Reading & Preparation Assignment 1
You will need to access the following in order to complete your assignments:
- Part III Qualitative Research from the textbook by McMillan (2022)
- Chapter 11 Qualitative Research Designs
- Chapter 12 Qualitative Data Collection
- Chapter 13 Qualitative Data Analysis, Validity/Trustworthiness, and Reporting
- Part IV Mixed Methods and Action research by McMillan (2022)
- Chapter 14 Mixed Methods Designs
- Chapter 15 Action Research
Module 5: 5-4-3-2-1 Reflection
Purpose
This assignment is intended to help you learn to:
- Organize and process the information you learned in this module’s readings.
- Reimagine material for future personal or social benefit.
Overview
Considering what you learned this module, you’ll write 5 categories of reflections about the information we covered.
Action Items
- Consider what you learned in this unit and write the “5-4-3-2-1” response, outlined below:
- 5 bullets of what you learned to expect from students in your licensure area.
- 4 bullets of what you learned about your actions as a teacher in the classroom.
- 3 bullets of Disconnect, Disagreement or Confusion based on what you read.
- 2 Questions you have about the material.
- 1 Personal or Professional Connection you made to the material.
Assignment 2
Module 5: Annotated Bibliography
Purpose
Briefly summarize the source and/or explain why it is important to a topic
Overview
Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you’re forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information. At the professional level, annotated bibliographies allow you to see what has been done in the literature and where your own research or scholarship can fit.
Tasks
- Write annotated bibliographies for three peer-reviewed journal articles
- Read the Overview in Module 2 Preparation.
- Read the annotated bibliography example Download annotated bibliography example.
- Write the annotated bibliographies for 3 articles (some of them need to be quantitative, others can be qualitative) using a combined informative/evaluation style.
For each of the 3 bibliographies, include the following information:
Bibliographic information of the source using the APA 7 style.
Provide the source summary and analysis (1-2 paragraphs).
What is the general research topic of the article?
What is the aim of the study?
What are the research methods (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed) used in this research?
What theory is described as a theoretical underpinning of the research?
What are the main arguments?
Be sure to list the research findings and suggestions for future research and future practice.
Evaluate the article (1 paragraph).
Is it a useful source?
Is the information reliable?
Is the source biased or objective?
Reflect on the article (1 paragraph).
How does it fit into your research?
How does it help you shape your argument?
How can you use this source in your research?
Has it changed how you think about the topic?
Assignment 3
Module 5: Journal Article Critique
Purpose
- Evaluate academic research about educational leadership
- Relate research findings to the focus area of your program
Overview
In this assignment, you are to search a journal in the field of educational leadership and find an empirical research article that is of interest to you, then identify the major parts of the article.
Some of the sources that can help you identify a potential article are listed below:
- The LibGuideLinks to an external site. contains the list of journals in educational leadership.
- Google ScholarLinks to an external site. is a great tool for starting your search.
Google Scholar: the unlimited guideLinks to an external site. provides guidelines how to use Google Scholar effectively and efficiently. - Contact the library using their chat window and ask for help with locating relevant databases, journals, and other sources.
Tasks
- Search a journal in the field of educational leadership and find an empirical research article that is of interest to you, then identify the major parts of the article.
- Reflect upon the results presented and their implication in relation to the focus area of your program.
- Follow the guiding questions:
- What is the type of research (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods)?
- Note: If you have chosen a mixed methods research, you should analyze qualitative and quantitative strands separately.
- Is there a statement of the problem in the Introduction?
- Is the educational significance of the problem discussed in the Introduction?
- Is the review of the related literature comprehensive?
- Are all cited refences relevant to the problem under investigation?
- What is (are) the research question(s) (or hypothesis)? (hypotheses apply to quantitative research only)
- Describe the sample used in this study.
- How was the data analyzed?
- What is (are) the major finding(s)?
Project 1-3
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to assess your ability to:
- Collect data and display.
- Use Excel.
- Create and interpret Venn diagrams.
- Summarize and report findings.
Overview
In this module, you will turn in the final part of Probability Project 1. This project consists of three parts.
- Project 1-1: Data Collection – Due in Module 2
- Project 1-2: Create Venn Diagrams – Due in Module 3
- Project 1-3: Final Report Submission – Due in Module 4
Venn diagrams can be a useful way to display the results of a survey with multiple questions. At a glance, one can get a general feel of the ways in which the experiences and/or knowledge of a group of people overlap. In this project, you will collect data in a survey and then use a Venn diagram to analyze the results.
In this portion of the project, you will use your collected data to create two additional Venn diagrams and present your analysis.
Action Items
- Divide your data into two sets according to your demographic question, for example “under 25” or “25 and up.” You do not need to have an equal number of each; however, you must have at least 10 in each of the two categories and a minimum of 40 responses total.
- Using the same approach as in Project 1-2, create two new Venn diagrams to display the results for each demographic category separately. Again, use the Venn diagrams template. Download Venn diagrams template.
- Compare the new Venn diagrams to each other and to the original. Are they similar? Different? What does this suggest? How might it alter your previous conclusions? Write another brief paragraph explaining your comparisons and a minimum of three new observations or inferences that might be drawn from comparing the Venn diagrams.
- View the sample report.Download sample report.
- Using the sample report above, create a short report in Word that includes the following:
- Title
- Introduction: An introduction to your findings, i.e., what your reader will learn about from reading this report.
- Methods: A brief explanation of your subjects (who? how many?) and how you collected their responses.
- Results:
- The overall Venn diagram and analysis paragraph – make sure to review and incorporate any feedback or corrections you receive.
- Two additional Venn diagrams representing the results from each demographic category separately. Write an analysis paragraph comparing the diagrams, with each other and with the overall Venn diagram explaining similarities and differences and a minimum of 3 additional observations or inferences that can be drawn by comparing the Venn diagrams.
- Be sure to follow the instructions in the sample report/template and copy the data tables from your Excel workbook into the “Appendix A: Data” section of your report.
I have attached both sheets to this assignment.
