Topics in Special Education ResearchSPED 596 CRN: 82489

Sheldon Loman, PhD. Summer 2013Contact: sheldon.loman@pdx.edu

Today…

Dr. Helen Young

This Evening’s Agenda

• Course Syllabus & Assignments

• Student Information Sheet• Break• Brief Lecture• Activity• Dismissal

Presentation of Course Syllabus Links are on wiki:

http://rxsped596.pbworks.com/w/page/54340090/FrontPage

You should have all been invited on your pdx.edu email address. If you haven’t received an email, please contact Sheldon @ sheldon.loman@pdx.eu

You can also just type the address into your web browser to get access.

Course StructureThis class will be taught using an adapted interteaching method

(Boyce & Hineline, 2002; Saville et al., 2005). Interteaching methods are based on common research-based

practices in college teaching, including reciprocal peer tutoring, problem based learning, and cooperative learning (Saville, Zinn, Neef, Van Norman, & Ferrari, 2006).

Review: Based on feedback Quiz: Short quiz after review

Discussion: Use discussion guide with partner(s)

Self-evaluation & Feedback:Evaluate quality of interactions & topics requiring further clarification

Walk-through Course Structure

“Mock Review”

Review: Based on feedback Quiz: Short quiz after review

Research Defined• Research is a systematic process for asking

(and answering) questions.The research question(s) being asked

determine the research methodology and specific research design used

In our field, research guides (a) our understanding of basic

mechanisms of behavior, and (b) our identification of effective (or

“more effective”) clinical interventions.• Evidence-based practice• Research is one way to “fix beliefs”

Why do research?

Four Functions of Educational Research:1. Description2. Prediction3. Improvement4. Explanation….of an educational phenomenon

Description

• Heavily dependent upon instrumentation for measurement & observation

• Increase our knowledge about what happens in schools

• E.g., “Amazing Grace” OR “Shame of a Nation” by Jonathan Kozol

Prediction• Ability to predict a phenomenon that

will occur at time Y from information available at an earlier time X.

• E.g., student’s achievement in school can be predicted accurately by an aptitude test administered a year or two earlier. OR

• Identification of students who are likely to be unsuccessful as their education progresses in order to prevent drop-out.

Improvement

• Concerns the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve practice.

• E.g., drug therapies in medicine, reading/writing/math interventions to improve students’ academic achievement

Explanation• Considered the “most important” in the

long term (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007)• If able to explain a phenomenon this

means you can: describe it, predict its consequences, & know how to intervene to change those consequences

• Explanations are usually framed as theories• E.g., self-determination theory, feminist

theory

Mock Quiz

Complete the student information sheet/ quiz (not graded!)

Correct Quiz

Self-grade quiz

Research Defined• Research is a systematic process for asking

(and answering) questions.The research question(s) being asked

determine the research methodology and specific research design used

In our field, research guides (a) our understanding of basic

mechanisms of behavior, and (b) our identification of effective (or

“more effective”) clinical interventions.• Research is one way to “fix beliefs”

Why do research?

Four Functions of Research:1. Description2. Prediction3. Improvement4. Explanation….of an educational phenomenon

Description

• Heavily dependent upon instrumentation for measurement & observation

• Increase our knowledge about what happens in schools

• E.g., “Amazing Grace” OR “Shame of a Nation” by Jonathan Kozol

Prediction• Ability to predict a phenomenon that

will occur at time Y from information available at an earlier time X.

• E.g., student’s achievement in school can be predicted accurately by an aptitude test administered a year or two earlier. OR

• Identification of students who are likely to be unsuccessful as their education progresses in order to prevent drop-out.

Improvement

• Concerns the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve practice.

• E.g., drug therapies in medicine, reading/writing/math interventions to improve students’ academic achievement

Explanation• Considered the “most important” in the

long term (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007)• If able to explain a phenomenon this

means you can: describe it, predict its consequences, & know how to intervene to change those consequences

• Explanations are usually framed as theories• E.g., self-determination theory, feminist

theory

New Vocabulary Words…In Chapter 1

What data/info do quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods researcher’s collect?: • Quantitative: Numerical data

• Qualitative: Words, pictures & artifacts

• Mixed: Both types of data

Define subject or participant or stakeholder: Individual you are studying

-Person from who you collect data

Participant- more common due to the role that individuals play in research process

Stakeholder- used more frequently when evaluating a program

Define Independent variable (IV) or predictor variable:Independent variable=

Intervention/treatment manipulated for different groups or at different times (e.g., literacy training).

Predictor variable= Inherent characteristics that are different between groups (e.g., studying gender differences)

Dependent variable (DV) & criterion variable: Variable that the researcher is interested in

measuring to determine how it is different for groups with different experiences (dependent) or characteristics (criterion) .

