ERAM 510   Uses and Abuses of Educational Research   credit: 4 Hours.

Aims at comprehensive research literacy by considering educational research in historical, philosophical, policy and political context. Through close reading and quantitative, qualitative, and humanistic studies, the discussion of interdisciplinary perspectives on the research process, students learn to engage intelligently with multiple modes of research and deal critically with policies claiming an evidentiary warrant. Specific topics include: the relationship between research, policy, and practice; the nature of theory and method, argument and evidence in the humanities and social sciences; the tensions between advocacy and research. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 515   Social Theories and Education   credit: 4 Hours.

Examines philosophical issues in social and political theory as they pertain to educational problems. The course includes topics such as autonomy, democratic education, educational reform, and social change. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 520   Researching Race in Education   credit: 4 Hours.

Focuses on the methods and methodology that education researchers engage to research educational equity as it relates to race, racism and racial equity in education. Drawing on the research methods literature in the social sciences, humanities and education, this course is appropriate for graduate students in education, sociology, anthropology, and others who have an interest in research methods, methodology and educational issues. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 550   Methods of Educational Inquiry   credit: 4 Hours.

Same as CI 550, EPSY 550, and SPED 550. See CI 550.

ERAM 551   Philosophy and History of Educational Research   credit: 4 Hours.

Addresses the historical context of educational research as well as philosophical issues in the foundations of research. Themes include: the efforts of educational research to be respected as a "science"; the rise of educational psychology as a dominant model of educational research; the checkered history of IQ testing; the role of theory in educational research, and how we choose a theory; the debate over quantitative vs qualitative research, and why that is the wrong debate. The readings for the course do not assume any previous background with philosophy. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 552   The Role of Theory in Educational Research   credit: 4 Hours.

All research is guided by theory. Theory provides a vocabulary, a set of laws or generalizations, a background literature, and a conceptual framework for any effort to plan, design, and execute a research study. There is no theory-free inquiry. This is true in the social sciences as well as the natural sciences. All research seeks to explain phenomena: a theory provides an explanation for those explanations. However, these theoretical assumptions are often implicit and unreflective. Researchers may think they have no theory, or have a theory that is so taken for granted that they don’t recognize it as an assumed theory. Much of educational research suffers from this lack of theoretical self-awareness. Like any other aspect of research, theories are falsifiable. They must stand the test of evidence – which may go against them. The goal of the class is not to identify the "right" or "best" theory, but to make the identification and selection of a theory more critical and reflective. Any major theory has insights, and each has limitations. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 554   Postcolonial Theory and Methodology   credit: 4 Hours.

Since the 1990s, scholarship focusing on center-periphery relations has grown considerably. This scholarship is often identified with postcolonial theories of education and society. The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with this body of literature that addresses the way in which post-independent states are currently engaged in massive institutional transformations in light of globalization. Ultimately, we will explore the theoretical and methodological traditions foregrounded in postcolonial research and their implications for educational policy. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 555   Ethnographic Methods in Education   credit: 4 Hours.

Focuses on goals, nature, and methodological means of ethnographic research in educational settings broadly defined. Such research aims to describe and, moreover, to understand the ways of living of teachers, students, administrators, parents, and other participants in relevant social spaces. The class will be grounded in the disciplinary perspectives of cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural studies. We will have an ongoing discussion of how one conducts ethnographic research, and all members of the class will conduct their own mini-study. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 556   Program Evaluation   credit: 4 Hours.

Examines models and methods of evaluating programs, processes, and products in broadly-defined organizations situated in various operational contexts (eg., education, business, government, NGO). Particular emphasis is given to topics of formative and summative evaluation, frameworks for program evaluation, quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, communicating and reporting evaluation findings, and the ethics and standards of evaluation practice. The underlying philosophy of the course is that evaluation can be the catalyst for organizational learning to facilitate intended changes, especially when initiated by those in training and organization development positions. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 557   Meaning Patterns: Semiotics and the Interpretation of Meanings in Education and the Social Sciences   credit: 4 Hours.

Addresses the ways in which knowledge is represented, with special reference to the knowledge representations of teachers and learners. Its interdisciplinary bases are functional linguistics, semiotics, philosophy, history of ideas, media/communication studies, and ontology in computer science. The focal point of the course is the five questions about meaning posed by Cope and Kalantzis in their transpositional grammar: "what is this about?" (reference); "who or what is doing this?" (agency); "what holds this together?" (structure); "how does this fit with its surroundings?" (context); and "what is this for?" (interest). Along these lines of inquiry, a transpositional grammar addresses language, image, embodied action, object and space. "Transposition" refers to the movement across these various forms of meaning, intensified in the era of pervasively multimodal, digitally-mediated communications. Applied to education, not only does this provide a valuable heuristic to reframe literacy teaching and learning (the original impulse for the development of this grammar). It also offers an integrated account of meaning-to-learn across all subject areas, including pedagogical content knowledge and learner knowledge representations. Conceived in the broader terms of social-scientific research methods, transpositional grammar is an attempt to overcome the narrowness and logocentrism of "the language turn" which dominated social sciences in the twentieth century. In a practical sense, semiotics of the kind explored in this course also provides tools for reading and interpreting multimodal texts and research data. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 560   Quantitative Policy Analysis   credit: 4 Hours.

Provides a graduate-level introduction to education policy analysis using quantitative methods. Roughly equal amounts of class time will be devoted to 1) understanding conceptual frameworks for conducting policy analysis; 2) understanding on a conceptual level the basics of quantitative methods commonly used in policy analysis; and 3) applying those frameworks and methods to the analysis of actual policies. Students will conduct an analysis of a policy issue of their choosing. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: EPSY 580.

