EDRM 700
Introduction to Research in Education
I.
Descriptive Information
A. Course number and title: EDRM 700 Introduction to Research in Education
B. Bulletin description: Concepts and methods of conducting research in education
C. Course credit: 3
D. Prerequisites: full admission to graduate standing or consent of instructor
E. Intended audience: graduate students in education
F. Instructor: Xiaofeng Steven Liu, Ph.D., Wardlaw 144, University of South
Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, Voice: 803-777-6084, Fax: 803-777-7741
Email: xliu@mailbox.sc.edu, Office Hours: Wed. 1:00-4:00; Thur. 1:00-4:00 and
other times by appointment
II.
Statement of Learning Outcomes
This course teaches quantitative and qualitative methods of conducting educational
research. Students will learn the basic ideas of making a causal proposition through
the use of an experiment or a quasi-experiment. Students will know various
experimental and quasi-experimental designs and their applications. Also, students
will get acquainted with contemporary educational issues through reading exemplary
qualitative research.
III.
Required Texts and Key Readings
Rose, M. (1990). Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and
Achievements of America's Educational Underclass, New York: Penguin.
Chapter 1 Our schools and our children
Chapter 2 “I just wanna be average”
Chapter 3 Entering the conversation
Chapter 4 The poem is a substitute for love
Chapter 5 Literate stirrings
Chapter 6 Reaclaiming the classroom
Chapter 7 The politics of remediation
Chapter 8 Crossing boundaries
Shadish, Cook, & Campbell. (2002). Experimental and Qausi-Experimental Designs
for Generalized Causal Inference, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Chapter 1 Experiments and generalized causal inference
Chapter 2 Statistical conclusion validity and internal validity
Chapter 3 Construct validity and external validity
Chapter 4 Quasi-experimental designs that either lack a control group or lack pretest
observations on the outcome
Chapter 5 Quasi-experimental designs that use both control groups and pretests
Chapter 6 Quasi-experiments: interrupted time-series designs
Chapter 7 Regression discontinuity designs
Chapter 8 Randomized experiments: rationale, designs, and conditions conducive to
doing them
IV.
Academic Course Requirements and Assessments
Students are required to read the textbook before class, attend lecture, and submit all
the homework. There are all together 5 homework assignments. Homework
assignments are due by 4pm on the day of the next class.
Homework reports should be neatly typed in Microsoft word and submitted by email
before the due date. Every student should write up the homework report on his or her
own. Your name and homework number should appear on every page of your
homework report. When submitting your homework, please use the course name and
homework number (e.g. edrm700hw1) in the subject line of your email. Once you
send your homework, you will immediately receive an auto reply that confirms the
receipt of your email. Also, students are asked to bring a hard copy of the homework
to the next class.
There will be 5 closed book quizzes during the semester. Each quiz has two or three
questions regarding the most recently covered material and/or the next required
reading. There is one closed book exam; but students are allowed to bring in onepage notes.
Students who are absent from class and miss a quiz are not allowed to take the same
quiz afterward. Students must take the exam at the time stated in the syllabus unless
the student has a medical emergency or obtains approval from his or her department
chair for such absence.
Finally, students will make two presentations and write a study proposal.
V.
Administrative course requirements including specification of policies related to
such matters as attendance and late assignments (consistent with existing
Bulletin statements)
Students who are absent from 25% of the classes are asked to withdraw from the class
whether such absences are excused or unexcused. The grade penalty for being absent
25% of the classes is downgrading to the next grade level.
Students who have a perfect attendance record and complete the online course
evaluation by the last class will receive one bonus point in their total score for
grading purpose.
Students should abide by the university policy on academic responsibility.
VI.
Evaluation and Grading including the weight of each designated course
requirement listed in IV above (Academic Requirements) and conversion to
University grading scales
Grades are based on your total points, which include those from the homework, the
presentations, the exam, and the study proposal. The study proposal is 20 points.
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Each homework assignment is worth 10 points. Each presentation is 10 points. The
exam is 10 points, and each quiz is 2 points. The total points from 5 quizzes may be
used to replace the exam score on the condition that you have taken the exam, have
submitted all 5 homework, and have completed the study proposal.
