EDCI 9850: Science Education Research Seminar

Unit Theme: Creating Effective Contexts for Learning

Program Theme: Teacher as a Scholar Researcher

Course Description: This advanced research seminar is designed for science education doctoral students. The purpose of the seminar is go engage doctoral students in the nature of communication, research and publishing in the field of science education. Using the Internet tools found in the course web site and face-to-face seminars, students will explore scholarly "writing" by being actively engaged in class activities, web discussions, interviewing professional science educators, and beginning the process of scholarly inquiry. One of the major outcomes of the seminar is the identification and description of a dissertation prospectus. As such, the content topics of the seminar will be student driven, and created by the doctoral students enrolled in the class.

Course Objectives:

Use methods of inquiry to explore the field of science education.

Explore the realms of professional communication and scholarly work associated with the profession of science education.

Develop the expertise to inquire into and design a research investigation in science education.

Develop a rationale and context for the research and document the relationship of an individual research project to a larger context.

Demonstrate the professional expertise to present a scholarly report using low and high technology formats.

Course Requirements:

Participation in all face-to-face and online seminars and activities is required.

A. Prepare a list of course objectives and an action plan. Qualitative and quantitative objectives should be included, but in each case an action plan and an assessment strategy should be included. You might want to use a three-column table to present this document. Due the 2nd class period.

Objective (my goals)	Action Plan (what I plan to do)	Assessment Strategy (How I will know if I met my objective)

B. Each student will present the results of their work in a portfolio that should contain the following components:

• Journal: Reflections and thoughts about class discussions, readings, and online communication. This is not a diary; it a reflection of your experiences.
• Bibliography: An annotated list of all the readings you did during the semester; include articles, books, manuscripts, monographs, and online resources. Annotations should be one or two sentences, not a review or your notes.
• Research Activities: A summary of your work on each of the Research Activities. These activities will be used in the class to help you learn about research and prepare your dissertation prospectus.
• Prospectus: A written document that describes the topic of your research dissertation. The document should have Chapter 1 completed, and at least initial outlines of Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 1 should include a rationale for your research topic, a problem statement and research questions, the context of the research, the methodology and a bibliography.

The portfolio will be due one week prior to the last class session.

C. Each student will make a presentation of their research prospectus. The presentation will follow one of the NARST formats, the informal poster session. Each presentor will have five - ten minutes to highlight your poster and paper, followed by informal visits and discussions at each poster location. The session will close with a general discussion among all of the participants.

• Poster Board Session Report---using the format of a poster board (e.g. science fairs), prepare the progress you have made on your prospectus in this low technology format. We will have a single session, in which the posters will be presented and open for review by the entire science education doctoral community. You should also have copies of your paper available for people who come to the session (plan on 20).

The poster and presentation session will occur April 24, 2002.

TEXTS and References

Gallagher, James J. (1991). Interpretive Research in Science Education. NARST Monograph, Number 4. (Note: I've ordered a copy for each of you directly from NARST)

Tobin, Kenneth, Kahle, Jane Butler, & Fraser, Barry J. (1990). Windows into Science Classrooms. London: Falmer Press (out of print). Photocopies of chapters will be provided.

Tobin, K. (2000) "Interpretive Research in Science Education" In A. E. Kelly and R. A. Lesh, (Eds.), Handbook of Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education (pp. 487 - 512) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (will be provided)

Van Wagenen, R. Keith (1991). Writing a Thesis: Substance and Style. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. (You can order this via amazon.com. Many previous students have found the book to be very useful.

Assessment Rubric for the Seminar

A. Portfolio:

Element	Poor		Fair		Good		Outstanding
Journal	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Bibliography	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Prospectus x 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Research Activities	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Comments:

Overall Assessment of Portfolio

B. Research Presentation

	Poor		Fair		Good		Outstanding
Poster Report	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Creativity of Poster	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Significance of the Problem	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Statement of the Problem	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Research Questions	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Methodology	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Bibliography	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Formal Presentation
Rationale for Study	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Significance of the Problem	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Clarity of the Presentation of the Project	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Quality of the Digital Presentation	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Communicated with the Audience	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Response to Questions	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Other:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Overall Assessment:

Comments:

Instructor__________________________________________ Date____________________