OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY – DARDEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Dept. of Educational Curriculum & Instruction

 

ECI 635:  Research Methods in Library Media Services

Summer 2007

Session 3:  May 14 – July 30

 

 

Instructor:         Dr. Shana Pribesh

                        Cell 757-943-1997

                        Home 757-489-0592 (leave messages here)

 

168-1 Education Building

                        Office phone:  683-6684 (will not be checking)

 

                        e-mail: spribesh@odu.edu                     

 

1.         COURSE NUMBER:  ECI 635                      

            Credits:  3 graduate credits                                

           

2.         COURSE TITLE:  Research Methods in Library Media Services

 

3.         COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Students will become acquainted with the principles, methods, and strategies used in planning and conducting educational research. Students will prepare first three chapters of the Library Media Services Problem Paper.

 

4.         TEXT:   McMillan, James H.  (2004).  Educational Research :  Fundamentals for the consumer (Fourth Edition).  Pearson/Allyn and Bacon  ISBN:  0-205-37247-3

 

May also use the newer, 5^th edition.

 

5.         MISSION STATEMENT OF THE DARDEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

 

Old Dominion University’s major purpose in its education program is to prepare individuals who have knowledge of their discipline, ability to practice state-of-the art instruction with students of various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds and attitudes that reflect commitment to teaching and learning as well as lifelong professional growth and development.  The Conceptual Framework, Educator as Professional, reflects the development of professional educators who can use their pedagogical and academic abilities to educate all students.

 

Context: Within the context of these broad purposes, the school library media program is based on the philosophy that, in becoming a member of the library media profession, a candidate is called upon to acquire specialized knowledge and to conform to the technical and/or ethical standards of the profession.  Today's professional school library media specialist (SLMS) is expected to be a teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, and program administrator.  As an instructional partner, the SLMS must fulfill the expectations identified by Information Power (1998), as written by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, to join with teachers and others to identify links across student information needs, curricular content, learning outcomes, and a wide variety of print, nonprint, and electronic information resources (p. 4). As the school’s leading authority on information, the library media specialist collaborates with all the members of the school community to create an information-rich environment for learning. (p. 84). 

 

Thus, the ODU school library media program specifically addresses the roles and responsibilities of the SLMS and has the goals of helping students develop as: 1) an educational professional, 2) a library and information professional, 3) a skilled practitioner within the profession, 4)  an individual who will be committed to life-long learning and will further the profession of librarianship, and 5) an ethical professional in a diverse society.

 

6.         COURSE PURPOSE:  The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the educational research process so that they might 1)conduct research in their professional lives and 2)become educated consumers of published research.

 

This course meets the following Standards of the American Association of School Librarians: 

 

            Standard 3:  Collaboration and Leadership

 

·         Element 3.  Pursues self-learning strategies to keep current with developments in the field

·         Element 5.  Understands the importance of professional publications and involvement with professional associations

 

Standard 4: Program Administration

 

·         Element 1.  Understands the importance of gathering and communicating data to support planning and decision-making

 

7.         COURSE OBJECTIVES:  Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

·         Write a research proposal (first three chapters of Problem Paper).

o        Utilize APA manuscript style.

o        Review the literature and write a literature review.

o        Propose a research design.

 

·         Identify and describe different types of research approaches and designs.

o        Distinguish between experimental and descriptive approaches to research.

o        Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research approaches.

o        Generate examples illustrating the various types of approaches and designs.

 

·         Read, summarize and critique research reports.

o        Recognize different types of research reports.

o        Discriminate between primary and secondary sources.

o        Identify and summarize different sections of a research report.

 

·         Understand and generate research questions and hypotheses.

o        Operationally define variables in hypotheses.

o        Distinguish between manipulated and measured variables.

 

·         Identify and understand sampling and assignment techniques.

o        Distinguish between populations and samples.

o        Distinguish between random sampling and random assignment.

o        Recognize different sampling and group assignment procedures.

 

·         Identify and describe logical fallacies in scientific thinking.

o        Define internal validity and identify threats to internal validity.

o        Define external validity and identify threats to external validity.

o        Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of lab versus field research.

 

·         Analyze and interpret simple statistics.

o        Practice analysis and interpretation of descriptive and simple inferential statistics.

o        Generate tables and graphs.

o        Propose data analysis plan for research proposal.

