EDUC 5726: INTRODUCTION TO DISCIPLINED INQUIRY

Professor Margaret Eisenhart
Fall, 1998
Tuesdays, 4:00-6:30 p.m.

Course Description and Objectives
My purposes in this course are to introduce you to the educational research process and to explore and compare forms of educational research design. We will read, review, and critique examples of theoretical positions and research designs. We will cover numerous positions and designs, from conventional to innovative, in an attempt to be sensitive to the variety and diversity of educational experiences and outcomes.

The class will be conducted in a mini-lecture and discussion format and is designed for active participants. Please come to class prepared to discuss the assigned material. If you are not comfortable talking in class, please call me or make an appointment to see me early in the semester.

There are several things that I hope you will gain from the course. They are: greater comfort in reading, reviewing, and critiquing educational research; increased understanding of the foundations of educational research; increased understanding of various designs for educational research; and some ideas about how to conceptualize and conduct a research project in your own area of interest.

The Instructor
My office hours (Education Rm. 238) for the Fall Semester are: 2:30-4:00 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. If these times are not good for you, please let me know, and we can schedule another time to meet.

You can also reach me at 303-492-8583 (office). If I'm not there, please leave a message and I'll return your call. I can also be reached by email: Margaret.Eisenhart@Colorado.edu..

Assignments
There will be weekly reading assignments. You should do the assigned readings on time; they will be discussed at the class meeting following the date of assignment.

Required Materials:
Articles will be available in the Equity Library (Educ 344). The packet may be checked out at your convenience.

In addition to weekly reading assignments, there will be oral and written assignments related to the readings and class discussions. The written assignments will be short (approx. 2 typed pages) but should be well-conceived and well-written. The written assignments are designed to be cumulative in the sense that earlier assignments will provide the foundation for later ones. The final written assignment (due on the last day of class) will encompass work done over the course of the semester. Specific topics will be announced in class. There will be no final exam per se.

Criteria for grading student written work

The criteria for grading written work in this class are listed below. They are:

  1. The writing must be clear, and the paper well organized.
  2. Please type your papers.
  3. Maintain sufficient margins to allow the instructor to write brief comments on the pages.
  4. You can save money by not using binders of any kind. Just staple the paper in the upper left corner.
  5. Your work will be judged on the quality of your descriptions and explanations, as well as on the depth of your thought and deliberation. In other words, you should analyze and evaluate, not just report and describe.
  6. The soundness of your reasoning and the validity of your arguments will be considered in determining the value of your work.
  7. Please proofread your papers, and correct errors in spelling, grammar and syntax.
  8. Organize your thoughts and ideas with your reader in mind, and make it as easy as possible for the reader to both understand and appraise your thinking.
  9. Whenever possible, try to use the concepts and ideas discussed in class.
In summary, the key considerations are clarity in expression, care in organization, and depth in ideas. If you have concerns about your work, or want to explore these criteria further, please feel free to raise questions in class or talk with the instructor at any time.


Articles for EDUC 5726 - Fall 1998
Professor Margaret Eisenhart

Anderson, G. (1989). Critical ethnography in education: Origins, current status, and new directions. Review of Educational Research, 59(3), 249-270.

Brantlinger, E. (1997, March). Position, knowledge, agency: Activism and inward gaze as a natural next step in local inquiry. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Bredo, Eric & Feinberg, Walter. (1982). (#1) The positivistic approach to social and educational research. In Eric Bredo & Walter Feinberg (Eds.), Knowledge and values in social and educational research (pp. 13-27). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Bredo, Eric & Feinberg, Walter. (1982). (#2) The interpretive approach to social and educational research. In Eric Bredo & Walter Feinberg (Eds.), Knowledge and values in social and educational research (pp. 115-128). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Denzin, Norman. (1978). Strategies of multiple triangulation. In N. Denzin (Ed.), The Research Act: A theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods (pp. 297-313). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Donmoyer, R. (1997a). Research as advocacy and story-telling. Educational Researcher. 26(5) 2, 41.

Donmoyer, R. (1997b). Visions of educational research's past and future. Educational Researcher. 26(4) 2.

Doyle, W. (1997). Heard any really good stories lately? A critique of the critics of narrative in educational research. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 1, 93-99.

Eisenhart, M., & Lawrence, N. (1994). Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas and the culture of romance. Genders, 19, 94-121. Reprinted in A. Kibbey, K. Short & A. Farmanfarmaian (Eds.) Sexual artifice: Persons, images, politics (pp. 94-121). New York: New York University Press.

