EDTC 809 Assessment and Evaluation
An introduction to systematic inquiry using assessment methods to understand, evaluate and solve user and organizational needs. Candidates will integrate their knowledge of research methods with real-world challenges of conducting and analyzing research in educational and corporate settings
Project 1: Observational Exercise
Find a social or public setting that is conducive for observing and recording social interaction. Either choose a site that is unfamiliar to you (e.g., a soccer match, a homeless shelter, an art gallery, an ethnic festival, outdoor concert) or choose a site that is familiar to you (except for coffee shops, please) and attempt to ―make the familiar strange.
Project 2: Pilot Field Study
Qualitative methods are learned best through a synergistic combination of study, field experience, and reflection on study and experience. Accordingly, students will pursue pilot field studies to practice and reflect on such advanced skills as identifying and framing meaningful questions, observation and notetaking, interviewing, data analysis, reflexivity, and reporting of data. As members of a three person research team, students will choose a topic for inquiry; develop a clear and compelling question(s) and select appropriate qualitative methods in concert with developing sampling and data-collection procedures. In turn, they will conduct their pilot study and prepare a presentation for the class.
