CAFS 410
Winter 2006
Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies 410
Research, Assessment, and Evaluation of Children and Families (5 units)
Fall 2006 CRN 42996
Instructors:
Office:
Telephone:
Dr. Christie Howell
Education Room 152
654-3494
Class meeting schedule: Mon., Wed., and Fri.
Email:
chowell@csub.edu
Webpage:
www.csub.edu/chowell
Office Hours: M, W, F 11:00-12:00 PM
Tues or Thurs 9-11AM
By Appointment
9:30-11:00 AM
Class meeting location: Mon.
Education 252
Wed. and Fri.
WSL 14
Text:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
(5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Clark, V. (2005). Student study guide to accompany Creswell’s educational research. (2nd ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson.
Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research. (2nd ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson.
School of Education Philosophy:
The philosophy of the School of Education has as its basis confluent education, which perceives learning as the merging
of cognitive, affective, social, and psychomotor domains. This belief underscores the premise that education nurtures and
promotes intellectual growth and the emotional, social, and physical well being of all students with a special focus on
diversity and equity.
School of Education Goals:
The following goals provide a direction for implementing the philosophy of educating the whole person.
1. To formulate a comprehensive view of human growth and development, a global knowledge of self and others, and an
empathy and sensitivity to multiple realities of a changing environment.
2. To develop a commitment and responsibility to democratic and social values through professional collaboration,
educational leadership, and collegial partnerships.
3. To promote critical inquiry through research and practice in order to improve reaching, learning, and communication.
4. To broaden knowledge and skill bases in terms of pedagogical multicultural principles conductive for effective
curriculum and learning in the ever-changing society.
5. To utilize and integrate various current multimedia resources and technological tools to enhance teaching and learning
in the ever-changing society.
6. To apply multiple methods of assessment with special focus on critical reflection and self-analysis for continual
professional development and ongoing program evaluation.
Catalog Description:
410: Introduction to the interpretation and analysis of Child Development theory and research. Develops an awareness of
research methodology, assessment, and evaluation of children and families as represented in the body of Child
Development literature. Emphasis on research as applied to children and families of diverse cultural, socioeconomic and
life-style backgrounds as data collection strategies, reliability, validity, ethics, and values to increase students’ ability to
locate, understand, critique, report and use child development research. Prerequisites: CAFS 200; MATH 140 or PSYCH
200; CAFS 311, 312 or 313.
Objectives:
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CAFS 410
Winter 2006
Student should be able to complete the following objectives by the end of the course:
1) Explain why the scientific method is critical in child development.
2) Identify and explain basic terminology, concepts and procedures in child and family developmental research,
methodology, assessment, and evaluation.
3) Recognize, evaluate, and constructively criticize various research methodologies.
4) Select and justify appropriate methodologies to answer research questions.
5) Create testable hypothesis from child development theory.
6) Use electronic resources to conduct a literature review on a child development topic.
7) Use electronic resources to present a research proposal.
8) Choose and properly interpret statistical tests and analysis for various research designs.
9) Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of alternative explanations of hypotheses.
10) Design, conduct, and present an experiment and illustrate in a poster format.
Attendance:
Attendance is expected and required. If you know you are going to miss class, you MUST see me prior to your absence
to discuss your make up work and when it will be completed. Late work will not be accepted for unexcused absences.
Written verification is need for all excused absences.
Estimated Student Workload:
To succeed in this class, you should allot at least 2 hours outside of class for every hour that is spent in class to complete
your preparation, studying, researching, writing, etc. For this class, it is expected that you will spend at least 10 hours a
week outside of class to complete the course work successfully.
Course Requirements:
1) Email Dr. Christie Howell, chowell@csub.edu on or before Sept. 15th..
2) Meet with me privately on or before Sept. 22nd; this is an informal meeting so that I can get to know you.
3) Power point
4) Tests (3)
5) Rough draft; due Oct. 13
6) Peer rating; due Oct. 18
7) Final paper; due Nov. 13 ; (Portfolio document)
8) Poster rough draft due Nov. 8
9) Final poster; due Nov. 29, 8:00-10:30 A.M.
