EDUC 605 Syllabus

EDUC 605–Informing Educational Practice to Affect Change

Towson University–College of Education

College Mission: Inspire, educate and prepare facilitators of active learning for diverse and
inclusive communities of learners in environments that are technologically advanced.
Additional details about the College's Mission and Vision:
http://towson.edu/coe/about/mission.html

Instructor Info: Scot W.McNary Ph.D.

Course Location: Halstead Academy, 1111 Halstead Road, Baltimore, MD 21234, room 100
Course meeting times: Wednesdays 4:30-7:10 from 5/30 to 6/27 and 8/1
Office Location: HH0102F
Office Contact: 410 704 4835
Email: smcnary@towson.edu
Office Hours: by appointment

Course Description: Introduces graduate students to the practice of educational inquiry,

involving reading, reviewing, and synthesizing an orderly selection of scholarly articles.
Students will read and evaluate current research in education to inform decision-making
and propose effective changes based on literature findings. Course activities culminate in a
literature review project, providing an opportunity to identify and investigate a significant
research problem in the area of teaching and learning, elementary education, secondary
education, instructional technology, or school library media. Students develop skills to
locate, read, and critique scholarly articles in the field of education with an aim toward
furthering a deeper understanding of the problem. Students will use online databases
hosted by the Cook Library web site to retrieve specific information on their chosen topic.

Objectives:
At the completion of this course, graduate students are expected to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the concepts used in research reports in one area

of elementary education, secondary education, instructional technology, or school library
media.
2. Formulate a coherent statement of purpose for a research literature review
concerning a specific problem.
3. Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze research reports and to relate them to a
problem in elementary education, secondary education, instructional technology, or school
library media.
4. Demonstrate the ability to use electronic and print resources to find and obtain
relevant research articles appropriate for a review of research in elementary education,
secondary education, instructional technology, or school library media.
5. Complete a written research review, including an oral presentation, related to a
specific issue or problem in the area of elementary education, secondary education,
instructional technology, or school library media.

Standards: This course is consistent with standards from the following sources:

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Proposition 3: Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning
Proposition 4: Teachers Think Systematically about their Practice and Learn from Experience
Proposition 5: Teachers are Members of Learning Communities

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Master of Education Program Goals

Goal 4: Use Technology to Enhance Learning
Goal 5: Understand and Use Appropriate Assessment and Evaluation to Enhance Learning
Goal 6: Engage in Scholarly Activities Think and Reflect Critically About Educational
Processes and Professional
Goal 7:Think and Reflect Critically about the Educational Process and Practices

Maryland Teacher Technology Standards

Standard 1: Information Access, Evaluation, Processing and Application Communication
Standard 3: Legal, Social and Ethical Issues
Standard 7: Professional Growth

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Coach Standards

Standard 4c: Evaluate Results of Professional Education Programs

Course Texts:
Mills, G.E. & Gay, L.R. (2016). Educational research: Competencies for analysis
and applications (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ISBN: 978-0-
13-385938-6.

Pyrczak, F. (2014). Evaluating Research in Academic Journals: A Practical Guide

to Realistic Evaluation (6th ed.). Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-93-652334-4.

Grading: This course is graded according to the following criteria, adhering to Towson
University Graduate grade policy.
A=95–100% A-=90–94% B+=85–89% B=80–84% C=70–79% F=less than 70%

Course Evaluation Component Descriptions:

An Original Research Review
A research review is the final course paper and represents a major, semester–long project.
The review is upon a topic of your choosing, and should be related to a significant school
based problem in the area of elementary education, secondary education, instructional
technology, or school library media. The written research review should be 8-10 pages (not
including references and appendix—not to exceed 12 pages total). The components
identified below will result in a formal written and defensible research review due at the end
of the semester.

Research Review (Final Paper). This 8-10 page paper should clearly indicate your chosen
research topic, include the description of your research problem, as well as clearly state the
purpose of your proposed review. You must use your own words in your writing; direct
quotes are only rarely needed. The review consists of two sections: 1) an introduction
section with a background, statement of the problem, literature review, and statement of
the hypothesis; and 2) an implications section, which has recommendations for
practitioners, policy makers, and/or other interested parties.

Research Review (Presentation). You will be expected to give an in-class presentation of

your research review, followed by brief class questions and/or discussion. This presentation
will highlight the major components of your final research proposal. It is not necessary that
you use a Powerpoint presentation, but you are welcome to. The presentation should be
five to seven minutes in length.

