Research Fundamentals Course: Introduction

I taught a Master's level survey course, Research Fundamentals in Graduate Education, during the Spring 2004 semester. The course was required for Master's students and a prerequisite for doctoral students enrolled in the Ed.D. program. The primary goal of the course was to help educators become critical consumers and users of educational research. This entailed introductions to quantitative research, qualitative research, basic statistical concepts, and fundamental research skills and topics. Students were assigned to do a literature review or a research proposal as their main project for the semester.

The classroom featured a student:computer ratio of 2:1. Though not normally a goal for the course, teaching EDF 6481 Research Fundamentals in Graduate Education offered me the opportunity to model technology integration for the Master's students enrolled in the class. Throughout the course, I kept seamless integration of technology into the curriculum as a personal goal. The technology-rich environment permitted extensive use of Internet technologies for communication (course web site, an online discussion board, and emails), frequent use of web sites highlighting a variety of research studies, use of Java applets to demonstrate statistical concepts, and convenient access to the course web site The environment also enabled the use of electronic databases such as PsycInfo and EbscoHost, along with an introduction to the bibliography management package, EndNote, the SPSS statistical package, and use of an online survey tool to conduct mid-point course evaluations. Students submitted their final projects electronically and I provided extensive feedback using the comment feature in Word. Students were very enthusiastic about the use of technology in this class.

Selected artifacts for this section of my portfolio include the course syllabus and the course web site.

Comments from students included:

"Probably the best teacher I have ever had, even though the subject was boring because I was already knowledgeable in the area." - Final course evaluation

"Your enthusiasm kept me interested." - Final course evaluation

"There was a lot of homework!!" - Final course evaluation

"Becky is very enthusiastic and helpful. It's the subject matter that makes us groan." - Anonymous mid-course survey

"No offense, but I can't think of a way to make a research course more enjoyable for a preschool teacher!, but the fact that the text and assignments are broken up with technological visual aids and instant reference materials helps the class move along quickly and not get stagnant. It is as enriching as it could possibly be!" - Anonymous mid-course survey respondent