Courses are open to degree students only. For more recent, and often more detailed, course descriptions from most recent course offerings, please see http://syllabi.gse.rutgers.edu/home/16-300.

16:300:501 Proseminar in Educational Theories and Practice (3) Examines fundamental issues in education through the reading of major theoretical texts. Explores how those issues inform current research.

16:300:503 Proseminar in Educational Research (3) Explores selected contemporary educational issues through reading research conducted from a variety of methodological perspectives. Explores assumptions through commentaries on the conduct of educational research.

16:300:509 Qualitative Research Methods in Education I: Introduction (3) Introduction to qualitative research techniques, examining their potential and limitations for investigating educational questions and issues. Topics include interviews, field notes, and observations.

16:300:511 Quantitative Research Methods in Education I: Introduction (3) Introduction to quantitative research techniques, examining their potential and limitations for investigating educational questions and issues. Topics include one- and two-sample tests of hypotheses, analysis of variance, multiple comparison procedures, regression, and effect size.

16:300:513 Qualitative Research Methods in Education II: Design and Analysis (3) Critical examination of the philosophy and techniques of qualitative methods; design of studies and analysis of qualitative data.

16:300:515 Quantitative Research Methods in Education II: ANOVA (3) Critical examination of sampling distributions, analysis of variance models, planned and post-hoc comparisons, trend analysis, randomized block designs, within-subject designs, and higher-order factorials.

16:300:516 Developing a Theory of Language and Literacy Education (3) Development of theoretical perspectives on learning and teaching of the English language arts through critical examination of the works of language and literacy theorists and their personal experiences as learners. Both breadth and depth of exploration are provided through interactions and contributions of several faculty members' and students' own investigations into the work of a particular theorist.

16:300:517 Qualitative Research Methods in Education III: Educational Ethnography (3) Intensive survey and application of methods and strategies in ethnography available to educational researchers; emphasis on fieldwork employing ethnographic data-gathering techniques that involve participant observation and interview.

16:300:519 Quantitative Research Methods in Education III: Regression (3) Techniques for analyzing data gathered in nonexperimental studies, including matrix algebra, multiple regression, partial and semipartial correlations, variance partitioning, dummy and effect coding, and analysis of covariance.

16:300:533 Topics in Language and Literacy Education (3) Focuses on a particular dimension of theory and research in language and literacy education. Explores the full range of disciplinary approaches to study issues and problems related to a specific area of focus.

16:300:535 Foundations of Language I: Introduction to Language (3) Focuses on language use and function with traditional aspects of language such as sound, form, meaning, and language change. It will also operate as a topics course and cover a wide range of language-related areas such as syntax, phonology, phonetics, semantics, language change, dialect variation, SLA, and writing, among others.

16:300:536 Foundations of Language II (3) Continuation of a two-course sequence. Contrastive survey of formal and functional grammatical theories relevant to education. History of English, language change, comparative and historical linguistics, language, and dialect. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

16:300:541 Introduction to Economics and Education (3) Economic concepts and their application to education; topics include demand for and supply of education, measuring return on educational investment, productivity and efficiency in the educational sector, and the relationship between human capital and economic growth.

16:300:545 Educational Planning and Policy Development (3) Problem-solving and decision-making models including studies of values, goal establishment, performance objectives, measurement and assessment techniques, policy development and executive leadership, and information systems; the multicultural nature of society and the identification of people with special learning needs.

16:300:551 Evaluation of Educational and Social Programs (3) Evaluation of educational and social institutions, programs, and policies, including the social context of evaluation and the political aspects of conducting educational evaluations. Compares and contrasts evaluation and research. Hands-on data analysis and interpretation using a social policy data set. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

16:300:563 Video Data Methodology (3) Focuses on critical examination of studies that have used video data; design of new research that will use video data; and methodological techniques for analyzing video data.

16:300:581 Educational Psychology I: Theories of Development (3) Examination of classical and contemporary theories of human development. Themes considered include�the relations between evolution and development, nature-nurture, individual-society, and biology-culture in development. Focus on change and the processes through which change occurs over the course of the human life span.

16:300:582 Educational Psychology II: Theories of Cognition and Instruction (3) Emphasizes major theories of human learning, cognition, and instruction. Topics include knowledge representation, learning and instructional strategies, domains of application, and research methods used to study these topics.

16:300:591 Cognitive Development (3) Theory and research in children's intellectual development from birth through adolescence. Neo-Piagetian, information processing, and sociocultural approaches to cognition explored. Current research, including children's memory development, social cognition, language, problem solving, spatial thinking, and theory of mind. Implications for schooling considered.

16:300:595 The Psychology of Sex Differences (3) Current psychological theories of sex role development; evidence for and against sex differences throughout the life span; intellectual abilities, achievement, motivation, and behavior; dependence and aggression.