The above two items are due on the last day of class.

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Draft Research Review.

Midway through the semester you will turn in a draft review. This will be a two-page Formatted: Heading 1
written document describing your research review topic including a background, statement
of the problem, and brief review of literature. The draft must include at least two
references with citations. You must use your own words in your writing; direct quotes are
only rarely needed. The draft is intended to provide you with an opportunity to receive
feedback on your progress and ideas.

Article Reviews
Graduate students will evaluate and discuss primary research articles, focusing on specific Formatted: Heading 1
sections of each report. These evaluation exercises will help prepare the graduate student
develop his or her own research proposal. You must use your own words in your writing;
direct quotes are rarely needed.

Research Summary Worksheet

This spreadsheet contains relevant bits of information about the various articles you intend
to include in your review paper. The goal of completing this worksheet is to help identify
patterns in the literature you have reviewed, to aid evaluating the articles, and to create a
unique synthesis of the articles’ main points. To successfully complete the worksheet, an
abstract of each article must be completed.

Lab Activities
During the semester, several activities will be conducted related to using databases to
search for articles, evaluating research articles, or synthesizing several research articles.
Depending on the assignment, graduate students may work alone or in groups, and will
submit a written summary of their work at the end of class. Approximately five of these will
be submitted for grading. Details will be announced the date of assignment.

Midterm Examination
Graduate students will take an examination that will test understanding of the research
concepts and processes discussed in the textbook and during class meetings. The
examination will include multiple choice, short answer and/or essay questions. It will be
administered as a take-home time-limited examination.

Component Contribution to Final Grade

Research Review (Final Paper) (*Key assessment) 25%
Research Review (Presentation) 5%
Draft Research Review 15%
Article Reviews (2) 20%
Research Summary Worksheet 5%
Lab Activities (best five are graded) 15%
Midterm Examination 15%

Class Policies:
Attendance. Attendance is necessary. If you must miss a session for an emergency it is
your responsibility to inform the instructor prior to the missed class, seek notes from a
classmate for the missed class, and make up all work missed.

Assignment Due Dates. Students are expected to submit all assignments on the due dates
and participate in all discussions. Unless indicated by the instructor otherwise, submit the
written assignments on Blackboard before or on the date it is due. Late assignments will
incur a point reduction of 5% for each day the assignment is late.

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Academic Integrity. Students are expected to maintain high standards of ethical conduct
and academic integrity. Cheating and plagiarism in preparing materials submitted as
original work by the student constitute a violation of academic integrity. Penalties for
academic dishonesty may result in failure for the course. The university statement on
academic integrity is here:

https://www.towson.edu/about/administration/policies/documents/polices/03-01-00-studen
t-academic-integrity-policy.pdf

The following websites have resources for learning more about plagiarism and how to avoid
it:

Purdue OWL, Avoiding Plagiarism: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/avoiding-plagiarism

Harvard: How to Avoid Plagiarism https://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-

policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism

Class Participation and Homework: Class participation by students is expected, and online
discussions may be extensive some weeks. Expect to interact often and at length with your
peers during the course of the semester. The main research materials will be at the library.
Therefore, frequent visits to the library, virtually or physically, six hours per week for study
in the library and elsewhere. are required for this class.

Cancellations Class will be canceled when BCPS University announces that classes will be
cancelled at Halstead Academy. BCPS posts cancellation information on the main page
(http://bcps.org), or the school webpage (https://halsteades.bcps.org/). The following
media outlets are also sources for closure information: WBAL Radio 11 (1090 AM), WLIF
(101.9 FM), WWMX (106.5 FM), WYPR (88.1 FM), WBAL-TV (11), WJZ-TV (13), WMAR-TV
(2), and the Associated Press wire service.

Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance.

The following statement is taken from the Towson University Undergraduate Catalog (p. 39)
and from the Disability Support Services (DSS) website:
http://www.towson.edu/dss/index.asp
“Towson University is committed to providing equal access to its programs and services for
students with disabilities, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Disability Support Services is the office
designated to provide reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Students
seeking accommodations must identify themselves to DSS, request an appointment to
discuss their needs, and provide DSS with up-to-date and complete documentation of their
disabilities. DSS determines what accommodations are reasonable on a case-by-case basis,
taking into account the student’s disabilities and needs, nature of their learning task, course
standards and essential requirements of the program of study, and educational
environment. Students are encouraged to register with DSS as soon as possible after
admission to the University to ensure timely provision of services.”
Graduate students who need accommodations should provide a statement to the instructor
from the Towson University Disability Support Services Office (410-704-2638) authorizing
his/her accommodation.

