WattsSEDU7002-8-5
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NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY COVER SHEET
Stephen W. Watts
11 Dec 2011
Please Follow These Procedures: Use this assignment cover sheet as the first
page of your paper. Save your papers as word (not rtf) documents. Use “headers” and
headings per the APA document provided (also in the resources tab) or the applicable
sample papers located in the third section under Services/Dissertation Center in the NCU
Library. Do not confuse this location with Dissertation Resources located under Research
Resources in the first section. At least two levels of headings, an introduction, body,
and conclusion are required for papers (except for assignments that do not require a
paper like the Annotated Bibliography, the Problem and Purpose Statements).
Switch to the Topic Paper Template for the Signature Assignment. If you do not receive
your graded assignment back within three days it means I have filed it and have not
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Academic Integrity: I will turn in some of your assignments to TurnItIn. All
work submitted in each course must be your own. The knowing submission of another
persons work represented as that of the Learner’s without properly citing the source of
the work will be considered plagiarism may result in academic dismissal.
EDU7002-8
Dr. Donna Rice
Educational Research Methodology
5 Writing a Purpose Statement
Assignment: Based on the Statement of the Research Problem in Activity 4 and
the feedback from your Mentor, draft a Purpose Statement. Use the NCU Topic Paper
Template in the Dissertation Center as the model for your Purpose Statement. . . . The
decision for either a quantitative or a qualitative study . . . is not expected at this point.
Use the ‘comment’ feature of Word to annotate the key features of a good Purpose
Statement within the learner’s draft. The length and format of this document should
conform to the specifications in the NCU Topic Paper Template.
Faculty Use Only
Steve - it will develop as you go. Looks very ambitious. Are you sure you do not
have any existing data? Explore the case studies in the qualitative assignment.
Dr. Donna Rice
100
100
12/13/11
WattsSEDU7002-8-5
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Purpose Statement
The purpose of this mixed-methods quasi-experimental nonequivalent groups
study is to investigate whether technological tools can foster increased learner
participation, increased learner satisfaction, and increased perceived learning in a
professional development adult online learning environment. Five instructors will teach
five modules – each module emphasizing a different technological tool, in five separate
live virtual classes (LVC) for a world-wide technology company based in the United
States. The students of these LVC, who can sign in from any location worldwide, will be
surveyed after each module to ascertain their satisfaction, engagement, and perceived
learning as a result of the use of each tool. An analysis will be conducted to determine
which tools, if any, increased learner participation, satisfaction, or perceived learning.
Selected students from each class will be interviewed using a semi-structured interview
protocol to gather their perceptions regarding each technological tool’s use in an online
environment. An analysis will be conducted to identify commonalities and differences
between the student reports and the quantitative data.