TEAC 800: Inquiry into Teaching and Learning
Syllabus
Instructional Team:
Course Description: This course will function as an online seminar with four principle aims: 1) To become more familiar with basic principles of contemporary educational research which will enable us to become better consumers of that research; 2) to begin to understand what this research suggests about educational practice, teaching, and teachers; 3) to develop your skills as a reader of educational research; and 4) to develop your professional writing skills. This course is designed to acquaint you with contemporary educational research as conducted from a variety of theoretical perspectives and for a variety of purposes. We will pay particular attention to the uses of scholarly inquiry to inform decision and policy making in educational settings, particularly schools. We will examine the types of educational research, the assumptions about what counts as knowledge that shape these methodologies (and are in turn influenced by them), the processes through which scholarly inquiry happens, and the factors/forces that influence the outcomes of any research study. The course provides opportunities to explore your beliefs about the value of educational research and to critically examine common notions about learning/learners and teaching/teachers in the light shed by research findings.
The intent of the course is to map out the terrain for future studies in teaching, learning, and teacher education. The idea of enhancing our existing language and acquiring new language frames the course content. Developing and acquiring language is more than learning new vocabulary. Rather, it has to do with knowledge, putting new language to what we already know, putting old language to what we do not know, and put new language to new things. A central question throughout the course is: What counts as knowledge?
We begin by reflecting on teaching and the endemic uncertainties of practices and asking questions of how do we know that what we do enables or inhibits the education process and, ultimately, student learning. We then examine the question of what counts as knowledge by examining contemporary educational research for underlying assumptions regarding teachers, teaching, learners, and learning. There are 3 interrelated reasons why this is a worthy pursuit: First, understanding the epistemological underpinnings of research and teaching has the potential to help researchers/teachers be better informed. Second, clarifying one’s own epistemological stance(s) as a researcher/teacher can lead to greater self-awareness and understanding often associated with enhanced personal satisfaction. Such clarification can also enable or precipitate constructive criticism and change regarding practices and policies. Third, since teaching and educational practice generally deals with knowledge -- is has to be about something -- epistemology is actually the most basic and central concern that ought to be thoughtfully considered from many perspectives and issues.
Course Purposes: TEAC 800 is specifically intended to:
· Introduce you to the assumptions about what counts as knowledge that underlie particular approaches to scholarly inquiry.
· Help you identify the factors, forces and audiences that shape any and all forms of educational research.
· Acquaint you with the dimensions that define the educational research agenda.
· Familiarize you with the terminology, analytical tools and habits of mind that are needed to assess the appropriateness and credibility of various forms of educational inquiry.
· Provide you with strategies to efficiently and effectively become a consumer (reader) of educational research.
· Provide you with strategies to strengthen your professional writing skills.
· Provide you with strategies and resources for conducting disciplined inquiry in an educational setting.
· Provide opportunities to make connections among the research methodologies that we discuss and the “real world” of educational decision- and policy-making.
Course Materials: Two textbooks are required for this course:
Carpenter, T. P., Dossey, J. A., & Koehler, J. L. (Eds.). (2004). Classics in mathematics education research. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Jaeger, R. M. (Ed.). (1997). Complementary methods for research in education, 2nd Ed. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Other readings will be provided in pdf form on Blackboard or as paper copies during our Saturdays on campus.
Outline of Course Requirements: A willingness to participate on-line, listen, challenge others respectfully, and be challenged
Date/Week of / Topic(s) / Reading / AssignmentSaturday, February 27 / What is teaching? / Distributed in class / Distributed in class
Week 1: Revised dates
For each week will be posted. / Research & Inquiry / Jaeger pp. 3-24 / Study Question Response; brief observation reflection
Saturday / Research & Inquiry / Credibility Scorecard assignment
Week 2: / Quantitative Research: Experimental Design / Classics Ch 2
McMillan & Wergin article / Study Question Response; Research Evaluation Assignment due to peer
Week 3: / Quantitative Research: Quasi-Experiments / Classics Ch 11 & Ch 3 / Study Question Response; Research Evaluation Assignment due (final draft)
Week 4: / Qualitative Research: Case Study / Classics Ch 5 & Ch 13 / Study Question Response
Week 5: / Qualitative Research: Case Study / Swidler article
Classics Ch 10 / Study Question Response
Week 6: / Qualitative Research: Ethnography / Jaeger pp. 327-353
Classics Ch 14 / Study Question Response; Research a Researcher Assignment due (final draft)
Week 7: / Historical Inquiries / Deschenes, Cuban & Tyack article / Study Question Response
Week 8: / Survey Research / Jaeger pp. 447-487; Gallup Poll / Representation of Educational Inquiry Assignment due
Week 9: / “Good research” / Hostetler article / Study Question Response; Read through other groups’ representations
Research Proposal Assignment due to peer
End of Course: May TBA / Research Proposal Assignment due 5/TBA (final draft)
Course goals will be met through completion of five (5) course requirements. A detailed explanation of each of these assignments will be provided on Blackboard Assignments.
· Study Question Responses (30% of final grade). On a weekly basis, we will post a question (or series of questions) based on your readings. The Discussion Board is our online location for developing important ideas and questions related to the course content. It is one of the ways each person in the course will make contributions evidencing his/her own learning and stimulating to everyone else in the class. It is where you will carry out dialogue in pursuit of furthering understanding of inquiry into teaching and learning. Throughout the semester there will be 8 assignments involving participation in the Discussion Board for which we will post specific prompts and groupings.
Quality contributions to the Discussion Board include:
•Responding to the question/prompt posed by the instructor or designated group member fully and by the stated date;
•Responding to entries made by other students in the course;
•Incorporating evidence and support from the readings as well as from other experiences;
•Being courteous, including when in disagreement.
· Research Evaluation (20% of final grade). This is an evaluation of a selected research report or article on teaching and learning. Details about this assignment will come separately.
· Research a Researcher (10% of final grade). For this assignment you will investigate a mathematics education researcher. Details about this assignment will come separately.
· Representation of Educational Inquiry (10% of final grade). This is a representation of your choice to demonstrate the various types of educational inquiry we will study in this class. Details about this assignment will come separately.
· Research Proposal (30% of final grade). This assignment enables you to transform the theoretical understandings that you constructed throughout the semester into a plan for conducting the scholarly inquiry necessary to inform a selected educational decision. Details about this assignment will come separately.
Course Assessment: Grades are based on the percentage of total points possible for the semester. The following grading scale will be used:
A+ 98%-100%
A 93%-97%
A- 90-92%
B+ 88-89%
B 83-87%
B- 80-82%
C+ 78-79%
C 73-77%
In Closing: Welcome to TEAC 800! This course should open us to the nature of educational research and its relationship with educational decision- and policy-making. We look forward to the coming semester as a time in which we will all learn valuable lessons about the processes of scholarly inquiry.