Research (ESR) Courses

• ESR 505 Educational Inquiry and Assessment (for M.Ed. students) Students explore research paradigms and methodologies by studying their own educational settings and contexts. Students investigate topics that are of interest to them and learn how to retrieve, critique, and summarize published research. They produce and evaluate their own data to understand their classrooms and their students' achievement, behaviors, and attitudes. Working collaboratively and independently on small projects and assignments, students learn different approaches to data collection and evaluation, considering issues of credibility, reliability, and validity. This course requires a minimum of 15 hours of field-based activities Students who have taken ESR506 and ESR507 may not receive degree credit for ESR505. 3 semester hours

• ESR 506 Graduate Research: Interpretive/Critical Students explore the distinctions and relationships within and between the interpretive and critical paradigms. Various data collection methods such as observation, interview, document, analysis, and narrative examination are introduced and practiced in order to gain insight into the educational setting. Students plan, conduct, and present a research project. Students are expected to attend a library session prior to or during the first three weeks of this course to learn how to use the library resources. 2 semester hours

• ESR 507 Graduate Research: Empirical/Quantitative Students acquire skills that enable them to conduct research in their own classrooms or educational settings and to extend their ability to critique research studies using quantitative measures. The course includes a discussion of the empirical/quantitative paradigm and its advantages and limitations. The course focuses on the use of quantitative methods that may be used by educators conducting research and reflecting on educational practice. Students plan and carry out a small-scale research study in their own area of interest using Windows-based computer software to analyze data by generating appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics . Topics related to assessment, such as norms, reliability, and validity, will also be introduced. Prerequisite ESR 506. 2 semester hours

• ESR 508 Research for School Leaders (for Educational Leadership programs) Students explore the distinctions and relationships between research paradigms used to facilitate school change.  Various data collection methods specific to the paradigms are introduced and practiced in order to gain insight into their application for leaders in educational settings.  Topics related to assessment and technology-based strategies are introduced to support and facilitate the use of research and research-based decision-making in these settings.  Students work collaboratively to plan, conduct and present research projects representing each paradigm.  The research projects are school-based, done in conjunction with their required internship component, and are consistent with guidelines suggested by the Educational Leadership Constituent Consortium. 3 semester hours

• ESR 514 Research in Action: Becoming Practitioner Researchers (for M.A.T. students) Students explore research paradigms with an emphasis on practitioner research and its role in education. Students examine their own educational views, histories and values, and, choose topics for small-scale projects and assignments that introduce them to different research designs and methodologies. Data from several sources will be collected and analyzed. Course readings are used to exemplify various methods and styles of conceptualizing, conducting and presenting research. Students will learn about ethical considerations in educational inquiry and the skills necessary to critique research. This course requires a minimum of 15 hours of field-based activities. Students who have taken ESR 506 and ESR 507 may not receive degree credit for ESR514. 3 semester hours

• ESR 610 Paradigms of Research: Alternative Ways of Knowing  This team-taught course situates educational research and knowledge within a philosophy of science framework. This approach necessitates an examination of epistemologies -alternative ways of knowing the world - and how each in turn shapes and is shaped by the practice of education. The course is organized around three distinct paradigms in social science research: the empirical-analytic, interpretive and critical. This course explores the implications of these paradigms for critiquing, conceptualizing and conducting research in education. Prerequisite: ESR 506 or equivalent. 3 semester hours

• ESR 612 Empirical/Analytic Research I This course will take a case-based approach to exploring the assumptions and techniques of empirical/analytic research. Students will examine in detail one or two cases of research to understand how researchers develop questions and examine data that arise from an empirical study. Inferential statistical techniques will be discussed in the context of a research case. Students will analyze and interpret both the case data and data of their own in the discussion of empirical/analytic research. Prerequisite: ESR 507 or equivalent, ESR 610. 3 semester hours

• ESR 614 Interpretive and Critical Research I  This course is intended as an introduction to the theoretical, conceptual and methodological genres that constitute interpretive and critical approaches to research. These traditions and genres will be exemplified, compared and critiqued through individual research projects, written and visual case studies, and course readings. Various research methods, such as observation, interviews, document and narrative analysis will be introduced and practiced. Prerequisite: ESR 506 or equivalent, ESR 610. 3 semester hours

• ESR 616 Empirical/Analytic Research II This course uses a case-based approach to explore issues that arise in empirical/analytical studies when multiple measures are available from individuals or groups. The course builds on the discussion of the previous course ESR 612 to examine inferential statistical techniques for multivariate data. The assumptions, design and limitations of empirical/analytical studies that use multiple measures will be addressed. Multivariate statistical techniques will be discussed in the context of one or two cases of data and data generated by students. Prerequisite: ESR 610, ESR 612. 3 semester hours

• ESR 618 Interpretive and Critical Research II In this course, which builds on the understandings and skills emphasized in ESR 614 (Interpretive and Critical Research I), students have the opportunity to conceptualize, propose, conduct, analyze, interpret and present, in written and oral forms, a course-long research project. The empirical bases that interpretive and critical research provide for a holistic understanding and critique of educational settings and processes are examined. Presentations by students, of their work-in progress, structure the course organization as research issues and methods are addressed and analyzed as they emerge. Prerequisite: ESR 610, ESR 614. 3 semester hours

Foundations (FND) Courses

• FND 504 History and Philosophy of Education The course examines key turning points in United States educational history. It locates educational transformation within social, political, and economic developments, and emphasizes the complex relationship between leading educators’ ideas and educational change. For all master’s degree students. 2 semester hours

• FND 505 Contemporary Issues in Education This course introduces students to major debates about contemporary educational issues in the United States and explores the obstacles and challenges faced by educators. Students will critically examine the basic assumptions and social forces that influence the current educational policy making and reform efforts with an emphasis on their socio-cultural, economic, and political underpinnings. The course encourages ongoing reflective practice and dialogue concerning social justice issues and the role of education in a democracy. 2 semester hours

• FND 510 Social Justice Perspectives on the History and Philosophy of U.S. Education (for M.A.T. students) This course critically examines the social, cultural, political, and economic forces, and the philosophies of education that have influenced policy, laws, school structure, and practices throughout the history of U.S. education. Issues addressed include ability and disability, race, ethnicity, gender, and class. Students lay the foundation for the development of a personal philosophy of education and reflectively examine issues of education from legal and social justice perspectives. This course requires a minimum of 15 hours of field-based activities 3 semester hours

• FND 511 Social and Cultural Politics of Education: Personal and Contextual Perspectives (for M.Ed. Students) In this course, students will examine current social, cultural, political, and economic factors that affect American education and schooling. These factors will be examined in relation to students' personal, professional and social identities, beliefs, and experiences. The intent is for educators to understand the socio-political, historical, philosophical and cultural contexts of their practice and their abilities and responsibilities that help shape those contexts. Students will engage in ongoing discussion of and reflection on the moral and ethical responsibilities of educators who also will construct and implement a plan of action that reflects a commitment to democratic schools and social justice. This course requires a minimum of 15 hours of field-based activities. 3 semester hours