This course introduces students to simple and multiple regression analysis, specifically as the methods are applied to research questions in educational research. Students learn about the linear regression model and its assumptions, how to use SPSS to fit the model to data, and how to interpret results. Students will also learn how to: evaluate the tenability of the model's assumptions; conduct thoughtful model building; model the effects of categorical predictors and statistical interactions; and handle multi-collinearity. The use of statistical techniques are modeled in class and then students apply these new techniques to datasets of educational relevance from a variety of sources, including educational surveys, observational studies, and randomized experiments. Students learn how to interpret the outcomes of their analyses thoughtfully and meaningfully and are asked to communicate these interpretations clearly and concisely in writing.

Study of a particular theoretical, methodological, or policy issue. May be offered off campus as professional development.

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts and skills needed to communicate effectively in writing for academic study and professional development. Students will learn how to use the four stages of the writing process - prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing - to create written communication that meets its intended purpose for its intended audience. Students will also be introduced to rhetorical styles and the role of outside sources in academic writing. Constructing and implementing effectively-designed search strategies for information to answer a critical inquiry or research question are also addressed in this course.

This writing and reading intensive course is foremost intended to increase students' exposure to and appreciation of literature in its many forms. Students will therefore read and discuss the primary genres of poetry, the short story, drama, and the novel. The second goal of the course is to hone students' abilities to read, write, and think critically about the ways in which human experience itself is shaped by language in literary texts. Through the development of literary analysis skills and the practice of writing about literature, students will learn to communicate meaningfully about literature as an art form with aesthetic, social, cultural, and political significance.