San Diego State University
DLE 650: Designing Curriculum and Research in
Urban Schools (Through Action Research)
Spring 2016
Online Office Hours: By appointment (please email for appointment)
Course Instructors:
o Guillermo Gomez, Ph.D. guillermoago@cox.net
o Xochitl Archey, M.Ed. xarchey@mail.sdsu.edu
Required Textbook:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005). The power of questions: A guide to teacher and
student research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Recommended Textbooks:

Valdes, G., Menken, K., Castro, M., (2015). Common Core Bilingual and English
Language Learner: A Resource for Educators. Philadelphia, PA: Calson
Publishing.

Hinchey, P. (2008). Action Research. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC.
Course Rationale
The Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education prepares bilingual and
transcultural teachers, administrators, and other educators who are reflective and
transformational practitioners in addressing the needs of ethnically and linguistically diverse
learners through collaboration with schools, families, and communities. Coursework is
designed to focus on six areas of study that build the candidate’s knowledge-base of critical
literacy/bi-literacy. These areas are:
 Foundations of Democratic Schooling
 Teachers as Mediator of Culture & Language
 Sociocultural Context
 Action Research for Transformation
 Curricula Change: Evaluation and Transformation
 Deliberation through National Issues Forums
 Language and Cognition/Bi-Cognition
Course Description
This course will engage participants teaching in elementary, secondary, and community
settings in the examination and evaluation of the curriculum used in their specific school and
classroom context. We will take an action research approach to examine processes and
products of urban school curriculum for language development. The focus of your curriculum
project will be on academic subject matter you are currently teaching. Action research will
guide the creation or recreation of curricular programs.
Using action research methodology, students will:
 Identify a question, issue, or theme to explore
 Survey the research literature related your question, theme, or topic
 Select impactful curricular research objective
 Design a curricular/instructional component or intervention based upon equity and
social justice
 Generate data related to the invention
 Analyze and discuss findings or next steps
Course Design
The course is designed to model the teaching/learning process as described by Paulo Freire,
known as problem-posing education. Briefly, this consists of:
(1) Experiences to initiate critical thinking about a problem, issue, or concern;
(2) Reflection on conditions;
(3) Conceptualization;
(4) Praxis (action through reflection);
(5) Internalization, or knowledge/action, to improve the social condition.
Objectives
Throughout the course of study students will:
1. Identify features of and use problem-posing processes throughout the course of study;
2. Learn how to conduct a needs assessment/survey that includes the principal stakeholders in
the selected community;
3. Operationalize the basic components of action research through a teacher-selected
curriculum project;
4. Conduct a literature review as part of your action research project that includes an
investigation of program model (context);
5. Design and evaluate a curricular program using the appropriate research methodologies;
6. Construct and present your curricular program in a manuscript prepared according to
academic manuscript discourse;
7. Utilize and engage in online discussion forums as a reflective process for creating change;
8. Submit a research proposal for possible presentation at a local conference.
What is Curriculum?
“Curriculum is defined as all of the learning, routines, and interactions that occur among all
participants as a function of schooling, whether planned or not, which inform and shape
responses to the environment with and outside of school. This definition is predicated on the
premise that there is (a) a reciprocal and constitutive relationship between the practices and
values in school and those found in the larger society and (b) at least a contributory
relationship between the students’ home culture and productive school practices.” (Hollins,
1996b, p. 1)
What is Action Research?
“Action research implies an orientation to research, a form of professional practice, a research
process, and, for teachers, a reflective way of teaching. Teachers who ask questions of their
practice such as, how can I improve my practice? Teachers engage in action research when
they try out some of their ideas in response to a question, who systematically observe and
collect evidence related to their actions, and who then analyze and talk with others about it—
these teachers are also engaging in reflective practice. They are following the same kind of
cyclical process that characterizes action research. We might say that they are facing the
challenges they meet with action and analysis; and they are sharing the results with others—
perhaps their students, their colleagues, parents, the larger community of the school, and the
discipline. What makes action research a form of scholarship is the tenaciously inquisitive,
purposeful, systematic, critical, self-critical, and collaborative ways one explores and changes
one’s practice.” (Arhar, Holly, & Kasten, 2001, p. 18)
Or more simply stated,
“Action Research is a fancy way of saying ‘let’s study what’s happening at our school and
decide how to make it a better place.” (Calhoun, 1994, ACSD) This course is focused on
acknowledging, supporting, and valuing educators, at all levels, who look to their students,
communities, and their practice for knowledge and understanding of the real world. The
wisdom and knowledge generated from teacher research is what Cochran-Smith & Lytle
(1993) call “looking from the inside out” is not reproducible through other kinds of research
paradigms. Hence, a practitioner as researcher engages a duality of roles that enables the
educator to participate in the inquiry process as researchers, working from the inside.
