Educational Foundations

Roy C. Farley

Head, Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling and Foundations

234 Graduate Education Building

479-575-4207

E-mail: rfarley@uark.edu

George S. Denny

Program Coordinator

234 Graduate Education Building

479-575-4207

E-mail: gdenny@uark.edu

Web: http://www.uark.edu/depts/coehp/EDFD/index.htm/

• Professors Lucas, Mulvenon, Stegman
• Associate Professors Denny, Ritter, Turner

Degree Conferred:

M.S. (EDFD)

Graduate Certificates Offered:

Educational Program Evaluation

Educational Measurement

Education Policy Studies

Educational Statistics and Research Methods

Areas of Concentration: Research Methods and Policy Studies. The degree program develops professionals in the areas of educational research methods and policy studies, both through courses and independent research. Graduates can obtain employment with school districts, educational agencies, and industries with internal data analysis needs.

Prerequisites for Acceptance to the Program: In addition to meeting University requirements for admission to the Graduate School, applicants must have earned a bachelor’s degree with at least a 2.75 cumulative GPA and a combined score of at least 1000 on the verbal and quantitative sections and a 3 on the writing section of the Graduate Record Examinations.

Requirements for the Master of Science Degree: Graduates are required to satisfy the requirements of the Graduate School for a Master of Science degree. The degree requires 30 hours, consisting of these required courses (18 hours):

EDFD 5013 Research Methods in Education
EDFD 5353 Philosophy of Education
EDFD 5373 Psychological Foundations of Teaching & Learning
EDFD 5393 Statistics in Education and Health Professions
EDFD 5653 Educational Assessment
EDFD 5683 Issues in Educational Policy

One course from the following (3 hours):

EDFD 5303 Historical Foundations of Modern Education
EDFD 5473 Adolescent Psychology in Education
EDFD 5573 Life-Span Human Development

In addition to the courses listed, students are also required to complete these independent research requirements (9 hours):

EDFD 599V Research Practicum (3 hours)
EDFD 600V Master’s Thesis (6 hours)
and pass a comprehensive examination.

Prerequisites for Acceptance to the Graduate Certificate Programs: In addition to meeting University requirements for admission to the Graduate School, applicants must have earned a master’s degree with a 3.25 cumulative GPA and scores of at least 500 on both the quantitative and verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examinations OR be currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Arkansas.

Certificate Requirements: 18 semester hours from the list of courses for a certificate with a grade-point average of 3.50.

Graduate Certificate in Educational Program Evaluation: The graduate certificate in Educational Program Evaluation recognizes students who take a concentrated core of courses focused on systematic and rigorous evaluation of educational programs and policies. Students who earn this certificate have a working knowledge of qualitative and quantitative evaluation procedures and can use these to plan, conduct, and report on evaluations.

Program of Study:

EDFD 6403 Educational Statistics and Data Processing
EDFD 6413 Experimental Design in Education
EDFD 6613 Evaluation of Policies, Programs, and Projects
EDFD 6533 Qualitative Research
EDFD 699V Seminar: Survey Research Methods

One course from the following (3 hours):

EDFD 6423 Multiple Regression Techniques for Education
EDFD 6453 Applied Multivariate Statistics
EDFD 6543 Advanced Qualitative Research
EDFD 6653 Measurement and Evaluation
EDFD 699V Seminar (approved by EDFD faculty)

Graduate Certificate in Educational Measurement: The graduate certificate develops professionals in the areas of measurement, testing, and assessment, through courses in the area of instrument development and research design. Graduates can obtain employment with educational agencies and industries with assessment and research analysis needs.

Program of Study:

EDFD 5653 Educational Assessment
EDFD 6403 Educational Statistics and Data Processing
EDFD 6653 Measurement and Evaluation
EDFD 699V Seminar: Advanced Measurement and Evaluation

One course from the following (3 hours):

EDFD 6613 Evaluation of Policies, Programs, and Projects
EDFD 699V Seminar: Survey Research Methods

And one course from the following (3 hours):

EDFD 6413 Experimental Design
EDFD 6423 Multiple Regression Techniques for Education

Graduate Certificate in Education Policy Studies: The graduate certificate in Education Policy Studies recognizes students who take a concentrated core of courses focused on education policy and public policy. Students who earn this certificate develop a framework for studying issues in public policy and education policy, examine how education policy is developed and implemented, and learn methods for evaluating programs and policies.

Program of Study:

EDFD 6403 Educational Statistics and Data Processing
EDFD 5683 Issues in Educational Policy
EDFD 6613 Evaluation of Policies, Programs, and Projects
EDFD 6993 Seminar: Economics of Education
EDAD 5053 School Law

Graduate Certificate in Educational Statistics and Research Methods: The graduate certificate in Educational Statistics and Research Methods recognizes students who complete a core of courses focused on developing theoretical, application, and interpretative aspects of statistical techniques and research methods. Graduate students completing this certificate will also develop comprehensive programming and data management skills necessary for today’s
academic researcher.

