This capstone will be an issue focused study. Its a deep dive into a problem. It’s an extensive analysis of a problem facing educators, and yours is a prime example of that. Remember, this is not an annotated bibliography that you might have done in another course in the program. When you do your deep dive you’re looking for answers to your research questions by examining a variety of factors that relate to the problem so it’s very important that you not only tell us what the research says, and doesn’t say, but also how this factor may relate to another factor. 20 PAGES AND 20 REFERNECES1
- Describe a problem of education practice that is of an appropriate size for the capstone project and relevant to the candidate’s education context.
- Justify the problem statement and/or research question as a gap or worthwhile topic for study.
- Synthesize literature that reflect differing perspectives on the problem of practice and/or possible interventions.
2
- Design and implement a series of lessons targeting the area of concern/deficiency.
- Distinguish measurement of change with area of concern/deficiency.
- Evaluate and/or select a methodology for a study.
- Evaluate and/or select method for a study.
3
- Gather triangulated data from implementation of learning.
- Evaluate the teaching process and implementation of research within a classroom setting.
- Interpret and analyze data to discuss findings .
- Design and implement a series of lessons targeting the area of concern/deficiency.
- Draw appropriate, reasonable, and supported conclusions from data (action research or case study) or research (issue-focused study or professional development) that answer the research question.
- Propose recommendations for next steps that follow from the data and/or research.
RUBRIC -Candidate’s problem statement and research question are both of an appropriate size to investigate in the candidate’s educational context and generalizable to other educational contexts. -Candidate evaluates the relative strength of differing perspectives in the literature. The themes in the literature review flow to provide a narrative about the educational problem of practice and/or potential interventions. -Candidate justifies research design and methods using research and description of contextual features. -Candidate proposes next steps that demonstrate an understanding of the scope of the data and/or research (e.g., gaps, generalizability, etc.). 9.1–10.0 points At Standard, plus: Candidate uses accurate APA formatting with no errors.
EXTRA NOTESWorking in a kindergarden classroom in a charter school with 10 ELL students. They use a english language learning app called Lexia English. for 30 min a day. Add in some resources for strategies in writing/reading. Narrow it down if you can, if it gets to be too much.Make an assessment if needed to complete it..
- The best research results are triangulated. You should always have at least two data points (the second intended to confirm or corroborate the first). Best to use two different research methods to triangulate (e.g., a survey and a test, or a focus group and an observation). Even better if you can use a quantitative method AND a qualitative method (thereby making your research design “mixed-mode.”)
- True experimental designs are nearly impossible in educational settings, because you can’t get true random groups. Therefore, ban the word “caused” or “proved” from your research paper, as this is way to bold of a word to use for the type of research you will be undertaking.