SPED 8100: Pro Seminar I: Books & Other Library Sources

Transforming education into an evidence-based field depends in no small part on a strong base of scientific knowledge to inform educational policy and practice. Advancing Scientific Research in Education makes select recommendations for strengthening scientific education research and targets federal agencies, professional associations, and universities-particularly schools of education-to take the lead in advancing the field.

This volume brings together the wide range of research methods used to study education and makes the logic of inquiry for each method clear and accessible. Each method is described in detail, including its history, its research design, the questions that it addresses, ways of using the method, and ways of analyzing and reporting outcomes.

Educational policy-makers around the world constantly make decisions about how to use scarce resources to improve the education of children. Unfortunately, their decisions are rarely informed by evidence on the consequences of these initiatives in other settings. Nor are decisions typically accompanied by well-formulated plans to evaluate their causal impacts. As a result, knowledge about what works in different situations has been very slow to accumulate

On Being a Scientist was designed to supplement the informal lessons in ethics provided by research supervisors and mentors. The book describes the ethical foundations of scientific practices and some of the personal and professional issues that researchers encounter in their work.

Kazdin's text is a notable contrast to the quantitative methodology approach that pervades the biological and social sciences. The methodology in Single-Case Reasearch Designs focuses on a widely applicable methodology for evaluating interventions, such as treatment, or psychotherapy, usingapplied behavior anlaysis. However, this revision aims to encompass a broader range of research areas that utilize single-case designs. The text will convey the pertinence of this research methodology to disciplines ranging from psychology and medicine to business and industry.