Courses
Inquiry Methodology (P, Y)
- EDUC-P 501 Statistical Method Applied to Education (3 cr.) An introduction to statistical methods needed for basic data analysis in education. Includes an introduction to distribution of variables, measures of central tendency, variability, hypothesis testing, correlation techniques, one-way analysis of variance, and simple regression analysis. Emphasis is placed on theoretical and computational skills.
- EDUC-Y 500 Computer Laboratory and Consultation for Educational Statistics (0-1 cr.) This laboratory course is designed to accompany specific courses in educational inquiry. Use of research software, interpretation of analysis results, and conceptual discussion of corresponding concepts and principles are included in this laboratory. This course will include course-related consultation. The management and use of large data sets may be included in some laboratory offerings.
- EDUC-Y 502 Intermediate Statistics Applied to Education (3 cr.) P: Basic mathematical and algebra skills, and knowledge of research concepts as might be learned in an introductory statistics or research course. Review of descriptive statistics; correlation and regression; multiple regression; inferential statistics e.g., t-test; analysis of variance; one- and two-way factorial designs; analysis of covariance; and categorical data analysis e.g., chi-square.
- EDUC-Y 510 Action Research I (3 cr.) (This is not a core inquiry course for Ph.D. students.) An introduction to the basic philosophy and methods of action research. Students will design an action research project and write a proposal. Students will learn how to conduct action research. This course emphasizes the selection of an area of focus, collection of data, organization, analysis and interpretation of data, as well as decisions about the appropriate actions to take based on findings.
- EDUC-Y 515 Foundations of Educational Inquiry (3 cr.) Examination of the nature and purpose of educational inquiry with a focus on topics in social science/epistemology.
- EDUC-Y 520 Strategies for Educational Inquiry (3 cr.) Introductory course intended to orient beginning graduate students to the conduct of social science inquiry in general and educational inquiry in particular and to acquaint them with key terms and generally accepted procedures in qualitative and quantitative inquiry.
- EDUC-Y 521 Methodological Approaches to Educational Inquiry (3 cr.) Introduction to the various methodological approaches to the conduct of social sciences inquiry in general and educational inquiry in particular. Focus on the epistemological implications of methodological choices.
- EDUC-Y 525 Survey Research Methodology (3 cr.) P: Y520 or Y521 and Y502. This course introduces students to social survey research, with particular emphasis on questionnaire design. Specifically the educational goals for the course include: 1) designing survey items that match research questions and plans for analysis, 2) understanding concepts, terminology related to questionnaire design and the fundamental steps of conducting survey research, 3) critical reading of survey research, 4) developing an awareness of current issues and important problems in questionnaire design, and 5) developing a theoretical and epistemological framework within to understand the ambitions, limitations, and history and practice of survey research.
- EDUC-Y 527 Educational Assessment and Psychological Assessment (3 cr.) P: P501 and Y520. Theoretical foundations for assessing educational and psychological constructs, with application to tests and alternative assessment procedures; methods for estimating reliability and validity; and techniques for scale construction, including attitude, personality, interest, aptitude, and performance.
- EDUC-Y 530 Topics in Computer Analysis of Educational Data (1-3 cr.) P: Y502 or equivalent. Use of computers in educational research. Topics include operating systems, file generation and management, screen editing, packaged statistical programs, batch and interactive operation, libraries of statistical procedures, microcomputer applications, and library-related computing research tools.
- EDUC-Y 535 Evaluation Models and Techniques (3 cr.) P: Y520 or equivalent. An overview of evaluation as an inquiry process, including a discussion of the history of evaluation and the state of the art. Frameworks and models for planning evaluation studies are discussed and applications are demonstrated. Criteria for evaluating studies, steps for writing evaluation proposals and reports, and techniques for the collection of information are discussed.
- EDUC-Y 590 Independent Study or Research in Inquiry Methodology (1-3 cr.) P: Y520 or equivalent Individual research or study with an Inquiry faculty member, arranged in advance of registration. A one or two page written proposal should be submitted to the instructor during the first week of the term specifying the scope of the project, project activities, meeting times, completion date, and student product(s). Ordinarily, Y590 should not be used for the study of material taught in a regularly scheduled course.
