最新糖心Vlog

Location: Room 8.45
Level 8 
School of Education, 
Faculty of the Professions
10 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, 5005
Email: anthony.potts@adelaide.edu.au
Phone: 831 30849.

I am in my office most days from 5.30am. Simply drop in, phone or email. Replies to emails will be done as soon as possible.

At the end of this course students will be able to:

Identify the major research methodologies used in educational investigations,

Describe the main differences between quantitative and qualitative research,

List the specific types of research that fall into the broad categories of quantitative and qualitative research,

Give examples of research problems that might be investigated by either approaches,

List the steps involved in the research process,

Evaluate educational research on various dimensions,

Plan and conduct small scale educational research,

Teach the Personal Research Project in South 最新糖心Vlogn High Schools,
Engage in reflective and self-directed practice as stated in Aitsl's (2011) Standard 6: Engage in Professional Learning.

There is one lecture, one tutorial and one on-line activity each week. Attendance at  formal classes is highly recommended. For each missed tutorial or none or inadequately prepared tutorial 2 marks will be deducted. It will be impossible for the course to be taught again the day before the final examination.

Lecture attendance: 1 hour per week

Tutorial attendance: 1 hour per week

On-line activity: 1 hour per week

The course consists of lectures and tutorials. Students are expected to prepare for tutorials by familiarizing themselves with the set readings and doing the set activities.

Classes will be held weekly commencing the first  week of semester . Please ensure you bring along the text and your answers to class from this first week.
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Week 1 
Lecture: Some Issues in Educational Research

Tutorial Reading 
Research for Educators Chapter 1

Each week you need to read the chapter in the textbook and any other readings, make a page of thoughtful (not simply copying out the textbook verbatim) notes on the readings, questions and in particular the question/activity in bold and bring the textbook and notes plus any other required material to the tutorial and be prepared to discuss the questions and your responses.

What is research?
What ethical issues do educational researchers need to consider?
Why do teachers need to understand research and the research process?
Who was Cyril Burt and for what do we remember him? Can you find any recent 最新糖心Vlogn equivalents – search for questionable research involving the contraceptive pill and research involving morning sickness for example.
Create a concept map of the research process.
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Week 2 
Lecture: The Research Process  

Tutorial Reading
Research for Educators Chapter 2

What steps are involved in the research process?
How does research differ from reflection?
Complete the task on page 23. (You can use an article from the Course Profile, one from the collection on MyUni or one you find yourself. You may wish to select one you will use for your essay).
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 Week 3
Lecture: Different Research Approaches  
 
Tutorial Reading
Research for Educators Chapter 3

List the characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research.
How is educational practice influenced by research?
Examine newspapers’ reporting of a current educational or other issue- either from the printed copies or the web versions. Upon what sources is the reporting based? How do different newspapers report the issue? Why do we need to be aware of the differences?
Find a qualitative and a quantitative research article preferably on a similar topic. You could either do this by browsing in the educational journals such as The 最新糖心Vlogn Journal of Education in the library or on line. You could use the articles provided in this handout or the ones on MyUni. What are the differences between the reports? Do the reports complement or contradict each other? How could the results influence classroom practice?
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Week 4 
Lecture:  Initial Stages in Research 

Tutorial Reading
Research for Educators Chapter 4

How do we select a research topic?
How do we conduct a literature review?
How do we develop research questions and hypotheses?
Chose 2 articles and summarize these in four main points per article. Are there common themes? How can you compare and contrast the 2 articles? What research question might the 2 articles lead you to ask?
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Week 5
Lecture: Planning Research  

Tutorial Reading
Research for Educators Chapter 5

List the characteristics of the main types of quantitative research.
List the characteristics of the main types of qualitative research.
What is case study research?
Identify the different sorts of descriptive data that teachers can collect. What can we use this for?
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Week 6
Lecture: Collecting Data  

Tutorial Reading
Research for Educators Chapter 6

What do we mean by data?
How do we collect data for quantitative and qualitative research?
What do we need to do as we prepare to gather data?
What do we need to do as we gather data?
Safely and ethically observe a small group of people for about 10 minutes. Record the most pertinent events during that period. Describe the situation, analyse the data and say what you have found out about these people as a result of this observation. (Students in the past have done superb work here so do not let the side down).
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Week 7
Lecture:  Making Sense of Data  

Tutorial Reading 
Research for Educators Chapter 7

What does data look like?
How can data be organised?
How do we organised and prepare data for analysis?
Do the activity on page 117.
Do activity 2 on page 138.
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 Week 8 
Lecture: Data Analysis Techniques  

Tutorial Reading
 Research for Educators Chapter 8

How do we analyse qualitative data?
How do we analyse quantitative data?
Do activity 4 on page 159 
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 Week 9
Lecture: Publicising The Research

Tutorial Reading  
Research for Educators Chapter 9

What are some of the main ways we can publicise our research findings?
What should a first rate research report contain?
Do activity 2 on page 168.
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Week 10
Lecture: Action Research   

Tutorial Reading
 Research for Educators Chapter 10

What is action research?
How can action research help teachers and schools?
Do the activity on page 196.
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Week 11
Lecture: Completed Research: School Teachers and Curriculum Reform

Tutorial Reading
 Research for Educators Chapter 10

Do activity 3 on page 198.
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Week 12
Lecture: Completed Research: Principals and Faith Schools, 最新糖心Vlogn Textbooks.   
 
