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WELCOME!!!

EDT 50802:  Introduction to Research

Welcome to the fascinating world of evidence and proof.  This course is designed to empower educators to make informed decisions about education through scholarly, scientific inquiry.  Empowerment comes from developing and implementing an action research plan that focuses on an area of education that is of interest to the educator, reporting the findings, and developing action steps. The general focus of the plan can be related to learning, pedagogy, curriculum and assessment, or educational policy. This course is not about statistics nor is it fashioned as the traditional course in educational research.  This course should enable educators to think critically about research and apply research techniques to answer the burning questions they want answered.

Three key believes guided the course design: 

1. The first is that we believe that the aim of assessment is to improve performance, not just merely to report and/or audit it.

2. We also believe that all stakeholders should be actively involved in the learning-assessment cycle.  Parents, students, teachers, and administrators become partners in the process of student learning.   They become invested in the learning process by sharing in it. They can help with the development of the tools and help assess student learning using teacher-designed assessment tools. Communication among the stakeholders becomes essential. 

3. Lastly, we believe that assessment is an integral part of the learning process-not an intrusion to or an interrupter of learning. Assessment is not an isolated activity. It is a key part of the learning cycle. It provides us with check points about how effective we are as teachers, whether or not children are learning and if the curriculum objectives are being met.

By the time you have completed this course you will have compiled compelling evidence of the improvement in your confidence and competence as a classroom assessor.  

A series of interactive buttons on the left hand side and the top of each page will assist you in completing the activities and assignments for this course.