Program of Study:

EDFD 6403 Educational Statistics and Data Processing
EDFD 6413 Experimental Design
EDFD 6423 Multiple Regression
EDFD 6453 Multivariate Statistics

One course from the following (3 hours):

EDFD 5653 Educational Assessment
EDFD 6653 Measurement and Evaluation

And one course from the following (3 hours):

EDFD 699V Advanced Statistics Seminar: Structural Equation Modeling
EDFD 699V Advanced Statistics Seminar: Exploratory Data Analysis
EDFD 699V Advanced Statistics Seminar: Categorical Data Analysis
EDFD 699V Advanced Statistics Seminar: Approved by EDFD Faculty

EDFD5013 Research Methods in Education (FA, SP, SU)  General orientation course which considers the nature of research problems in education and the techniques used by investigators in solving those problems. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

EDFD5303 Historical Foundations of Modern Education (FA, SP, SU)  Critical analysis and interpretation of the historical antecedents of contemporary education, focusing upon the American experience from the colonial period to the present.

EDFD5323 Global Education (IR)  Comparative and global analysis of international education with emphasis on cultural education and implications for the future.

EDFD5353 Philosophy of Education (IR)  Introduction to the method and attitude essential to effective analysis and interpretation of issues and values within a society reflecting cultural, ethnic, gender, and global diversity. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

EDFD5373 Psychological Foundations of Teaching and Learning (IR)  Psychological principles and research applied to classroom learning and instruction. Social, emotional, and intellectual factors relevant to topics such as readiness, motivation, discipline, and evaluation in the classroom.

EDFD5393 Statistics in Education and Health Professions (FA, SP, SU)  Applied statistics course for Master’s degree candidates. Includes concepts and operations for frequency distributions, graphing techniques, measures of central tendency and variation, sampling, hypothesis testing, and interpretation of statistical results.

EDFD5473 Adolescent Psychology in Education (IR)  Study of the adolescent experience with emphasis on the unique psychological problems and tasks of this developmental stage; role of educators in the facilitation of crises resolutions in social, personal and institutional conflicts. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

EDFD5573 Life-Span Human Development (FA, SP, SU)  Basic principles of development throughout the human life-cycle. Physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and personality development.

EDFD5653 Educational Assessment (FA, SP)  Introduction to measurement issues and basic test theory. Focus on types and usage of assessment tools, data management, and analysis and interpretation of educational data. Practical training in the utilization and interpretation of academic achievement data in Arkansas.

EDFD5683 Issues in Educational Policy (FA, SP, SU)  This course examines how K-12 education policy is designed and implemented in the United States. Students will develop a working knowledge of policymaking frameworks to examine major education policies of current interest and debate key policy issues that arise at each level of government.

EDFD599V Seminar (1-6) (IR)  

EDFD600V Master’s Thesis (1-6) (FA, SP, SU)  May be repeated for 6 hours.

EDFD605V Independent Study (1-6) (FA, SP, SU)  

EDFD6223 Educational Futurism (IR)  An integrative, holistic analysis and assessment of potential alternative futures to guide current educational practice. Prerequisite: graduate standing and history or philosophy of education.

EDFD6403 Educational Statistics and Data Processing (FA, SP, SU)  Theory and application of frequency distributions, graphical methods, central tendency, variability, simple regression and correlation indexes, chi-square, sampling, and parameter estimation, and hypothesis testing. Use of the computer for the organization, reduction, and analysis of data (required of doctoral candidates). Prerequisite: EDFD 5013 or equivalent.

EDFD6413 Experimental Design in Education (FA, SP)  Principles of experimental design as applied to educational situations. Special emphasis on analysis of variance techniques used in educational research. Prerequisite: EDFD 6403 or equivalent.

EDFD6423 Multiple Regression Techniques for Education (FA)  Introduction to multiple regression procedures for analyzing data as applied in educational settings, including multicollearity, dummy variables, analysis of covariance, curvi-linear regression, path analysis. Prerequisite: EDFD 6403.

EDFD6453 Applied Multivariate Statistics (SP)  Multivariate statistical procedures as applied to educational research settings including discriminant analysis, principal components analysis, factor analysis, canonical correlation, and cluster analysis. Emphasis on use of existing computer statistical packages. Prerequisite: EDFD 6413.

EDFD6533 Qualitative Research (FA, SP)  Introduction of non-quantitative methods, including data collection through interviews, field observation, records research, internal and external validity problems in qualitative research. Prerequisite: EDFD 6403.

EDFD6543 Advanced Qualitative Research (SP)  Preparation for the conduct of qualitative research, structuring, literature reviews, data collection and analysis, and reporting results. May be repeated for 6 hours. Prerequisite: EDFD 6533.

EDFD6613 Evaluation of Policies, Programs, and Projects (FA)  Introduction to evaluation in social science research, including why and how evaluations of programs, projects, and policies are conducted; includes analysis of actual evaluations in a variety of disciplines.

EDFD6623 Techniques of Research in Education (FA, SP, SU)  Use of scientific method in attacking educational problems. Emphasis placed on the planning and design of research studies, collection of reliable and valid data, sampling methods, and analysis and interpretation of data. (Required Prerequisite: EDFD 6403.

EDFD6653 Measurement and Evaluation (IR)  Fundamentals of measurement: scales, scores, norms, reliability, validity. Test and scale construction and item analysis. Standardized measures and program evaluation models in decision making. Prerequisite: EDFD 6403.

EDFD668V Practicum in Research (1-6) (FA, SP, SU)  Practical experience in educational research on campus, in school systems, or in other agencies in educational program development.

EDFD699V Seminar (1-6) (IR)  Prerequisite: advanced graduate standing.