 

·         Describe the reliability and validity of measurement instruments.

o        Know where to obtain information about the reliability and validity of tests.

o        Understand why reliability and validity are essential properties of measurement tools.

 

8.         PROJECTS:  Students will be evaluated on the basis of project activities. Grading for each activity is based on grading rubrics.   A complete listing of the Projects, Modules, Activities and due dates is attached.

 

Projects                                                                       Points

 

Project 4:  Abstract                                                          60

Project 3: Introduction                                                       80

Project 2: Literature Review                                             100

Project 1: Methods                                                           160

 

TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE                                       400

 

 

9.         SCHEDULE: 

 

See attached

 

10.        STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: In compliance with PL94-142 and more recent federal legislation affirming the rights of individuals with disabilities, provisions will be made for students with documented sensory and/or learning disabilities on an individual basis. The student must have been identified as “special needs” by the university and an appropriate letter(s) must be provided to the course instructor at the beginning of the semester. Provision will be made based upon written guidelines from the university “special needs students” resource office. All students are expected to fulfill all course requirements.

 

11.        ATTENDANCE POLICY: "Because the class period is important and discussions cannot be reproduced, absences cannot be made up.  Excessive absences can have a negative effect on the student's learning and performance.  A student who must miss a class is expected to have the initiative necessary to cover properly the materials missed.  The student must meet all course deadlines and be present for all quizzes, tests, and examinations."  (ODU Catalog).  That being said, this is an online course with no specific meeting times.

 

12.        LATE WORK and DEADLINES:  Deadlines specified in the schedule are designed to ensure that students complete work in a logical manner with mastery being the goal.  If students neglect to meet these deadlines, they place that progression in jeopardy.  Although I am open to rearranging deadlines for emergency situations, deadlines should be treated as immovable.  Please turn in work thru Blackboard by 5 pm on the day specified.  You may resubmit work that was originally graded at a C or below.

 

13.        GRADING:  You may view your grades through the Blackboard electronic.  The final grade is based on total points accrued divided by the total points available (400).  Individual percentages of A, B, or C, etc., are not calculated on individual assignment grades.

 

 

Percentage                   Grade

93 – 100                       A

90 – 92                         A-

87 – 89                         B+

83 - 86                          B

80 – 82                         B-

77 - 79                          C+

73 – 76                         C

70 – 72                         C-

60 - 70                          F

  0 - 60                          F

 

14.        ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:  All ODU academic policies apply to this course.  It is the responsibility of students to investigate specific academic policies.  Students with documented special needs must see the professor to discuss accommodation.    Attendance is a professional responsibility.  Students who miss class should consult with classmates to receive class notes and other information missed.  

 

This is a collaborative class.  Students are encouraged to work together to review resources, share opinions and rough drafts in the development of practice sets and other assignments.  The work turned in for grading is expected to be the student’s own, but the thought processes leading up to the finished work may be collaborative.

 

15.        HONOR PLEDGE:  “I pledge to support the honor system of Old Dominion University.  I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism.  I am aware that as a member if the academic community, it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the honor system.  I will report to Honor Council hearings if summoned.”  By attending Old Dominion University you have accepted the responsibility to abide by this code.  This is an institutional policy approved by the Board of Visitors.

 

16.        USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY:  This course is delivered asynchronously, thus, students should be comfortable with instructional technology and the Blackboard delivery system.  The following topics of instruction require intensive use of technology:  exploration of Internet search engines, techniques for online searches, and data analysis.  In addition, the topics you select for your research proposal and assessment assignments might include areas of instructional technology as they relate to classroom practices or school programs. 

           

17.        UNIVERSITY E-MAIL POLICY - The Old Dominion University e-mail system is the official electronic mail system for distributing course-related communications, policies, announcements, and other information for this class and the university in general. In addition, the University e-mail user ID and password are necessary for authentication and access to numerous electronic resources (on-line courses, faculty web pages, etc.). For more information, please visit: http://web.odu.edu/af/occs/stu_email.html.

 

18.        CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT - University students shall conduct themselves in compliance with Old Dominion University’s educational mission and may be disciplined for misconduct that adversely affects that mission.  Students are required to assume responsibility for their own classroom behavior and are expected to participate fully and positively in the teaching/learning process.  Students do not have the right to engage in behavior that is disruptive or otherwise interferes with the learning of others (e.g., talking during lectures, using a cell phone, bringing children to class). Students are expected to conform to rules of classroom decorum and to inform the instructor and/or Site Director when any disruption in learning occurs.   Faculty will follow the guidelines established by the University when confronted with disruptive students. A student who violates the Code of Student Conduct will be subject to administrative action(s) or disciplinary sanction(s).

