It is not expected that you will emerge from this class with the ability to conduct sophisticated educational research, but rather that you will gain an appreciation of the complexities of the research process, ways that scholars in education have informed their research questions, and a sense of the power and constraints of the various ways that researchers pursue the answers to educational questions. All research is based on making observations. I expect you to be able to make good observations and to be able to describe your observations. An important aspect of research is the ability to detect and describe patterns. I expect you to be able to find patterns and themes, describe them, and find appropriate examples to illustrate the themes you find.
Research is about creating interpretive frames that link observations in meaningful ways.
I expect you to be able to construct meaningful interpretations of observations. Research is an ongoing conversation in print among researchers. I expect you to be able to describe your ideas to be able to make appropriate connections between your ideas and those expressed by scholars. Research is based upon argument from evidence. I expect you to engage in discussion, make arguments, and describe the complexity of issues in a balanced manner which accounts for more than one perspective.