Tutorial Reading
 
Research for Educators Chapter 10

1. Think of at least one Personal Research Topic for your Students in Years 11 or 12 and map out how you would advise your students to do this. [Recall the two topics I sent you earlier - one on cemeteries and one on swimming pools].

2. Think of the subjects you will teach in school and pick a topic for an action research project and map out how you would do this.
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It is a student’s duty to acquaint himself/herself with course requirements. Ignorance of course requirements due to a student’s non-attendance at lectures or seminars is not an acceptable reason for non-fulfilment of any requirements.

Students attending lectures and seminars should note that behaviour which interferes with the conduct of the lecture or seminar may result in a student being asked to leave the class and may result in suspension from the unit. In particular mobile phones must be turned off and placed in students’ bags before the commencement of lectures and seminars. Students are not to have mobile phones out during seminars and this includes texting under desks and sitting in seminars with mobile phones messaging others will result in you being asked to leave the seminar.

Attendance and whole hearted and spirited participation is compulsory. If you cannot attend due to sickness or other valid reasons (this does not include taking a holiday or other non academic reason) then you must follow this procedure. By October 19, 2015 you need to hand to me personally copies of doctor’s certificates for each missed session plus the 1 page of preparation for each missed session. Put a cover sheet with your name, number and tutorials missed in summary form. Failure to do this will result in you being considered absent.

Students who wish to seek special consideration because of illness or special circumstances should apply to the lecturer in charge with relevant documentary evidence. This is usually a doctor’s certificate. For both special consideration and extensions you need to complete well beforehand the Application Form – Assessment Task Extension or Replacement Examination due to Medical and Compassionate Circumstances and/or Application Form – Extenuating Circumstances Application Form. These along with relevant information and instructions are on the university web site.

If due to illness or other valid reasons, a student is unable to meet a deadline, he/she must contact the lecturer before the deadline in order to seek an extension (which may or may not be granted). Students are required to produce original documents to support their application for an extension. Any assignment handed in late, without authorised extension, will be penalised at a rate of 10% of the assigned mark per 24-hour period late, to a maximum of 7 periods. Assignments handed in more than seven periods late, without authorised extension, will not be marked and an automatic fail grade for that piece of assessment will be recorded.

Students should write their assignments independently. Students are expected to produce their own work. This might involve students choosing, analyzing, summarizing and interpreting the (often competing) ideas of others, and developing arguments and drawing conclusions. Students can: discuss assignments with other students and their tutors; communicate with one another in constructive ways about the learning process; and assist each other, e.g. by discussing the approaches that might be taken to assignment topics, or helping with the availability of reading materials.

Students must acknowledge an original author/creator for the ideas and concepts used in their work by providing a reference or citation. A reference is the written detail of the original source for ideas, which may be referenced within, and at the end of the assignment in the form of a reference list.

You may use quotations: exact words of an original author in written work. The quotation (exact words) should be placed in quotation marks and be accompanied by a reference. If paraphrasing (rewrite completely another author's words or ideas with the intention of presenting the author's ideas), it is vital that the passage is fully rewritten, including the sentence structure. Any short phrases or key words that are used should be handled as quotes. The source must always be referenced.

Weekly Preparation and Participation [for each missed, un or nonprepared or non participation deduct 2 marks]. Please see the instructions above on what to do for genuinely missed tutorials.

Two Hour End of Semester Examination [in Formal Exam Period] Worth 60%. Examinations are controlled by Central Administration and so the date and time are set by this Office. Accordingly the date and time of these are outside my control. The Examination Period usually covers November and December. You need to be available to sit examinations during this time in Adelaide. Please do not schedule other activities in this period as we are unable to schedule examinations at other times and in other places.

Each week there are tutorials in which we [that means all of us] will discuss the topic and the literature listed for that week, watch a video or some other activity associated with the topic. All students are required to read the relevant parts of their text for this and take part in the discussion. It is not meant to be another lecture. The success of the tutorials depends on everyone reading some relevant material and discussing that with the group. We aim to review the research literature on the topic and not recycle educational folklore.

Students must bring to the tutorial their text and 1 page of thoughtful notes from the relevant chapters and the set activity. Simply presenting at the tutorial session having not done the reading and the activity prior to the tutorial and without notes or prescribed texts and sitting passively or doing other things is not acceptable and will not count as fulfilling course requirements.