16:300:597 Language Acquisition (3) Theories of language acquisition and the functions of language for the child; topics include prelinguistic behavior, the nature of one-word utterances, the acquisition and development of early syntax and semantics, the relation of thought to language, and the development of communication and conversation skills.

16:300:600,601 Prethesis Research (BA,BA) Students engage in educational research under the supervision of faculty mentors.

16:300:641 Productivity and Efficiency in Education (3) Examines how and where the education dollar is spent, as well as how it is raised. Definitions and measures of efficiency and productivity in primary, secondary, and postsecondary education; productivity trends in education, efficient allocation of school resources, school size and productivity, and efficiency implications of school financing methods.

16:300:643 Educational Change: Theory and Practice (3) Examination of the philosophies underlying recent educational reforms; exploration of implementation and management processes to increase the likelihood of successful outcomes.

16:300:650 Evaluating Teaching (3) Evaluating teaching quality is a cornerstone of current educational reform efforts. There are multiple motivations for improved evaluation practices, ranging from professional development to making decisions about employment and compensation. Over the last two decades, new models of evaluation have been introduced that include value-added modeling based on student test scores, classroom observations, student perception surveys, teacher portfolios, classroom assignments, instructional logs, and new measures of teacher knowledge. This course explores the policy context, methods, and research around the evaluation of teaching quality and studies the assumptions, values, promises, and challenges of using different methods to make inferences about the quality of teaching and the effectiveness of particular teachers. The course also examines current policy initiatives (e.g., Race to the Top) and implementations at state and district levels that are designed to improve teacher evaluation systems. The course provides direct experience with a number of evaluation tools in order to better understand the nature of these tools, the insights they can provide about teaching, and the challenges to using them effectively.

16:300:651 Validity and Assessment (3) Assessment in education is ubiquitous and is increasingly consequential for decisions about students, teachers, administrators, and schools--including higher education. Researchers frequently use assessments to obtain measures relevant to their particular studies. Validity provides a conceptual framework for how to consider the quality of inferences drawn from assessments. Users of assessments can get overwhelmed with all of the technical processes and information associated with tests, but these technical aspects are only tools that help address these fundamental questions of validity. This course explores validity at a conceptual level and does not require strong quantitative skills. It explores evolving conceptions of validity and focuses on aspects of validity including fairness, test design and development, reliability, scoring and interpretation, and consequences of testing. The course also examines applications of validity to current assessment initiatives in the educational landscape.

16:300:661 Seminar in Mathematics Education Research (3) Students engage in a research project that involves formulation of one or more research question(s); discussion and analysis of their theoretical perspectives; collection of data.� Applicable as a research course.
Prerequisite: Practicum or permission of instructor.

16:300:665 Topics in Mathematics Education (3) Selected topics in the learning and teaching of mathematics. Presupposes strong knowledge of content domain.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

16:300:681 Qualitative Analysis and Ranking Techniques (3) Systematic study of chi-square techniques for analyzing educational data. Distribution-free rank tests for independent and dependent samples, confidence intervals, and measures of association. Prerequisite: 16:300:511 or 16:960:532 or 15:291:532.

16:300:683 Applied Multivariate Analysis (3) Survey of multivariate statistical procedures commonly encountered in educational research. Matrix algebra, multivariate analysis of variance, discriminant analysis, exploratory factor analysis, canonical correlations, and log-linear models. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

16:300:685 Causal Modeling (3) Introduction to structural equation modeling including latent variables; confirmatory factor analysis; diagnosing model fit and testing alternative models; and multisample designs. Multilevel (or hierarchical) linear models as related to multisample designs (such as identifying hierarchical structures, random compared with fixed effects); variance components; and designs with repeated measurements. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

16:300:687 Item Response Theory (3) Introduction to item response theory (IRT), which encompasses a group of probabilistic measurement models widely used in standardized testing programs. Foundations and assumptions underlying IRT, comparison of various IRT models, application of IRT to practical testing situations, and implementation of IRT using the BILOG computer program. Prerequisites: 16:300:511 or 16:960:532 or 15:291:532 and permission of instructor.

16:300:691 Cognitive and Motivational Learning Strategies (3) Overview of theory and research related to cognitive and motivational learning strategies. Includes the theoretical basis for learning and motivational strategies, assessment of strategies, problems related to learning from different sources of information, and individual differences in strategy use.

16:300:699 Independent Study in Education (3)

16:300:701,702 Research in Education (BA,BA)

16:300:800 Matriculation Continued (0)

16:300:811 Graduate Fellowship (0)

16:300:866 Graduate Assistantship (BA)

16:300:867 Part-Time Graduate Assistantship (3)

16:300:877 Teaching Assistantship (6)

16:300:878 Part-Time Teaching Assistantship (3)