“Action research is “a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking action.
The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the actor in improving or
refining his or her actions.” –Sagor (2000)
According to Freire (1993), teachers who don’t concretely articulate a research theme(s)- --a
fact which might appear to imply the nonexistence of themes—is on the contrary, suggesting a
very dramatic theme: the theme of silence. To investigate a theme is to investigate people’s
thinking about reality and people’s action upon reality, which is their praxis.
A Word on Limit Situations in Research
Teachers respond to limit situations with actions which Vieira Pinto (1960) calls “limit acts:”
those directed at negating and overcoming, rather than passively accepting, the “given.” “Limit
Situations” are not “the impassable boundaries where possibilities end, but the real boundaries
where all possibilities begin”--they are not “the frontier, which separates being from
nothingness, but the frontier, which separates being from being more.”
The action research in this course will be framed by Friere’s and Pinto’s work as teachers name
and frame their limit situations and limit acts. Teachers will generate their research theme
based on their contextual reality.
Knowledge, Dispositions, and Skills (Alfaro, 2015)
The overarching mission of DLE is to prepare teachers to effectively serve students who come
to school with a primary language other than English and to facilitate the learning process for
students to become bilingual, biliterate/bicognitive, and multicultural. DLE’s primary focus is
to support educators at all levels in creating multicultural democratic practices and bring
bicultural voices to the center of classroom discourse. In order to do so, the DLE faculty,
program graduates, and administrators that hire these graduates have identified the “Five
Things” graduates of the program know and are able to do in their classrooms: ideological and
pedagogical clarity, biliteracy development and success across the content areas, collaborate
with peers, students, parents, administrators, and community, create inclusive learning
environments, and global (linguistic and cultural) competence. Please refer to table 1 for a list
of the KDS addressed in this course.
Table 1
DLE Graduates Know and Are Able to Do: Knowledge, Dispositions, and Skills (KDS)
Knowledge, Dispositions, and Skills
KDS 1: Ideological and pedagogical clarity
KDS 3: Collaborate with peers, students, parents, administrators, and community
KDS 4: Create inclusive learning environments
Course Requirements
1. Reading Responses [15%]
The level and depth of participation in this course is reflective of your understanding of the
content. A significant part of understanding the content is reading the assigned chapters from
the main course textbook. This demonstrates your commitment to your research and the
education field.
Students are required to respond to the following prompt for each reading response:
1. Summarize the readings from this module.
2. Identify 3-5 key themes from the readings.
3. Discuss and reflect on the key themes and how these relate to your own research.
Reading
Response
Novice
Competent
Proficient
(0-1 points)
(2-3 points)
(4-5 points)
-Fails or poorly meets and follows
the technical guidelines.
-Response has little or nothing to
do with the main topic and does not
include explicit references to the
assigned readings.
- Key themes are not identified.
Depth of Content
Comprehension
-None or poor application of
original reflections/ thoughts that
demonstrate a connection between
theory and practice (praxis), depth
of thought that carries the ideas
further, and significance of the
information or ideas is somewhat
presented and related to the
research.
- Grammatical errors are excessive
and distract from content.
-Somewhat meets and follows the
technical guidelines.
-Meets and follows the technical
guidelines.
- Response relates to the main topic,
but is unclear in some areas. Few
explicit references to the assigned
readings.
- Response clearly relates to the main
topic and includes explicit references
to the assigned readings.
-Key themes are somewhat
identified.
-Few original reflections/thoughts
that demonstrate a connection
between theory and practice
(praxis), depth of thought that
carries the ideas further, and
significance of the information or
ideas is somewhat presented and
related to the research.
- Grammatical errors are present.
-Key themes related to the readings are
identified.
-Original reflections/thoughts
demonstrate a connection between
theory and practice (praxis), depth of
thought that carries the ideas further,
and significance of the information or
ideas is presented and related to the
research.
- Grammar is correct.
2. Discussion Board Posts [20%]
A major course requirement is active participation through discussion board posts. Your
participation in discussions with your peers is vital to your on-going learning; this is one way
we can capitalize on the social nature of learning during our web-based educational experience.
Students are required to:
 Use the 3-2-1 style response.
Reply to the posts of 3 classmates. Each of your 3 replies should include: 2 relevant
comments and 1 suggestion or idea for further exploration.
Discussion
Boards
Novice
Competent
Proficient
(0-1 points)
(2-3 points)
(4-5 points)
- Information/Feedback relates to the
main topic, but is unclear in some
areas. Few details and/or examples
are given.
- Information/Feedback clearly relates
to the main topic and includes several
details and/or examples are organized.