Browse either the journals The 最新糖心Vlogn Journal of Education, The 最新糖心Vlogn Journal of Teacher Education, The 最新糖心Vlogn Educational Researcher or the Professional Educator or journals specifically related to the subjects you will teach in school such as English, Mathematics, History and Science education journals These are available in either the 最新糖心Vlog or State Library in either hard copy or on line. Or you can use the articles attached to this Course Profile or the ones in the folder on MyUni. (Education Review available in both hard copy and on line will have popular reporting of the latest educational research and is recommended reading. However, the articles in this are not recommended for this assignment)

Take 3-5 recent issues of the journal/s and select at least 3-5 substantial articles in terms of length and depth of treatment of issues. If you select insubstantial articles to deal with then you cannot claim this as an excuse when your assignment lacks depth and substance. You may wish to select articles which deal with one particular theme.

Conduct a 2000 word analytical review and appraisal of your selected articles using but not necessarily slavishly adhering to the guidelines that follow. Your paper must not simply restate the articles but must use the concepts, ideas and suggestions in your set text to appraise the articles. You must analyse the articles in terms of how they are good/poor examples of the particular kinds of research they represent. Good assignments will be high on analysis and synthesis dimensions. Less competent papers will be less strong on these dimensions and will be more concerned with knowledge and comprehension dimensions. You will need to have read and mastered your set text to do the assignment especially the areas concerned with the various strengths and weakness of the various types of research whether this is qualitative, qualitative or mixed method research.

2. What research is reported and what are the details of this e.g. studies, authors, methodologies, strengths and weaknesses etc. Again make sure you either select studies that refer to these issues or follow up the original studies to ascertain this. Do not simply say that this was not referred to or you do not know.

Your sources must be referred to in the essay itself and not simply appear in the bibliography or reference list. This does not mean that you necessarily have to have verbatim quotes from the sources. Paraphrase and acknowledgement is fine. Be very wary of over quoting. In a paper this length you should aim for approximately no more than say 12 lines of quotations in total for the whole paper. This could be for example 2 lines of quotes for each of your 6 different sources. Only quote when to not do so would destroy the essence of what has been said. Be wary of simply stringing quotes together. There is a simple test for this - print off your draft and highlight your verbatim quotes – you will soon see if you have overdone them. 

This is but one example of what your assignment could possibly look like. But of course you do not have to slavishly follow this. Harvey’s article carefully analyses school based teacher education by looking at the evidence on the topic. Now it is unlikely that you need to do an assignment that is as complex as Harvey’s but you will note that this article comes from the Professional Educator – a journal for practicing teachers. Careful study of Harvey’s article may give you some ideas on how to proceed. You will note that in effect there are two segments to his analysis. One examines existing evidence on the efficacy of school based teacher education. If you adopted this approach in your assignment you would need to follow up on other research to critique the articles you selected. The latter part of his article from pages 40 onwards is a critique of current 最新糖心Vlogn school based models. If you read this section carefully you will see how he analyses the current research in terms of its methodological weaknesses. You may find that the approach in this section is especially worthy of emulating in your approach to your assignment.

I am loathe to give examples of previous assignments as students use this as an excuse for lack of originality and critical thinking but I have relented somewhat. On MyUni you will find a folder containing past examples of students’ efforts. There are some words of warning here. Once you have looked at these you will then not be able to use the articles that these students have used. These are not perfect examples and indeed some are much better than others. The grades for these varied accordingly. We often have trouble getting out of our mind some song we have heard. Do not read these and then be so blinded by what you have read you cannot come up with a good paper yourself.

1. Double space the lines. Use at least 12 point and a clear and legible font. This makes it easier for the maximum grade to be awarded by staff that wear multifocal spectacles but are otherwise kind and caring, full of compassion, slow to anger and rich in justice.

4. A title page should be placed at the front of the assignment. This should contain your name, the subject, the title of the assignment, the name of the lecturer concerned, and the date. All assignments must be accompanied by an Essay Cover Sheet, which includes a Statement of Authorship

As a result of SELTs 2015 feedback and other feedback provided by students the following changes have been made:

1.More convenient class times for students and different location of tutorials

2.More MyUni available material on the Personal Research Project- kindly provided by  Jarrod Johnson of Pulteney Grammar School.

3.More emphasis on the global as well as local nature of research for those who will teach not only in SA but nationally and internationally.

4.Course now revised and updated to appear on line on the 最新糖心Vlog's new portal.

5. Assignment handed in at the end of week four.

6. Continuing emphasis on the varied audiences this course caters for, that is, not only the teacher as reseacher and their personal and professional development but  the teacher as teacher of the personal research project  which is now a feature of many school systems.

7. Greater care taken to point out the limitations of all research.