Your total points are converted to grades as follows:
100-90
A
89-85
B+
84-80
B
79-75
C+
74-60
C
59-50
D
49F
VII.
Major Topics of the Course
8/20/2009 Class introduction & chapter 1 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
8/27/2009 chapter 1 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
9/3/2009 HW1 due; Quiz 1; chapter 2 & 3 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
9/10/2009 HW2 due; Quiz 2; chapter 4 & 5 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
9/17/2009 HW3 due; Quiz 3; chapter 6 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
9/24/2009 HW4 due; Quiz 4; chapter 7 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
10/1/2009 Exam
10/8/2009 Fall Break
10/15/2009 chapter 8 of Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell
10/22/2009 chapter 1, 2, & 3 of Rose
10/29/2009 presentation
11/5/2009 presentation & chapter 4 & 5 of Rose
11/12/2009 HW5part I due; Quiz 5; chapter 6 & 7 of Rose
11/19/2009 chapter 8 of Rose & presentation
11/26/2009 Thanksgiving
12/3/2009 presentation
VIII. Modes of instruction
demonstrations, small group discussions, lecture, student presentations, etc.
IX.
Bibliography
American Educational Research Association.( 2006. Standards for reporting on
empirical social science research in AERA publications Retrieved March 31,
2009.
American Educational Research Association (2009). Standards for reporting on
humanities-oriented research in AERA publications. Educational Researcher,
38(6), 481–486.
Boruch, R (2002). The virtues of randomness. Education Next, 2(3), 36–42
Borko, H (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the
terrain. Educational Researcher, 33(8), 3–15.
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Borman, GD, Hewes, GM, Overman, LT, & Brown, S (2003). Comprehensive school
reform and achievement: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research,
73, 125-230.
Boruch, R, & Mosteller, F (Eds.). (2001). Education, evaluation, and randomized
trials. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Bullough, R (2006). Developing interdisciplinary researchers: What ever happened to
the humanities in education? Educational Researcher, 35(8), 3–10.
Campbell, D. (1982). Experiments as arguments. In House, ER, Mathison, S, Pearsol,
JA, & Preskill, H (Eds.), Evaluation Studies Review Annual. 7, (pp.117-128).
Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Campbell, D, & Stanley, J. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for
research. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Cohen, DK, Raudenbush, SW, & Ball, DL (2003). Resources, instruction, and
research. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(2), 1–24
Coleman, J (1968). The concept of equal educational opportunity. Harvard
Educational Review, 38(1), 7–22.
Cook, TD. (2001). Considering the major arguments against random assignment: An
analysis of the intellectual culture surrounding evaluation in American
schools of education. In Boruch, R, & Mosteller, F (Eds.), Education,
evaluation, and randomized trials. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution
Press.
Cook, T (2002). Randomized experiments in educational policy research: A critical
examination of the reasons the educational evaluation community has offered
for not doing them. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(3), 175–
199
Finn, JD, & Achilles, CM (1990). Answers and questions about class size: A
statewide experiment. American Educational Research Journal, 27, 557–577.
Greenwald, R. Hedges, LV, & Laine, RD (1996). The effect of school resources on
student achievement. Review of Educational Research, 66, 361–396
Hanushek, E (1989). The impact of differential expenditures on school performance.
Educational Researcher, 18(4), 45–51.
Holland, P (1986). Statistics and causal inference. Journal of the American Statistical
Association, 81(396), 945–960.
Johnson, R, & Onwuegbuzie, A. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research
paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher, 33, 14–26.
National Research Council. (2002). Scientific research in education. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
National Research Council. (2004). Advancing scientific research in education.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Nye, B, Hedges, LV, & Konstantopoulos, T (2000). The effects of small classes on
achievement: The results of the Tennessee class size experiment. American
Educational Research Journal, 37, 123–151.
Rubin, DB (1974). Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and
nonrandomized studies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 66, 688–701.
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Schmidt, WH, McKnight, CC, & Raizen, SA. (1997). A splintered vision: An
investigation of U.S. science and mathematics education. Boston: Kluwer
Academic.
Shadish, WR, Campbell, DT, & Cook, TD. (2001). Experimental and quasiexperimental designs for research. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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