-Information/Feedback has little or
nothing to do with the main topic or
may be disorganized or without
details.
Quality of
Responsiveness
-None or poor application of original
reflections/ thoughts that
demonstrate a connection between
theory and practice (praxis), depth
of thought that carries the ideas
further, and significance of the
information or ideas is poorly
presented and related to the research
- When required, no replies or
incomplete replies to peers are
provided.
-Few original reflections/thoughts
demonstrate a connection between
theory and practice (praxis), depth of
thought that carries the ideas further,
and significance of the information or
ideas is somewhat presented and
related to the research.
- When required, replies to peers are
incomplete or may be unrelated to
original post.
-Original thoughts/feedback
demonstrate a connection between
theory and practice (praxis), depth of
thought that carries the ideas further,
and significance of the information or
ideas is presented.
- When required, replies to peers are
thoughtful and meaningful.
- Grammar is correct.
- Grammatical errors are present.
- Grammatical errors are excessive
and distract from content.
3. Introduction [10%]
In this section, you will operationally defined terminology (Meta Terms), contextualize your
study, develop a statement of the problem, discuss the rationale and the purpose study, and
create purposeful research questions.
4. Literature Review [15%]
Reviewing the literature is an important part of conducting research. It will not only help you
determine what has come before, but also where there are gaps for you to generate new
knowledge for yourself and others. Include quality and updated literature. Your literature
review should share other studies that are closely related to the research topic you are
undertaking. What other studies have been done related to your research? How does this
inform your research?
5. Theoretical Framework [10%]
Explain your theoretical basis ---based on someone else’s research and your own beliefs. This
section shows how your research fits into what is already known, informs and provides clear
links from the literature to the research questions, guides your thinking, observations, analyses,
and interpretations, clarifies concepts and proposes relationships among concepts, and keeps
your research on track!
6. Methodology [10%]
This section describes the tools you will use for data generation and analysis in your research.
You will be required to triangulate your data by including at least three different data
approaches (e.g. survey, student work, teacher interviews).
7. Research Paper Draft [0%]
The purpose of the draft is for you to bring all the sections of your action research paper
together. This will serve as an opportunity for you to receive instructor feedback before final
submission. This draft should include all sections of an action research paper (see below:
action research paper).
8. Action Research Paper [20%]
You will bring all your work together to create a manuscript of your action research project.
This paper will elaborate and expand on the information provided in the proposal outline. Your
curriculum driven study will include the following sections with the minimum page
suggestions:
a) Abstract (150 words max)
b) Introduction (including context, statement of the problem, rationale and purpose, and
research questions) (~2 pages)
c) Theoretical Framework (~1-2 page including visual)
d) Literature review (~4 pages)
e) Methodology (~2 pages)
f) Results/Next Steps (~2 pages)
g) Discussion/Reflection (~2 pages)
h) References (~1-2 page)
DLE 650 Final Research
Project Grading Rubric
1: Far Below Standard
2: Below Standard
3: Meets Standard
4: Exceeds Standard
Research purpose: Clear
evidence of problem
posing educational
research
There is no clear purpose
of the paper; seemingly
little attempt to create
significant action research
Attempt to create
significant action research
and communicate the
purpose throughout
Evidence of significant action
research can be found and
author generally maintains
purpose through suitable voice
and/or tone
Establishes significant action
research and maintains clear
purpose via suitable voice and
tone
Meaningful Development
of Ideas: Shows evidence
of praxis throughout
project
Ideas are unclear and/or
not well-developed
Unelaborated ideas that
are not fully explained or
supported; repetitive
details
Depth of thought supported by
elaborated, relevant supportive
evidence provides clear vision
of the action research; contains
details
Depth and complexity of thought
supported by rich, pertinent details;
supporting evidence leads to highlevel action research development
Organization of Paper:
Includes all components
of Action Research Study
Weak organization of
ideas, missing research
components
Somewhat unfocused
and/or unclear, may be
missing or weak in some
research components
Logical organization of ideas
includes all action research
components with adequate
flow
Careful, strategic, and relevant
organization of ideas flowing easily
from one section to the next
References: Quality
sources with proper APA
citations
No references and/or
many incorrect citations
Few references and/or
some incorrect citations
Use of references indicate
some research and few to no
errors in citations
Use of references indicate
substantial research and no errors
in APA citations
Writing Structure: Paper
reflects high quality
academic writing
Unclear, incorrect, and/or
ineffective paragraph and
sentence structure
Simplistic and/or awkward
paragraph and sentence
structure
Paragraph and sentence
structure is varied in
composition and length
Organized and complex paragraph
and sentence structure that has
some stylistic variation showing a
higher academic style
Criteria:
 All assignments must be typed and double-spaced using 12-point font and conform to
APA 6th Ed. format requirements. Please use Times New Roman or a similar typeface.
