reintegrate it back into the instructional process. Perraton (1988) defines the role of distance educator as a facilitator of the learning process, which proceeds as knowledge building among teacher and students. Russell's Compendium (1999) asserts that distance education has no adverse effect on student performance when compared to face-to-face classroom experience.
b.Asynchronous Learning Networks
Most of the research on asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) has attempted to identify how much students learn from ALN courses compared to traditional classroom contexts. Perhaps one of the broadest efforts at investigating asynchronous learning was reported by Arvan, Ory, Bullock, Burnaska and Hanson (1998).