ERAM 565   Quantitative Methods for Education Policy 1   credit: 4 Hours.

Provides students with the fundamentals of quantitative analysis and research design. Topics include populations & sampling, measurement, foundations of statistics, and assessing correlation vs. causation. Students will complete applied data analysis activities. This is the first in a three-course sequence to develop students' capacity to conduct quantitative analysis. It integrates research methods and data wrangling to provide vertical alignment supporting the development of skills necessary for dissertation research aligned with traditions in education policy. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: Restricted to EPOL students, or with approval of instructor and advisor.

ERAM 566   Quantitative Methods for Education Policy 2   credit: 4 Hours.

Provides the fundamentals of statistical analysis from an applied policy research perspective. Topics include foundations of statistics, multivariate regression, conceptual and mathematical models, and the counterfactual model of causal inference. This is the second in a three-course sequence intended to develop students' capacity to conduct quantitative analysis integrating research methods and data wrangling to provide tight vertical alignment supporting the development of skills necessary for dissertation research aligned with disciplinary traditions in education policy. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: ERAM 565. Restricted to EPOL students, or with approval of instructor and advisor.

ERAM 570   Seminar in the History of Education   credit: 4 Hours.

Intensive group study of a small number of selected problems to assist individual students to develop an understanding of and the ability to use the techniques of historical research in furthering such study; problems studied are selected in the light of the interests and previous training of the group of students enrolled. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: Two courses in the history of education or consent of instructor.

ERAM 571   Traditions in Philosophy of Education   credit: 4 Hours.

Analyzes major trends and primary sources in philosophy of education, drawing mainly from the 20th century. Movements covered will include pragmatism, concept analysis, phenomenology, feminism, and Marxism/Critical theory. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: An appropriate 300- and 400-level coursework in philosophy, philosophy of education, or consent of the instructor.

ERAM 572   Case Studies in Educational Ethics   credit: 4 Hours.

Focuses on normative case study approaches to investigating ethical issues in K-12 and higher education. Examines ethical decisions faced by educators, administrators, and policymakers as they seek to support the advancement of students, parents, teachers, communities, and democratic society writ large. Particular attention will be given to complex ethical decisions that arise in the pursuit of educational equity and justice. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 573   Cultural Studies and Critical Interpretation   credit: 4 Hours.

Explores the history, applications and limitations of various theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of contemporary culture and popular media. Examines debates and issues within cultural studies and with other schools of thought. The impact of cultural studies across the disciplines. Same as EPS 575 and MDIA 575. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 574   Education Law   credit: 4 Hours.

Examines the range of federal and state constitutional and statutory sources that apply to the constituents (pupils, parents, teachers, administrators, and board members) engaged in public schools. Emphasizes development of legal analytical skills. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 575   Action Research and Educational Leadership   credit: 4 Hours.

Encourages the development of an inquiry stance by enabling students to design action research projects grounded in authentic practice-based questions. The course examines action research as a vehicle for teacher and administrator growth and instructional reform. Practitioner inquiry is characterized by the careful documentation and systematic analysis of practice over time. In this class, students will ask critical questions about teaching and learning, curriculum, school management, student development, and educational change, while applying various methods of data collection and analysis, in the design of action research projects based within practitioners' school sites. This course introduces students to the foundations, purposes, and practices of action research and practitioner inquiry. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: EPOL 550. Advanced doctoral students.

ERAM 576   Discourse Analysis   credit: 4 Hours.

Students will gain an understanding of major theoretical and methodological approaches to doing discourse analysis in educational research (e.g., through analysis of face-to-face or online classroom talk and interaction, or published policy documents). Course assignments will provide students with opportunities to develop and apply tools for conducting research using discourse analytic methods. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: Successful completion of a minimum of one graduate-level introductory qualitative research methods course.

ERAM 581   Evaluation with Applied Survey Design I   credit: 4 Hours.

The initial course in a three-part course sequence that introduces the theories, methods, and applications of surveys for educational and social programs through student projects. The survey is an essential tool for researchers in the social sciences and in many applied professional fields, such as education, public health, and marketing. In the context of student projects, we will examine the major planning tasks necessary for conducting surveys, including problem formulation, study design, questionnaire and interview design, pretesting, sampling, interviewer training and field management, and code development. We will focus throughout on issues of design, refinement, and ethics in research that crosses boundaries of nationality, class, gender, language, and ethnicity. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.

ERAM 582   Evaluation with Applied Survey Design II   credit: 4 Hours.

Further explores the theories, methods, and applications of surveys for educational and social programs through student projects. The survey is an essential tool for researchers in the social sciences and in many applied professional fields, such as education, public health, and marketing. This course focuses on data collection, interviews, training manuals and planning for field work, instrument pilots, and coding and data management. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ERAM 581 and/or related experience with an original survey dataset.

ERAM 583   Evaluation with Applied Survey Design III   credit: 4 Hours.

Intended for students who have completed ERAM 581 & ERAM 582, and/or have completed independent data collection using survey instruments. Previous knowledge of survey data collection methods and an original data set is a prerequisite for taking this course. This module will focus on applied data processing and analysis including data editing, imputation, weighting, and considerations for reporting data from complex sample surveys. Emphasis will be on the practical application of data analysis procedures in Stata, a statistical software application with the capability to account for survey design, to applied research problems. This online course will be open to both on-campus and online students. This course will make use of the STATA statistical platform which can either be purchased individually or used freely in campus computer labs, where available. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ERAM 581 and ERAM 582 and/or related experience with an original survey dataset.