Keep a copy of every assignment for your records. Written work is evaluated for
quality and clarity of content, logical organization, and general mechanics such as
spelling and grammar. All assignments will be submitted electronically through
Blackboard. Assignments are due by 11:59 PM on the date specified. Late papers will
only be accepted with prior approval from the instructor.
 Adherence to course timeline including timely involvement within the given
assignments is expected. Please inform professor of extenuating circumstances
BEFORE you fall behind.
Grading and Evaluation
Class work and assignments are weighed for the total course grade according to the following weighted
scale:
1.
Reading Responses
15%
2.
Discussion Board Posts
20%
3.
Introduction
10%
4.
Literature Review
15%
5.
Theoretical Framework
10%
6.
Methodology
10%
7.
Final Action Research Project
20%
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
TOTAL
100%
Points and Grade Equivalents
(100-95%)
(94-90%)
(89-85%)
(84-80%)
=A
= A= B+
=B
(79-75%)
(74-70%)
(69-65%)
(64-60%)
= B= C+
=C
= C- (Not Passing)
Plagiarism
The SDSU plagiarism policy is strictly enforced. Copying text from a website constitutes
plagiarism. If you do this, you will receive an F on the assignment.
The syllabus is subject to change as needed.
Please check Blackboard regularly for updates and accuracy of recorded grades.
Notice for Students Needing Course Accommodations
For Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class,
it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any
delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services
and provide the instructor with an official letter as soon as possible. Please note that
accommodations bases upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your
instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is
appreciated.
Students with conflicting responsibilities or religious requirements
If you have a scheduling conflict with a class session, please notify the instructor a week ahead
with a proposal for an appropriate make-up activity.
Module
Topic
1
Course Overview
Introduction to the Final Project
Guidelines
2
Examining qualitative and
quantitative research methods
used in action research
Action Research Introduction
3
Building the Literature Review
American Psychological
Association (APA) Tutorial
4
Selecting an appropriate
theoretical framework(s)
Creating a visual representation
for that theoretical framework
Explaining the connection
between the visual representation
and the theoretical framework.
5
Determining the most relevant
data collection techniques
Developing data collection tools
Assignments
Read:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Chapters 1-2
Watch:
 ‘Meet the Professors’
 Course Overview
 Final Project Guidelines
Complete:
 Reading Response Module#1 Ch.1-2 (due 1/31)
 Introductory Discussion Board Post (initial post
due 1/29, replies due 1/31)
Read:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Chapter 3
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Appendix 1
Watch:
 Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
 The Introduction Section
Complete:
 Discussion Board Post: Intro (initial post due
2/12, replies due 2/14)
 Action Research Introduction: context, problem,
purpose, research questions (due 2/14)
Read:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Chapter 4
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Appendix 4
Watch:
 The Literature Review Section
 APA Tutorial
Complete:
 Reading Response Module 3: Ch. 4 (due 2/28)
 Action Research Literature Review (due 2/28)
Read:
 Browse the Resource Folder and read the articles
that speak to you. Use the library catalog to
continue your search for more articles on your
theoretical framework.
Watch:
 The Theoretical Framework Section
 Theoretical Framework Visual Representation
Complete:
 Discussion Board Post: TF (initial post due 3/11,
replies due 3/13)
 Action Research Theoretical Framework & Visual
Representation (due 3/13)
Read:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Chapters 5 & 6
Watch:
 Data Collection Tools
Complete:
 Reading Response Module 5: Ch. 5 & 6 (due 3/27)
Due Date
1/20/16
to
1/31/16
2/1/16
to
2/14/16
2/15/16
to
2/28/16
2/29/16
to
3/13/16
3/14/16
to
3/27/16
6
Analyzing quantitative/qualitative
data
Reporting findings/results
Read:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Chapter 7
Watch:
 Analyzing Data
Complete:
 Action Research Methodology (due 4/10)
3/28/16
to
4/10/16
7
Writing a concise abstract
Bringing all of the required
research sections together
Read:
 Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005) Chapter 8
Watch:
 The Abstract Section
Complete:
 Discussion Board Post: Project Cohesiveness
(initial post due 4/22, replies due 4/24)
 Action Research Project Draft (due 4/24)
4/11/16
to
4/24/16
8
Final Action Research Project
Read:
 No readings for this module
Watch:
 Poster Presentation Template & Examples
Complete:
 Discussion Board Post: Poster Presentations
(initial post due 5/6, replies due 5/8)
 Final Action Research Project (due 5/12)
4/25/16
to
5/12/16
Excerpting the final action
research project onto a poster
presentation