- EDUC-Y 600 Methodological Implications of Social and Psychological Theories (3 cr.) Introduction to social psychological theories that inform current methodological theory and practice including those developed by Freud, Piaget, Levi-Strauss, Webber and Marx. This introduction forms the basis of an exploration of methodological concepts such as validity and inference in terms of their social and psychological foundations.
- EDUC-Y 603 Statistical Design of Educational Research (1-3 cr.) P: Y502 or Consent of Instructor. Topics covered include distribution of random variables, estimation, statistical hypotheses, and analysis of trend data. Also included is analysis of variance: groups-within treatments, simple factorial, split plot, mixed, nested, and other higher dimensional analysis.
- EDUC-Y 604 Multivariate Analysis in Educational Research (3 cr.) P: Y502 or Consent of Instructor. Multivariate normal distribution, multivariate correlational analysis, covariance matrix, testing hypotheses of covariance matrices, principal components and factor analysis, canonical correlations and variables, multiple discriminant functions.
- EDUC-Y 611 Qualitative Inquiry in Education (3 cr.) P: Y520 or Y521, or Consent of Instructor. Examination of qualitative approaches to educational inquiry (e.g. case study, naturalistic inquiry, educational anthropology, educational connoisseurship and criticism). Exploration of methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data, criteria for field studies, and approaches to writing up field studies.
- EDUC-Y 612 Critical Qualitative Inquiry I (3 cr.) P: Y520 or Y521. This first course in the sequence provides an introduction to critical social theory as it emerges through the context of qualitative research. Students begin corresponding field work, including both data collection and analysis.
- EDUC-Y 613 Critical Qualitative Inquiry II (3 cr.) P: Y612. This second course in the sequence continues the exploration of social theory and methodology by providing an opportunity for students to follow through on fieldwork and analysis started in EDUC-Y 612 and by examining some theory left implicit in EDUC-Y 612. The course will include opportunities to begin writing methodological tests.
- EDUC-Y 617 Psychometric Theory (3 cr.) P: Y502 and Y527. Study of psychometric theories and procedures, including derivation of reliability and validity indices, and statistical techniques for advanced test analysis; critical review of issues in educational and psychological assessment.
- EDUC-Y 624 Discursive Psychology Approaches to Discourse Analysis (3 cr.) This course is to provide an introduction to discursive psychology approaches to discourse analysis. This is both a theoretical and methodological approach for understanding naturally-occurring language use, or talk-in-interaction. In this course, we will focus on both the theoretical foundations and analytical implications of a discursive psychology (DP) approach to data analysis.
- EDUC-Y 630 Narrative Theory and Inquiry (3 cr.) P: Y611 or Y612. Examines narrative theory and its connection to narrative approaches to inquiry. Explores the use of narrative in qualitative inquiry, and practices methods of collecting and analyzing narrative data.
- EDUC-Y 631 Discourse Theory and Analysis (3 cr.) P: Y611 or Y612. Examines the roots of discourse analytic field in qualitative research. Explores current trends in discourse theory and analysis. Examines exemplars and provides opportunities to engage in discourse analytic methods.
- EDUC-Y 633 Feminist Theory and Methodology (3 cr.) Students will explore various iterations of feminist theory across an international spectrum in order to understand how feminist theory critiques enlightenment problematics, examining the epistemological aspects of feminist theories and their methodological implications. Students will engage in feminist research and reflect on feminist theoretical principles through the project.
- EDUC-Y 635 Methodology of Educational Evaluation (3 cr.) P: Y535 or Consent of Instructor. Multidisciplinary methods for organizing, collecting, and processing evaluative information; presentation of problems in evaluation methods of inquiry and use of methods from other disciplines to alleviate these problems. Emphasis will be on the transfer of appropriate methods and techniques to evaluation problems.
- EDUC-Y 637 Categorical Data Analysis (3 cr.) P: Two statistics courses at the graduate level (i.e., Y502 & Y604), or Consent of Instructor. The analysis of cross-classified categorical data. Loglinear models, regression models in which the response variable is binary, ordinal, nominal, or discrete. Logit, probit, multinomial logit models; logistic and Poisson regression. Course is equivalent to STAT-S 637.
