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ETR 520

Introduction to Educational Research

Dr. M C. Smith

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Blackboardhttp://webcourses.niu.edu

Z-number and Z-ID password

(815) 752-7738

or

http://www.niu.edu/directory.html

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Blackboard• You will find:

– ETR 520 syllabus• course requirements and optional project(s) with

complete instructions• due dates for assignments• on-line lecture notes and PP overheads• Weekly/daily schedule of topics• Assigned readings• Grading criteria• External links (useful resources)

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ETR 520 Core Assignments

• (1) Educational research problem paper

• (2) Library database search and paper

• (3) Critique of research study paper

• (4) Research methods and design paper + IRB application

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Final Project & Paper

Attend, participate in, and evaluate American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting in Chicago, April 21-25:

-attend 1 or more days of the conference;

-write an evaluation paper.

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Optional Professional Development Activities (PDAs)

• PDA options:– attend & evaluate a graduate research colloquium or

doctoral dissertation defense– interview an educational researcher– Internet web site search and evaluation paper

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Other course-relevant information

• Individual vs. paired or team collaboration• In- and out-of-class participation• Blackboard for course announcements,

research labs (i.e., discussions), and other materials

• APA (5th ed.) required for papers• Revising and resubmitting papers• Final course grades

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REsearchMentor™

An intelligent tutoring system (CBT) that assists students in developing research

designs that are appropriate to their research questions.

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Learning about educational research

• What is educational research?

• Can anybody do educational research?

• What are the activities of educational researchers?

• Is educational research like other forms of social science research?

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Some activities of classroom teachers that parallel formal research activities:

-planning activities (for teaching, research)-maintaining records of activities and students-gathering information about students

observing studentsinterviewing students

-developing, administering, and scoring classroom (student) assessments (e.g., tests and other paper-and-pencil measures-identifying teaching, learning, and assessment problems

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Activities of Classroom Teachers that Parallel Formal Research

• asking questions and forming hypotheses

• monitoring and evaluating changes in teaching and learning

• collaborating and sharing information with others

• professional development practices (e.g., conferences, workshops)

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Some Benefits of Educational Research

• Helps teachers to:– grow professionally– engage in self-analysis– learn new solutions to old, persistent

problems– communicate more effectively with other

teachers, administrators, and parents.

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Increasing attention given to quality of educational research:

Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-279)

To advance education research, making it more rigorous in support of evidence-based education.

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Evidence-based education:

“the integration of professional wisdom with the best available empirical evidence in making decisions about how to deliver

instruction”

(relies upon scientifically valid research)

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SCIENTIFICALLY VALID RESEARCH:

applied research, basic research, and field-initiated research in which the rationale, design, and interpretation are soundly developed in accordance with scientifically- based research standards.

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SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RESEARCH STANDARDS

• apply rigorous, systematic, and objective methodology to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs 

• present findings and make claims that are appropriate to and supported by the methods that have been employed

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Characteristics of scientifically based research (1)

• employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;

• data analyses are adequate to support the findings;• measurements or observational methods used that

provide reliable data;• claims of causal relationships made only in

random assignment experiments or designs that eliminate competing explanations for the results;

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Characteristics of scientifically based research (2)

• methods are presented in sufficient detail to allow for replication;

• acceptance by a peer-reviewed journal or approval by independent experts through rigorous, scientific review; and

• designs and methods appropriate to the research question posed.

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Education needs empirical evidence in order to advance.

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Without empirical evidence, education cannot:

• resolve competing approaches to curriculum and instruction

• generate cumulative knowledge about teaching and learning

• avoid fads, flights of fancy, and personal biases

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What is empirical evidence?

• Scientifically based research findings from fields such as psychology, sociology, economics, and neuroscience, and from applied research in educational settings.

• Objective measures of performance used to compare, evaluate, and monitor progress in education.

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Some research evidence is better than is other evidence!

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Levels of evidence

• Randomized trials (true experimental designs)• Quasi-experiments, including pre- and post-testing• Correlational studies with statistical controls of

confounding variables• Correlational studies w/out statistical controls• Descriptions and case studies of schools,

classrooms, teachers, and students• Anecdotes, stories, and idiosyncratic experiences

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RESEARCH METHODS:

the systematic, purposeful ways in which the scientist obtains and analyzes information for some purpose--usually to discover new knowledge.

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Educational research…

is concerned with a variety of educational problems, including

human learning and the conditions under which learning can best be

accomplished across settings and for many different kinds of tasks.

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Is Educational Research Scientific?

Scientific inquiry: the ultimate aim of any science is to generate and verify theory.

Scientific inquiry can be defined as the search for knowledge by using recognized methods in:

-data collection-data analysis-data interpretation

Education research is sometimes scientific.

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PURPOSES of SCIENCE

• describe phenomena (e.g., aspects of student learning)

• predict phenomena (e.g., student achievement)

• control phenomena (e.g., aspects of instruction)

• explain phenomena (e.g., instruction-learning

relationship)

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Theory: predicts and explains natural phenomena (including human behavior).

Although there are many theories of human learning, and of good instruction, much educational research is atheoretical.

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Using the scientific method

• 1. Researcher moves inductively from observations of specific phenomena (e.g., student behavior) to formulating a hypothesis (an educated guess) about the general situation (e.g, how students best learn);

• 2. tests the hypothesis via research method;

• 3. proceeds deductively from the logical implications of the hypothesis, that is, from the general situation to the specific case.

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Steps in the Scientific Method

• 1. Formulate a hypothesis.

• 2. Test the hypothesis.

• 3. Accept or reject the hypothesis.

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Sources of knowledge(for decision-making in education)

• Authorities and experts

• Customs and traditions

• Our own lived experiences• Inductive reasoning (specific to general)

• Deductive reasoning (general to specific)

• The scientific method

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Educational research cannot produce definitive answers!

• It can provide working concepts, language for understanding these concepts, data, and hypotheses that allow for the investigation of various possibilities:

• (e.g., “How does reduction in class size affect teacher-student interaction and, subsequently, student achievement?”)

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Educational research can be used to rule out certain approaches or methods as ineffective and can suggest plausible hypotheses

about promising new methods.

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Avoid the temptation to say that a single piece

of research has “proven” X to be true!

• No single study is ever definitive

• Science progresses gradually, on the basis of multiple confirming/disconfirming evidence from many studies

• Remember that not all educational or social research is “scientific”

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Misconceptions About Scientific Research

• 1. There is one right, best, or scientifically sound method for conducting true research.

• 2. All methods or research techniques are equally sound or appropriate.

• 3. Research is too difficult for the layperson to understand or to carry out.

• 4. Conducting and interpreting research is easy; it’s just common sense.

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Misconceptions (Cont’d):

5. If a study is published in a scholarly journal, it must be good and the findings true.

6. If a study is flawed in some way, it is not of any value.

7. If the research is truly scientific, it must be totally objective and value free.

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Skepticism

• (1) An attitude of doubt or a predisposition to incredulity in general or toward a particular object;

• (2) the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain;

• (3) the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt or criticism characteristic of skeptics.

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A critical consumer of educational research

• Does not reject every research study and research findings out of hand.

• Approach to criticism is an appraisal: there are positive and negative aspects.– Do the positives outweigh the negatives?– What can be learned? What is of value?

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Basic research concepts

• Ethical practices in conducting research

• Reviewing the scientific literature

• Methods and research design– Operationalizing/defining variables– Hypotheses or predictions– Populations and sampling procedures– Measurement– Data analysis (statistics etc.)

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