SZ6006 Research in the Educational Practice

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2016
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Kateřina Vlčková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jan Mareš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Kateřina Vlčková, Ph.D.
Department of Education – Faculty of Education
Supplier department: Department of Education – Faculty of Education
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to make students familiar with the specific form of research and its realization which is related to pedagogical staff (teachers, teachers’ assistants) and to acquire basic methodological knowledge and skills. Learning outcomes • Students will know fundamental approaches to school reality research (especially research of behaviour and attitudes of agents of school education and educational results). • They will be able to plan, realize, and evaluate a simple project of action research. • They will be able to choose a suitable method of data collection, research sample, and process of data analysis. • They will be able to analyse and interpret observed results and to present them both in written and oral form in a comprehensible way.
Syllabus
  • Main topics (syllabus) – topics of lectures and seminars 1. Research related to school practice. Basic approaches towards school reality research. Examples of realized research. Who are agents of research conducted in schools? Respondent, research participant, researcher as a visitor, participant observer, agents,... Data in school practice (pupils’ creation, test results, essays, discussions, portfolios, notebooks, ...). How does research help to improve the quality of pedagogical work? Examples of application of research findings in teacher’s everyday work. Research participation of a school, class, pupil (international, national, purposeful – students, etc.). Designs and types of research. Qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method research. Examples of research designs: • Case study (life stories/biographies, pupils’ or teachers’ portraits, case studies of schools). Literature study: multiple case studies, etc. • School ethnography and other. Literature study: school ethnography • Pedagogical (quasi)experiment. • Evaluation. Literature study:TIMSS, PISA, etc. • Action research, characteristics, phases, examples of conducted research. 2. Research project (researcher’s work plan) – what I want to investigate (research question, hypotheses, variables), where, whom (selection and size of research sample), how (selection of data collection instruments based on research design, process of data collection, data analysis and evaluation using software), and when (time schedule). Validity, reliability. Exercise1 (to understand research findings and to elaborate them for one’s own aims): according to the specified criteria, students will create an APA annotation of maximally 1standard page from recommended or own sample of research. An annotation contains a topic, research question, methods, selection of research sample, research sample, applied analyses, information about validity and reliability, main results, recommendation for practical implication, and citation of the specific research according to the APA. The work is to be submitted into the IS. 3. Observation (observation schemes, evaluation, work with video-recordings, shadowing of teacher’s, headmaster’s or pupil’s work). Interview (interrogating techniques, functions of questions). Exercise 2 (observation – coding or interview – data collection): Student choose either observation or interview; afterwards, they realize a semi-structured interview between each other (max. 20 min) about a specific topic, they transcribe their interview literally according to transcription rules, they suggest adjustments in the interview structure, improvement for guiding other interviews, or they record chosen interactions in a classroom (1 lesson) into a selected observation sheet, and they suggest a way of work with the acquired data. The work is to be submitted into the is.muni. 4. Collection of documents and products of activities – content analysis. Exercise 3 (content analysis conducted in a lesson, reflective writing – enhancing self-reflection in teacher assistant’s job). Work with own reflective notes in diaries from assistant’s practice, reflection on practice as one of the self-evaluation instruments... Work with diaries from practice, ideas for support of lower secondary pupils’ writing, work with pupil’s portfolio, etc. 5. Questionnaire, survey... (construction and evaluation). Exercise 4 (questionnaire): Students can find in the IS several scanned questionnaires reaching from these that are very well formulated and well-prepared to these that are not appropriate and breaking all the construction rules. Students are to comment, where they can see mistakes, if the questionnaire observes what the author intended, etc., they suggest other question formulations or the whole questionnaires. The task is to be submitted into the IS. Students complete this task before the lesson with the Questionnaire topic, where it will be discussed. 6. Knowledge test (construction and evaluation). Exercise 5 (knowledge test): according to specific criteria, students try to create a didactic test for a lesson, where they have assisted, to check pupils’ specific knowledge, upon agreement with a supervising teacher, students will give this test to pupils and evaluate it, they will interpret results, suggest a classification and actions that they will try to implement during their practice. The report is to be submitted into the IS. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** APA (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. APA. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Pearson. Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Gall, J. P., Gall, M. D., & Borg, W. R. (2006). Educational Research: An Introduction. Pearson. Johnson, R. B., Christensen, L. B. (2010). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2007). Basics of Qualitative Research:Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Yin, R. K. (2013). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Examples of research TIMSS: http://timssandpirls.bc.edu PISA: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/
Literature
  • ŠVAŘÍČEK, Roman and Klára ŠEĎOVÁ. Kvalitativní výzkum v pedagogických vědách. Vydání první. Praha: Portál, 2007, 377 stran. ISBN 9788073673130. URL info
Teaching methods
Lecture/seminars, individual study.
Assessment methods
Students fulfil exercises (individual tasks) and submit them into the learning environment of the IS in electronic form. On their basis and on the basis of activities in lessons (reading for the specific teaching sessions and engagement into discussion, preparation for lessons), students collect points and for their responding number, colloquium is gained.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2016, recent)
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