- EDUC-Y 639 Multilevel Modeling (3 cr.) P: Two statistics courses at the graduate level (i.e., Y502 & Y604), or Consent of Instructor. Introduction to the general multilevel model and an emphasis on applications. Discussions of hierarchical linear models, and generalizations to nonlinear models. How such models are conceptualized, parameters estimated and interpreted. Model fit via software. Major emphasis throughout the course will be on how to choose an appropriate model and computational techniques.Course is equivalent to STAT-S 639.
- EDUC-Y 645 Covariance Structure Analysis (3 cr.) P: Two statistics courses at the graduate level (i.e., Y502 and Y604), or Consent of Instructor. Path analysis, introduction to multivariate multiple regression, confirmatory factor analysis, and latent variables. Structural equation models with and without latent variables. Mean-structure and multi-group analysis. Course is equivalent to STAT-S 645.
- EDUC-Y 650 Topics in Educational Inquiry Methodology (3 cr.) P: 6 hours of basic inquiry methodology course work. Advanced study of research and theory on selected topics in qualitative or quantitative inquiry methodology.
- EDUC-Y 655 Longitudinal Data Analysis (3 cr.) P: Two statistics courses at the graduate level, or Consent of Instructor. Introduction to methods for longitudinal data analysis; repeated measures data. The analysis of change-models for one or more response variables, possibly censored. Association of measurements across time for both continuous and discrete responses. Course is equivalent to STAT-S 655.
- EDUC-Y 660 Affinity Research Group (1-6 cr.) P: Consent of Instructor. Study and Research support groups formed on the basis of mutual interests to generate new curriculum and research projects integrating previous course work under the guidance of a faculty member. The work of these groups could continue over the course of several semesters to develop research papers, presentations, books or conduct empirical research as a team.
- EDUC-Y 671 Knowledge, Reflection and Critique in Methodological Theory (3 cr.) P: Y611 or Y612. This course examines the concept of reflection in epistemological theories as these have historically developed from Kant to the contemporary period. Kant's philosophy introduced reflection on the theory of knowledge through development of transcendental logic. Less visible traditions in epistemology took Kant's insights in many different directions: hermeneutics, critical theory, psychoanalytic theory and the cognitive and moral development theories of Piaget, Vygotsky and Kohlberg. This history will be covered in the course, with direct applications of relectionate research methodology. (taught previously under Y650).
- EDUC-Y 672 Communicative Action Theory (3 cr.) P: Y611 or Y612. This course focuses on both volumes of Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action Volumes One and Two. The Theory of Communicative Action (TCA) has direct implications for all social research both in methodological and substantive ways. Methodology, TCA provides a core theory of reason and validity, action and meaning and bifurcated concepts of the social (lifeworld and system) having implications for research design and data analysis. Substantively, the theory of communicative action is suggestive for research questions and determines the vocabulary through which articulate findings. (taught previously under Y650).
- EDUC-Y 673 Discursive Psychology as Theory (3 cr.) Discursive psychology is a theory of language as action that explores how psychological constructs are made visible in talk and text. Students will explore the theoretical principles and epistemological bases for engaging in discourse methodology. Students will examine theoretical texts and the ideas that compel researchers who are committed to discursive psychology.
- EDUC-Y 690 Advanced Independent Study in Inquiry Methodology (1-3 cr.) P: Consent of Instructor. Individual research with an Inquiry faculty member on an advanced methodology topic, arranged prior to registration. A short proposal should be submitted during the first week specifying the scope of the project, completion date, and products. Y690 is not for material taught in a regularly scheduled course. May be repeated for a total of 6 cr.
- EDUC-Y 750 Topical Seminar in Educational Inquiry Methodology: variable title (3 cr.) P: 9 credit hours of pertinent 500- and 600-level inquiry courses. Study of selected advanced methodological topics encountered in educational research and exploration of recent developments in inquiry methods.
- EDUC-Y 799 Doctoral Thesis in Inquiry Methodology (1-12 cr.) Credit may be earned over a period of several semesters. The thesis may be an organized scientific contribution or a comprehensive analysis of theory and practice in a specific area.
- EDUC-Y 795 Dissertation Proposal Preparation (1-3 cr.) This course is for the development of a dissertation proposal in program areas in education which do not currently offer such a course. Students must have the consent of a dissertation director or prospective director to enroll. Students should be finished or nearly finished with program course work.
