This course is an introduction to the process and practice of research in education. It provides an overview of a variety of educational research methods and introduces both “quantitative” and “qualitative” approaches. In this course, students are assisted to recognize research paradigms as examples of disciplined inquiry, situate various models of inquiry, such as experimental, correlational, and single-subject designs, ethnography, and case studies. Within these models of inquiry, students will be guided to understand, interpret, and critique studies conducted using a variety of methodological approaches, and plan a study with a research design appropriate to a selected research question. The students in this course:
- examine characteristics of different educational research paradigms
- study applications of these research paradigms to different educational problems
- develop skills necessary to conduct a literature review and construct an integrated and critical summary of the literature in a particular area
- develop strategies for understanding, interpreting, and evaluating research articles conducted within a range of research traditions
- identify a research question of interest they would like to investigate
- prepare a research proposal to examine their research question
Prerequisites: Successful completion of EPSE 482 or an introductory level statistics course is a pre- or co-requisite to this course.
Credits: 3