EDUC 502
Class Session 3
September 19, 2005
Dr. Groth
Overview of Requirements
for Article Presentations
 Be prepared to present the article on the date
corresponding to the number you drew on
Sept. 12 (e.g., if you drew 1, 2, or 3, your
present on Sept. 26; if you drew number 28 or
higher, you present on Dec. 5.
 Prepare a one-page handout containing the
following information and email it to me at least
one hour (REQUIRED) before your
presentation: (i) A summary of the article,
including its main research
questions/hypotheses, its relationship to
previous literature, its methodology, its results,
and its significance; (ii) 3-5 questions to
engage your classmates in discussion of the
article and issues surrounding it.
Overview of Requirements
for Article Presentations
 During your presentation, plan to spend
10-15 minutes summarizing the article
and 15-20 minutes leading a class
discussion. Try to ask questions that
have a broad appeal, across disciplines.
 OPTIONAL: You may wish to prepare a
PowerPoint presentation to accompany
your presentation. If so, please email
me the PowerPoint presentation and I will
post it on our class website.
Further Resources for
Locating Articles
 ERIC through the library – can track down
documents from www.eric.ed.gov.
 Ingenta (go to www.salisbury.edu)
 Elsevier Science direct
 JAKE
 Research Port
 Library online card catalog
 Last resort: Interlibrary loan – need to have
Gull Card activated at circulation desk.
Putting Together your
Semester Project
 Recall that there are five main sections to
your semester project: Introduction,
Research questions/hypotheses,
Literature Review, Methodology, and
Expected Significance.
 Tonight, we will be discussing the first
three components of the semester
project.
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 General characteristics of research
questions/hypotheses:
 Implies the possibility of empirical
investigation
 Identifies a need for the research
 Provides focus
 Provides a concise overview of the research
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Sample research questions/statements:
 This study examines the differences
between males' and females' attitudes
toward mandated high school drug testing
programs.
 What are the differences between freshmen,
sophomore, junior, and senior students'
attitudes toward mandated high school drug
testing programs?
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)

Researchable problems imply the
possibility of empirical investigation


What are the achievement and social skill
differences between children attending an
academically or socially oriented preschool program?
What is the relationship between teachers'
knowledge of assessment methods and
their use of them?
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Non-researchable problems include
explanations of how to do something, vague
propositions, and value-based concerns
 Is democracy a good form of government?
 Should values clarification be taught in public
schools?
 Can crime be prevented?
 Should physical education classes be dropped from
the high school curriculum?
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Sources of research questions/statements:
 Casual observation
 The relationships between the cognitive and
affective realms
 The effect of positive and negative reinforcement
 Deductions from theory
 Use of math manipulatives
 Learning and instructional style congruence
 Related literature
 The use of math manipulatives in secondary
schools
 The comparison of state and national dropout
profiles
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Current social and political issues
 Gender and race equity
 Inclusion policies
 Practical situations
 Evaluating a specific instructional program
 Evaluating a specific school restructuring effort
 Personal interests and experience
 Teaching statistics from an applied perspective
 Effectiveness of non-threatening classroom
assessments
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Replication of previous studies
 Checking the findings of a major study
 Checking the validity of research findings
with different subjects
 Checking trends or changes over time
 Checking important findings using different
methodologies
 Clarification of contradictory research
results
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Hypotheses are tentative statements of
the expected relationships between two
or more variables
 There is a significant positive relationship
between self-concept and math achievement
 The class using math manipulatives will
show significantly higher levels of math
achievement than the class using a
traditional algorithm approach
Putting Together your
Semester Project: Research
Questions/Hypotheses (Ch.2)
 Reasons for using hypotheses
 Provides specific focus
 Provides for testing of the relationships between
variables
 Directs the investigation
 Allows the investigator to confirm or not confirm
relationships
 When supported provides empirical evidence of the
predictive nature of the relationships between
variables
 Provides a useful framework for organizing and
summarizing the results and conclusions
Putting Together Your
Semester Project: Literature
Review (Ch. 3)
 General purpose of lit review - to relate
previous research to the current problem
being investigated
 Provide contextual understanding
 Contribute to the overall evaluation of the
credibility of the research
 Indicate whether the nature of the research
is targeted to the reader's needs
Putting Together Your
Semester Project: Literature
Review (Ch. 3)
 Criteria for evaluating the review of the
literature
 Does the review cover previous research
adequately? (For our project, at least 10 relevant
research articles needed)
 Does the review cover the actual findings from other
studies?
 Is the review current? (For our project, inclusion of
articles from the past 5 years)
 Does the review summarize and analyze previous
studies?
 Is the review organized logically by topic, not
author?
Putting Together Your
Semester Project: Literature
Review (Ch. 3)
 Criteria for evaluating the review of the
literature (contd.):
 Does the review briefly summarize minor studies
and discuss major studies in detail?
 Is the review of major studies related explicitly to the
current research problem?
 Does the review provide a logical basis for the
hypothesis/research question?
 Does the review help to establish the significance of
the research?
Putting Together Your
Semester Project: Literature
Review (Ch. 3)
 DO NOT wait until the last week of the
semester to start your literature review.
You should really have it done before the
midterm exam.
 As you draft your Introduction, research
questions/hypotheses, and literature
review, you may send them to me to look
over (up until Thanksgiving – after that,
you’re on your own).
Class Exercise
 Evaluate the quality of the research
questions/hypotheses and the literature
review in the following three studies
beginning on the following pages printed
in the text: Study 1, p. 316; Study 2, p.
327; Study 3, p. 340.
 Be prepared to give the rest of the class
your opinion on the quality of the
Introduction, Research
Questions/hypotheses, and Lit Review
for each study.
Homework Assignment
 Textbook p. 48 (4, 7, 8, 12) – answering
some of these will require a bit of extra
reading in the text.
 Textbook p. 75 (8, 11) – these will also
require a bit of extra reading in the text.
Class Session Part II: Ethics
in Educational Research
 Federally-funded institutions of higher
learning must maintain ethics boards to
monitor the research activities of faculty
and students.
 The Salisbury University board website
is:
http://www.salisbury.edu/grants/Committe
%20on%20Human%20Research/CHR%
20Home%20Page.html
Class Session Part II: Ethics
in Educational Research
 In determining the ethics of a study, universities
generally apply the following guidelines:
 Participants understand the nature and purposes of
the research and freely give their consent to take
part in the study.
 Research does not involve undue stress on study
participants.
 Risks/benefits analysis. How do the potential
benefits compare to the risks for participants?
 Privacy of subjects and confidentiality of identifiable
information is maintained.
Additional Homework
Exercise
 Name four guidelines institutions of
higher education apply to determine if a
study is ethical (see previous slide).
Choose a study and evaluate it against
the guidelines.
In-class exercise
 Using the four criteria specified,
determine if the classroom research
study shown in “A Class Divided” would
be approved by a University ethics board.
Be prepared to take a position and
defend it in class discussion.