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Writing Guidelines:
Through writing we clarify our thoughts, vision, and ideas and share them with others.
Writing has the power to persuade and give people new insights into education. In order to
convey your ideas clearly you should write and rewrite. First drafts are never good enough!
The best way to get feedback on your writing is to work with another student who will help
you critique your work. For all assignments, please follow the following guidelines:

1. Double-spaced, 12-point font, stapled, and pages numbered.

2. Reference page at the end following APA 6th edition form. Follow APA format for
citing works: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
3. Compose coherent paragraphs that have a topic sentence with supporting details.
Use evidence from articles and books.
4. Your paragraphs should all have topic sentences with supporting evidence. Minimize
quotes. Paraphrase instead!
5. Edit for logic. Do your sentences and paragraphs have a logical flow? Are things in
the right order?
6. The purpose of written work is to express your voice. Avoid copying and pasting
from web sites.
7. Run your paper through spell check. Also, attend to the squiggly lines that Word
provides.
8. For support with composing or editing call the Towson Writing Center at: 410-704-
3426.

Tentative Course Schedule:

The following topics comprise the course. Order and type of discussion/lecture may be
adapted to meet the needs of the class.

A. Research in Education: Purpose of research, Current issues in education research

B. Evaluation of the Research Report: Research cycle, Defining the problem, Purpose of
the review of literature, Components of a research report
C. Types of Research Designs: Quantitative research designs, Qualitative research
designs, Action research
D. Information Sources: Reference library collections, Digital information databases and
libraries, Access and search strategies, Methods of retrieving sources
E. Using Technology for Research: Locating relevant databases and sources of
information, Using Internet-based search strategies, Using computer software for report
writing and presentation of research findings

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Date Assignment

Week One Course introduction; Intro to Educational Research; Evaluating research

research reports;
Background for evaluating research reports, abstracts Mills & Gay
Chapter 1 & 22; Pyrczak Chapter 1 & 3
Week Two Evaluating literature reviews
Mills & Gay Chapter 3-4; Pyrczak Chapter 4-5;
Research Topic Finalized Intro to Educational Research; Evaluating
research research reports;
Background for evaluating research reports, abstracts Mills & Gay
Chapter 1 & 22; Pyrczak Chapter 1 & 3
Week Three Evaluating samples, measures, experimental procedures
Mills & Gay Chapter 5; Pyrczak Chapter 6 Evaluating abstracts Pyrczak
Chapter 4 Article Review due
Week Four Samples, measures, procedures con’t.
Mills & Gay Chapter 16; Pyrczak Chapter 7 Evaluating literature reviews
Mills & Gay Chapter 3-4; Pyrczak Chapter 5;
Research Topic Finalized
Article summary #1 due Draft review due
Week Five Evaluating analyses and results
Mills & Gay Chapter 10; Pyrczak Chapter 9-10 Evaluating generalized
samples
Mills & Gay Chapter 5; Pyrczak Chapter 6
Week Six Module I assigned; due by end of weekEvaluating non-generalized Formatted: Font: Bold
samples
Mills & Gay Chapter 16; Pyrczak Chapter 7
Week Seven Module II assigned; due by end of week Evaluating measures Formatted: Font: Bold
Mills & Gay Chapter 6 & 15; Pyrczak Chapter 8; Draft review due
Formatted: Font: Bold
Week Eight Module III assigned; Evaluating experimental procedures, analysis and Formatted: Tab stops: Not at 4.69"
results
Mills & Gay Chapter 10; Pyrczak Chapter 9-10 Midterm assigned Formatted: Tab stops: Not at 4.66"
Week Nine Module III due Evaluating analysis and results: Qualitative research Formatted: Font: Bold
Pyrczak Chapter 11 Midterm due

Week Ten Presentations;

Final Research Reviews dueEvaluating Discussion Sections Formatted: Font: Bold
Pyrczak Chapter 12;
Formatted: Font: Bold
Critical review synthesis & DB posts due
Week Eleven Putting it all together
Mills & Gay Chapter 21; Pyrczak Chapter 13

Week Twelve Complete Research summary worksheet, Vote Count, DB post

Week Thirteen Work Session for Peer Reviews

Week Fourteen Complete exchanges of Peer Reviews; post peer reviews

Week Fifteen Work Session for final revisions

Week Sixteen Final research review due; Class presentations