Dependent variable: Measured/outcome variable

Experimental & control groups• Experimental group- receives

intervention

• Control group- business as usual, no intervention

Population & Sample

• Population: Group to whom you want to apply your results (e.g., teachers in a school district; n=800)

• Sample: group that you have chosen from your population from which to collect data (e.g., n=80 teachers from a school district selected to interview/survey)

Prepared by M. Hara (mhara@pdx.edu)

Population

Prepared by M. Hara (mhara@pdx.edu)

Sample

Generalizability & Transferability Generalizability: researcher’s ability to

generalize results from sample to the population from which it was drawn.

Transferability: In qualitative research, results enable readers to make judgments to link to their own situations.

Course Structure

Review: Based on feedback Quiz: Short quiz after review

Discussion: Use discussion guide with partner(s)

Dyadic Discussion• Each day you will come to class with a completed

(typed & printed) discussion guide (based on what you read)

• This will guide your discussion with partners

• For today, please read the sample study handed to you (also within text) and complete the discussion guide for this one study (10 minutes).

• Then get into a group with 4 other people who read different sample studies and discuss similarities & differences between the different studies (15 minutes)

Course Structure

Brief Lecture

Several Ways We Fix Our Beliefs• History (It has always been that way)

• Authority (It is true because an important person says it is)

• Logic (It seems like it ought to be true)

• Experience (We saw it work…or… “it worked for me”)

• Experimental Analysis (Systematic analysis using the scientific method with objective exposure to disproof).

• Dangers in fixing beliefs: Bruno Bettelheim (1967)• “Refrigerator Mother” theory of autism

Activity:Define a FACT

A) about life in generalB) about an intervention in your

field, and the effect of that intervention.

What is the source of your knowledge?HistoryAuthorityLogicExperienceExperimental Analysis

Why do research?

Four Functions of Research:1. Description2. Prediction3. Improvement4. Explanation….of an educational phenomenon

Overall first step to the research process is identifying your own worldview

Major Paradigms in Research• Paradigm: way of looking at the world• 4 major Paradigms (from Mertens, 2010)

1. Postpositivism2. Constructivist3. Transformative4. Pragmatic

Postpositivism

AKA: ExperimentalQuasi-experimentalCorrelationalCausal comparative (examined after the

fact; ex post facto)QuantitativeRandomized control trials (RCT)

Postpositivism

• Dominant paradigm that guided early educational and psychological research

• Importance of objectivity & generalizability

• Suggest researchers modify their claims of understandings of truth based on probability, rather than certainty

ConstructivistAKA:NaturalisticPhenomenological (as perceived by the

actors) Hermeneutic (interpretive understanding or

meaning) Symbolic interactionEthnographicQualitativeParticipatory action research

Constructivist Paradigm

• Reality is socially constructed by people active in the research process

• Researchers should attempt to understand the complex world of lived experience from the point of view of those who live it (Schwandt, 2000)

• Research is a product of values of researchers and cannot be independent of them.

Transformative

AKA:Critical theoryNeo-MarxistFeminist theoriesFreireanParticipatoryEmancipatoryPostcolonial/indigenousQueer Theory

Disability TheoriesAction Research

Transformative Paradigm

• Directly addresses the politics in research by confronting social oppression at whatever level it occurs (Reason, 1994)

• Consciously and explicitly position themselves side by side with the less powerful in a joint effort to bring about social transformation.

Pragmatic ParadigmAKA: Mixed MethodsMixed ModelsParticipatory

• Goal is to search for useful points of connection.

In-Class Activity Part 1.

• Review the Table on page 11 of textbook OR copy handed out

• Work with 2-3 other people and explain which paradigm resonates most with you & why

• Be willing to share your biases

Features of the Scientific Process

Public processOperational description of variablesMeasurement

QuantifiableReliable (consistent)Valid (accurate)

Replicable (measurement, intervention)Exposure to disproof (research design)Objective analysis

Steps in the Research/Scientific Process

• 1. Identify socially important issue

• 2. Review current literature

• 3. Define conceptual model

• 4. Define specific hypothesis(es) and research question(s)

• 5. Define dependent variable(s)/measure

• 6. Identify independent variable(s)/measures

• 7. Select appropriate research design

• 8. Obtain consents• 9. Collect data• 10. Analyze data• 11. Communicate

results• Written presentation• Oral presentation

Socially Important Issue

Conceptual Model Inferences/Hypotheses

Dependent Variable(s)

Dependent Variable Measures

Research Question

Independent Variable(s)

Independent Variable Measures

Research Design

Elements of a Research Model

1. Socially Important Issue:

2. Conceptual Model/Hypothesis:

3. Research Question(s):

4. Dependent Variable:

5. Dependent Variable Measure:

6. Independent Variable:

7. Independent Variable Measure:

8. Research Design:

Write down 3 socially important research topics that are of interest to you.

What possible variables are you interested in measuring/describing? ◦ E.g., increased sight words for students with

severe disabilities, fidelity of implementation of a program by teachers/staff.

Find others who are interested in your topic.

In-Class Activity Part 2.

Do you have style? (APA) style? Short Group Quiz!

http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/tutorials/apatutorial/quiz.php?type=pre

Purdue Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/

560/15/

Self-evaluation & FeedbackPlease complete self-evaluation

sheet and feedback form