Grading Scale:
Assessment
Participation
Group Power Point
Tests (2 @ 100 points and 1 @ 75 points)
Study guide
Rough Draft
Peer Ratings
Final paper
Final poster
Points Percentage of grade
120 12%
100 10%
275 30%
150 15%
40
5%
20
2%
150 16%
100 10%
Grading System
A = 95-100%
C+ = 77-79%
A- = 90-94%
C = 74 - 76%
B+ = 87-89%
C- = 70 - 73%
B = 84 - 86%
D = 60-69%
B- = 80-83%
F = 59% and below
Participation:
Participation is crucial in this class. This is an upper division class; therefore students are expected to intelligently
participate in this class. Your fellow students will be presenting each chapter from our book; you are expected to
complete any activities or exercises that they request. Your initial email to the instructor and the office visit will also be
in this category. Your initial email to the teaching assistant is also in this category.
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Group Power Point:
You will do a Power Point presentation for the class covering one chapter, as assigned in class. Two or three people will
be in each group. Each group is expected to lead the discussion when the chapter is covered in class, and will be graded on
their expertise. This presentation will be emailed to the class and the instructor the class day before it is given in class;
before 12:00 pm. Collaboration is important for a successful presentation grade. Be sure to involve the class in the
presentation, this is an important part of the presentation. You will be graded on attire (no jeans), professional manner,
handouts, presentation, power point, and class activity or involvement (as well as your overall expertise). On the day of
the presentation, the chapter title, students’ names, and what each student did to contribute should be emailed to the
instructor before class.
Tests:
There will be 3 tests in this class. Two of the tests will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and long essay questions.
The third test will be conducted in the lab so that you may demonstrate the skills you have learned. If you must miss a
test, you must notify the instructor 2 weeks before the test date to make other arrangements. There will be no makeup
tests.
Paper Rough Draft:
Two copies of the paper rough draft should be typewritten and turned in on Oct. 13 at 9:30 am. The paper will be given
to a second group by the instructor for their evaluation. The paper should be in APA format. There should be a title page,
introduction (2 paragraph minimum), the beginning of the literature review (at least 3 pages with at least 4 primary
research articles included), methods section (participants, materials, design), references (at least 5 research articles) and an
appendix that includes the survey or behavioral checklist you are utilizing as well as a consent form. On the day the
proposal is turned in, a group summary page should be provided to Dr. Howell with the title, students’ names, and what
each student did to contribute.
Peer Ratings:
Each person in the group will perform an evaluation on a fellow group’s rough draft. All participants need to have time to
read the rough draft and evaluate it. There should be two (or more) sets of handwriting on the rough draft. We will discuss
the rubric in class and the expectations for the peer review. Your peer ratings are due in class on Oct. 18 at 9:30 am.
Final Paper:
The final paper is a culmination of the activities that you and your partner have completed in this class. The final paper is
due Nov. 13 at 9:30 am. The body of this paper should be approximately 10-12 pages in length. This paper should
incorporate the recommendations made from the rough drafts. There should be a title page, introduction, literature review,
methods, results, discussion, references (minimum of 8 primary research articles), and appendix (with survey, consent
letter, and tables). The rough drafts and rubrics must be turned in with the final paper. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR
PAPER REVIEWED IN THE READING LAB BEFORE YOU TURN IN YOUR PAPER. Students will also individually
email an evaluation of the group project, detailing what they were responsible for and what contributions their research
partner made.
Final Poster:
This poster will be a visual report of your final paper; based on the research that you conducted. This poster should be
professional in appearance and organization and should be placed on science board. It should also follow APA format.
You will present your poster during our final test exam time. Other faculty and students will be invited to attend the
presentation. A rough draft of your poster is due at the beginning of class on Nov. 8. The final poster presentation is
Nov. 29th. Students will also individually turn in an evaluation of the group project, detailing what they were responsible
for and what contributions their research partner(s) made. You will be graded on your appearance (no jeans), manner of
presentation, knowledge of the project and organization and detail of the board. Your posters will be kept for one quarter
so that I may display them.
Basic Expectations:
Attendance is mandatory. There is a lot to be covered in this class and you will have to work each week to keep up. All
assignments should be typed, double-spaced, grammar and spell-checked, and should follow APA formatting rules. Each
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student is expected to actively participate in class. It is expected that reading assignments will be completed by class time
on the day they will be discussed. Application is a major component of this course, be ready to participate with your
ideas. Students are expected to come see the instructor or the teaching assistant immediately if they do not understand an
assignment. Do not wait until the night before something is due to start!
