1. Day #1, June 17 th CEP 955 Summer Hybrid, 2013 Jack Smith Michigan State University

2. Overview: Practicum & Summer Model of CEP 955 Rationale for the Research Practicum requirement Coming to think and act like a researcher Model for your dissertation The requirement has been very successful CEP 955: Need a place to learn research design (not methods) Two major course goals Produce a defensible Practicum proposal Learn general knowledge about research design The Practicum Committee (advisor, 2 nd faculty, student) Practicum timeline Generate the full proposal (end of Summer 2013) Defense to Practicum Committee (end of Summer/early Fall) Carry out the study (2013-14 academic year) Analysis & writing (Spring/Summer 2014?) Defend your study (Spring/Summer 2014?)

3. Practicum Proposal development CEP 955 course goals are the same in hybrid & F2F models Proposal development is a gradual, effortful process Program stance: Start with educational issue, topic, problem of interest to students Students build their proposals organically Design: orchestration and alignment of pieces Must engage your advisor; Jack will be sitting in few of your Practicum defenses

4. CEP 955 Phases Phase I (now complete) Apologies for less intensity from Jack (in recovery) Build on your proposal sketch from CEP 901B Goals: Continue your reading, focus on research questions Phase II: A “crash course” (10 days for 14 weeks); go home with a long “to-d0” list Phase III: Put Phase II learning to work fully Final goal: Present a “good” draft of your proposal to your advisor in August (before Committee)

5. Major Topics in Phase II Empirical and theoretical “related” research Framing theory (grand and local) Crafting good research questions Personally meaningful, empirical, significant, point to feasible inquiry RQs, traditions of research, & types of studies Concepts, definitions, and measures Sites, samples/participants, and human subjects Data collection (in relation to RQs) Data analysis (what you will do with your data) Non-linear, cyclical development

6. Sketch/Plan for Phase III Go home with better text, lots more knowledge, and a substantial to-do list Take a break for a week Jack will read and comment on your full proposal at most twice before August 2 nd Intermediate draft (best before July 19 th ) “Course final” version Can revise the “course final” before submitting to your Advisor in August Work with your Advisor to make final additions and plan for proposal defense (to Practicum Committee)

7. Questions & Issues? The Practicum The course The role of advisor and Practicum Committee

8. Our Course Practices Toggled schedule in Phase II (CEP 953 & 955) Seminar discussion: What does it mean? Challenge (for us all): General (shared) topics and your individual proposals, topics, and learning needs Challenge (for us all): Many worthy tasks, not much time (between classes) Challenge (mostly for you): The “world” is always calling; how you will manage your focus and attention Jack’s limits (in Erickson); how you can help Help with the physical arrangement of the room & scribing Reacting to small pieces and specific issues will be possible Consultation away from class: Skype seems like the best bet

9. Books Scientific Research in Education, National Academy Press, 2002. Influential (still); lots of qualitative critics Meaning vs. rigor in research John Creswell, Research Design, Sage, 2009 (3 rd Ed.) Addresses both quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs JS disagrees frequently Gall, Gall, & Borg, Educational Research: An Introduction, Pearson, 2007 (8 th Ed.) Covers the waterfront (designing and carrying out ed. research) Lots of useful chapters But after #6, not be equally useful to all Campbell & Stanley, Experimental & quasi-experimental designs for research, 1963, Houghton-Mifflin A classic of experimental design; very conservative Like the discussion of threats to validity (not just for experiments) Your first impressions from?

10. The Structure of Proposals Three views in print: Smith (what is a proposal?), Pajares (elements); Gall, Gall, & Borg (chapter 2) Major conflicts/disagreements? Today, a more conceptual view Proposals have three main parts “Front-end” (motivates and frames the RQs) RQs, Hs(?), and overview of study (briefly) Study design (how you will address the RQs) What this means for CEP 955 this summer My expectation: All three components in most proposals will change Examine your current version; status of each of the segments Discussion

11. Theory Bites (rationale) An invented name; analogy to small plates in restaurants Analysis task and presentation task in 955 Learning opportunity for you and your peers Premise: Jack’s likes theory; wants you to as well Main functions in educational research Illuminate phenomena Synthesize discrete studies Explanation if not prediction Course goal: Everyone gives at least one theory bite

12. Theory Bites (specifics) Think about a productive choice Sign up on the Course Schedule page (first come, first serve); note provision number/class; may have time for two TBs each day Five slides; no more than 10 minutes; Jack will cut you off; need to clear on what you want to say; Q&A as long as it is productive Theory name, principal author/proponent, central text (or two), what is it a theory of? Theory core; up to five main principles/assertions Why/how it seems relevant to your work? Your questions and/or next steps

13. Homework for tomorrow Be on time; make sure “the trains run on time” Four choices of “successful” Practicum proposals; read at least one for flow and general structure; don’t make it a “strong” model Contact your advisor about one hour of Phase II meeting time Tune up your personal page Return to your current proposal and evaluate: Assembly a Day 1 “to do” list to make it complete and competitive Tomorrow’s focus: The “front end”, especially problem statements