 

 

 

19.        STATEMENT REGARDING FIELD EXPERIENCES - Candidates in all professional educational programs must understand and apply the practices and behaviors that are characteristic of developing career teachers.  In addition to knowledge of their academic content and the instructional skills necessary to teach that content, teacher candidates must demonstrate the values, attitudes, and commitments of the developing professional educator and must consider the effects that these dispositions have on student learning.  Therefore, in all observation and practicum experiences in the Darden College of Education, teacher candidates will be evaluated through the use of the professional attributes scale, as well as any specific instructional evaluation required for the experience.  Addressed in this evaluation will be attendance, punctuality, oral expression, written expression, tact and judgment, reliability and dependability, self-initiative and independence, collegiality and interaction with peers, organizational skills, response to feedback, and interaction with students.  Candidates who do not satisfactorily demonstrate these attributes may be withdrawn from the observation, practicum, or student teaching experience and/or the teacher education program.

 

20.        ADD TO YOUR PORTFOLIO: A professional portfolio is a tool judiciously and carefully crafted to appropriately showcase the work of a professional while providing evidence of career growth.  It is more than a gathering of assignments in a notebook.  As Campbell, Cignetti, Melenyzer, Nettles, and Wyman (1997) state, a portfolio is an organized goal-driven exhibit providing evidence of understanding and performance.  Having a professional portfolio is important as you seek employment and as you monitor your professional growth. Thus, you will continue the portfolio begun in ECI 675 or begin to collect items from this class that will go into the portfolio in order to demonstrate your abilities as a professional school library media specialist.    The library science portfolio rubric is on the web at http://www.odu.edu/educ/libraryscience/studentteaching/portfolioeval.pdf

and will be used to evaluate your portfolio before you are recommended for student teaching.

 

21.               CULTURAL DIVERSITY:  The following competencies include elements dealing with cultural diversity:  determination of bias in research selection procedure, potential bias in research design, data interpretation, and in the development and scoring of assessments.  In addition, the topics you select for your research proposal might include issues of diversity as they relate to classroom practices or school programs.

22.               SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE:  The course syllabus is subject to change.   The instructor is not liable for any errors in the syllabus or

inconveniences resulting from changes in the syllabus.

 

 

Projects	Modules	Suggested Module Order	Suggested Module View Date	Activities	Suggested Activity Order	Activity Due Dates
Introduction	Parts of a Research Paper	1	May 15
Introduction	Components of Introduction Chapter	2	June 1	Introduction Outline	7	June 6
Literature Review	Components of Literature Review Chapter	3	June 1
Methods	Components of Methods Chapter	4	June 1
Methods	Formulating a Research Question	5	May 15	Research Question	1	May 16, 5 pm
Methods	Sampling	6	May 16	Description of Sample	2	May 28
Methods	Variables and Measures	7	May 17	Operationalize Variables; Describe Measures	3	May 28
Methods	Experimental Designs	8	May 18
Methods	Quasi-Experimental Designs	9	May 19
Methods	Non-Experimental Designs	10	May 20
Methods	Qualitative Designs	11	May 21
Methods	Reliability and Validity	12	May 22	Description of Design	4	May 28
Methods	Data Collection	13	May 23	Description of Data Collection	5	May 28
Abstract	How to Write an Abstract	14	June 3	Draft Abstract	6	June 4
Literature Review	Search Strategies	15	June 5
Literature Review	How to Assess Materials	16	June 6
Literature Review	How to Read and Critique a Journal Article	17	June 7	Article Critique	8	June 11
Literature Review	Organizing a Literature Review	18	June 12	Annotated Outline	9	June 22
Methods	Statistical Methods	19	June 15	Description of Analytical Approach	10	June 18
Methods				Draft Methods Chapter	11	June 25
Literature Review				Draft Literature Review Chapter	12	July 9
Introduction				Draft Introduction Chapter	13	July 16
Methods				Final Methods Chapter	14	July 30
Literature Review				Final Literature Review Chapter	15	July 30
Introduction				Final Introduction Chapter	16	July 20
Abstract				Final Abstract	17	July 30