Academic Honesty:
Academic Honesty -- The principles of truth and honesty are recognized as fundamental to a community of teachers and scholars. The
University expects that both faculty and students will honor these principles and in so doing will protect the integrity of all academic
work and student grades. Students are expected to do all work assigned to them without unauthorized assistance and not to give
unauthorized assistance. Faculty has the responsibility of exercising care in the planning and supervision of academic work so that
honest effort will be positively encouraged.
There are certain forms of conduct that violate this community's principles. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY (CHEATING) is a broad
category of actions that use fraud and deception to improve a grade or obtain course credit. Academic dishonesty (cheating) is not
limited to examination situations alone, but arises whenever students attempt to gain an unearned academic advantage. PLAGIARISM
is a specific form of academic dishonesty (cheating), which consists of the misuse of published or unpublished works of another by
claiming them as ones own. It may consist of handing in someone else's work, copying or purchasing a composition, using ideas,
paragraphs, sentences, or phrases written by another, or using data and/or statistics compiled by another without giving citation.
Another example of academic dishonesty (cheating) is the SUBMISSION OF THE SAME, or essentially the same, PAPER or other
assignment for credit in two different courses without receiving prior approval.
When a faculty member discovers a violation of the community's principles, the faculty member is required to give a failing grade to
the student for the course. In addition to assigning the final grade, the faculty member also notifies in writing the Dean of Students and
the relevant school dean that an act of academic dishonesty has occurred and a grade of F has been assigned. The student receives a
copy of this letter.
The letter becomes part of the student's permanent file. If a second act of dishonesty occurs, the student is administratively dismissed
from CSUB.
Under the Student Academic Grievance Procedures, a student may appeal any sanction employed by faculty or the University based
on an allegation of academic dishonesty. The initiation of the grievance must occur within fifteen (15) school days after notification of
the grade is mailed or personally given to the student. Copies of these procedures are available in the offices of the school deans.
Tentative Course Scheduling
Date
Sept. 13
Readings/Assignments
Lab: Introduction, class design, email, research article assignment; chapter presentation
partners assigned;
Sept. 15
Lab: Ch 1: The process of conducting research Dr. Howell; turn in research article,
Power Point, library search; email;
Sept. 18
Ch 2: Quantitative and Qualitative approaches
Sept. 20
Lab: Ch 3: Identifying a research problem
Sept. 22
format, continue lit review; visit due, start outline of paper
Sept. 25
Ch 4: Reviewing the literature
Sept. 27
Lab: Ch 5: Specifying a purpose and research questions or hypotheses
Sept. 29
Lab: Ch 13: Survey designs
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CAFS 410
Winter 2006
Oct. 2
Ch 6: Collecting quantitative data
Oct. 4
Lab: survey development/ cover letter/ methods section;
Oct. 6
Lab: Ch 7: Analyzing and interpreting quantitative data
Oct. 9
Test 1
Oct. 11
Lab: Pilot study; survey modification
Oct. 13
Lab: Rough draft due /Csh approves surveys; begin data collection intro to spss
/practice surveys and data
Oct. 16
Ch 8: Collecting qualitative data Patricia and Sarah;
Oct. 18
Lab: Peer ratings due; data entry; practice spss graphs and tests
Oct. 20
Lab: Ch 9 analyzing and interpreting qualitative data
Oct. 23
Ch. 10: Reporting and evaluating research
Oct. 25
Paper formatting and editing/poster formatting:
Meet in 252
Oct. 27
Lab: Analyze survey results/ graphs/poster format
Oct. 30
Ch. 11: Experimental designs
Nov. 1
Lab: Ch 12: Correlational designs
Nov. 3
Lab: Paper formatting and editing/poster formatting:
Nov. 6
Ch 17: Mixed methods designs
Nov. 8
Lab: Poster Draft Due; TEST #2 (Lab test)
Nov. 10
Holiday
Nov. 13
Papers Due;
Nov. 15
Lab: Ch. 18: Descriptive Research
Nov. 17
TEST #3 Meet in Ed. 252
Nov. 20
Nov. 29
Final Exam 8:00-10:30 am Poster Presentations
Meet in Ed. 252
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