Fenstermacher, G. (1997). On narrative. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 1, 119-124.

Heshusius, L. (1994). Freeing ourselves from objectivity: Managing subjectivity or turning toward a participatory mode of consciousness? Educational Researcher, 23, 3, 15-22.

Howe, K., & Eisenhart, M. (1990). Standards in qualitative (and quantitative) research. Educational Researcher, 19, 2-9.

Kyratzis, A., & Green, J. (1997). Jointly constructed narratives in classrooms: Co-construction of friendship and community through language. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 1, 17-37.

Lubeck, S. (1988). Nested contexts. In L. Weis (Ed.), Class, Race and Gender in American Education (pp. 43-62). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Lundeberg, M., Emmett, J., et al. (1997). Listening to each others' voices: Collaborative research about open meetings in classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 3, 311-324.

Moll, L., & Diaz, S. (1993). Change as the goal of educational research. In E. Jacob & C. Jordan (Eds.), Minority Education: Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 67-79). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Newell, S. (1996). Practical inquiry: Collaboration and reflection in teacher education reform Teaching and Teacher Education, 12, 6, 567-576.

Peshkin, A. (1988). In search of subjectivity: One's own. Educational Researcher, 17(7), 17-22.

Roman, L. (1989). Double exposure: The politics of feminist materialist ethnography. Unpublished manuscript.

Scheurich, J., & Young, M. (1997). Coloring epistemologies: Are our research epistemologies racially biased? Educational Researcher, 26(4), 4-15.

Shepard, L. A., & Kreitzer, A. E. (1987, August-September). The Texas Teacher Test. Educational Researcher, 16(6), 22-31.

Smith, J.K. (1997). The stories educational researchers tell about themselves. Educational Researcher, 26(5), 4-11.


EDUC 5726: Schedule and Reading Assignments, Fall 1998



Introduction and Overview
Aug. 25
Introduction: What is Educational Research?
Shepard & Kreitzer (xerox)
Moll & Diaz (xerox)
Eisenhart & Lawrence (xerox)

Sept. 1
What is 'Disciplined Inquiry'? Why do Educational Researchers Talk About 'Competing Paradigms'?
Shulman (J) pp. 3-29
Lubeck (xerox)
Barone & Eisner (J) pp. 73-94

Sept. 8
What are the Products and Outcomes of Educational Research?
Rose, Chapters 1-3

Sept. 15
Developing a Research Problem and Research Questions
Rose, Chapters 4-6
Bredo & Feinberg (#1) (xerox)

Sept. 22
Thinking Broadly About Research Methods
Rose, Chapters 7-10 and "A Note on Method"
Bredo & Feinberg (#2) (xerox)
First paper due (Research Problem)

Theoretical Issues
Sept. 29
Issues in the 'Quantitative vs. Qualitative Debate' or "Positivism" vs. "Interpretivism"
Howe & Eisenhart (xerox)
Peshkin (xerox)
Heshusius (xerox)

Oct. 6
ME out of town; no class
Anderson (xerox)
Roman (xerox)
Second paper due (Positivism & Interpretivism)

Oct. 13
Critical Research and Feminist Research
Lundeberg et al.; Newell;
Brantlinger (xeroxes)

Oct. 20
Action Research
Berliner & Biddle, pp. 1-172

Research Designs
Oct. 27
Research Designs: Issues and Techniques
Berliner & Biddle, pp. 173-350
First draft of research proposal due

Nov. 3
Experimental and Survey Designs
Porter (J), pp. 523-544
Jaeger (J), pp. 449-476

Nov. 10
Ethnographic and Case Study Designs
Wolcott (J), pp. 327-353
Stake (J), pp. 401-414
Short research design due

Nov. 17
Historical Design; Mixed Designs
Kaestle (J), pp. 119-129
Denzin (xerox)

Nov. 24
Narrative and Postmodern Designs
Kyratzis & Green; Doyle;
Fenstermacher (xeroxes)
Short research design due

Future Directions
Dec. 1
Antiracism and Other Visions for the Future
Donmoyer ("Visions");
Scheurich &Young;
Donmoyer ("Research as Advocacy");
Smith (xeroxes)

Dec. 8
The Power & Promise of Educational Research;
Conclusion
Final paper due on Friday, December 11