Course Syllabus

EDUC 695

Fall 2023

Wednesdays 4:00 - 7:00 pm

School of Education, Room 2229

 

INSTRUCTOR:	Katie A. Shoemaker	Office & Contact
	Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education	CEDER 1st Floor, SOE Appointments:  email to propose 2-3 dates and times
		shoemak@umich.edu

Overview of the Course:

The course is designed for individuals who plan to work as practitioners in U.S. higher education institutions. This includes a broad range of roles, whether student-facing or not, that influence the student experience, such as student affairs, administrative, support, or leadership roles. Though this course is neither a research course nor a methods course, the aim is to familiarize you with the skills necessary to find, understand, critique, and summarize higher education research in order to apply it to their work to inform their practice. The major goal of this course is to prepare scholar-practitioners to use evidence-based practices in their work.

 

All course readings, assignments, and class activities are designed to be practical in nature. That is, you will be learning and practicing skills a well-rounded scholar-practitioner needs in the field. As many of you are entering this course with internships, prior work experience, and ideas about potential career paths, I encourage you to tailor your assignments toward your present, past, or future career contexts.

 

Course Objectives: This course is designed to help you:

• Ask – formulate practical problems or issues into answerable questions
• Acquire – systematically search for and obtain evidence and information
• Appraise – critique evidence for quality, relevance, validity, and reliability
• Aggregate – summarize evidence by general themes and relevant sub-themes
• Argue – use evidence to articulate a perspective in response to your original question
• Apply – propose a practical solution to your original issue

(Adapted from Barends, Rousseau, & Briner, 2014)

 

Required Readings:

All readings for this course will be on the Canvas course site or Internet websites. Please also check the Canvas site for reading guides.

 

Expectations and Requirements:

Class Participation: This is a discussion-based course. Our class and small group discussions are an opportunity to raise questions, clarify understandings, constructively challenge ideas and perspectives, consider how ideas can be translated into practice in different higher education settings, and learn about others’ perspectives. Effective discussions are marked by attentive listening to and thoughtful consideration of ideas that are circulating–and a willingness to think out loud with one another.  Learning is facilitated when we are open to others’ viewpoints and willing to reconsider our own beliefs and ideas.

 

Class Preparation: Consult the posted weekly reading guide before you start reading each week. Thoughtful reading and note-taking also support deep learning.  As you read, take notes on key points, pose questions, and connect ideas so you can actively participate in class. Your comments, whether fully developed or still under construction, are welcome as we work together to understand the strengths and limitations of specific ideas and their utility for guiding higher education practice.

 

The quality of our discussions relies on your ability to talk and think about the ideas we encounter.

 

Class participation will contribute 15% of your final grade. A rubric explaining the grading criteria is posted on Canvas (Rubric Folder: Class Participation Rubric)*. 

 

Written Assignments: All assignments are to be uploaded to Canvas by the posted due date.

 

Due Dates:

All assignments for the course are due on the dates posted in this syllabus. If you have a pressing commitment or circumstance, we will negotiate an alternative date in advance of the due date for a specific assignment.  As I strive to be flexible, I also seek to support your learning by establishing due dates that will allow you to finish the course on time.  If you consistently miss due dates, I will request a conversation to understand the difficulty you are experiencing and find ways to support your completion of the assignments.  A request for an Incomplete grade for the course may be granted after a discussion with your instructors.  Such requests must be made by April 11.

 

Requirements                                                          Due Dates        % of Grade

Participation                                                                           ongoing                       15%

Assignment 1:  Question of Practice                                       Wed., Sept. 20             completion

Assignment 2:  Institutional Context & Student Populations  Fri., Sept. 29                completion     

Assignment 3:  Group Positionality Statement                      Fri., Oct. 13                  10%

Assignment 4:  Annotated Reference List                               Mon., Oct. 21              10%

Assignment 5:  Identify article for individual critique             Fri., Oct. 27                  completion

Assignment 6:  Group paper descriptive analysis                   Fri., Nov. 3                   10%

Assignment 7:  Individual article critique                               Mon., Nov. 13             20%

Assignment 8:  Group paper analytic results                          Mon., Nov. 20             10%                

Assignment 9:  Group final paper                                           Fri., Dec. 8                   25%

 

Grading Scale: The scale used for determining final course grades will be:

 

A	3.7 - 4.0	C+	2.2 - 2.49
A-	3.4 - 3.69	C	2.0 - 2.19
B+	3.1 - 3.39	D	1.1 - 1.99
B	2.8 - 3.09	F	0 - 1.0
B-	2.5 - 2.79

 

Rewrite Policy:

Students who receive grades of less than a B- on Assignment 7 (Individual article critique) have the option to rewrite this paper. (Credit lost due to lateness cannot be regained through rewriting.) There is no grade cap for a voluntary rewrite; however, a rewrite does not guarantee an increase in your grade. To improve your grade, your rewritten assignment should address the feedback provided on the original paper. Rewriting typically also requires attention to the conceptualization, content, and organization of a paper. It may also require attention to synthesis, evaluation, and/or analysis.

 

Rewrites will be accepted until December 1.  Please inform your instructor if plan to do a rewrite. I strongly recommend that you set up an appointment with me to discuss the feedback you received and provide guidance before you begin your rewrite.

 

Attendance:

Engagement in class activities and discussions is a fundamental component of this course and critical to your learning.  For that reason, class attendance is expected.  Of course, some circumstances may prevent you from attending a class session (e.g., religious observances, illness, family emergencies).  If at all possible, please let me know in advance that you will be absent from a class session so we can plan class activities accordingly.

 

A single absence during the term will not be a cause for concern; two absences (unless due to religious observance or illness) may affect your participation grade.  Absence from three or more class sessions is strongly discouraged; I will contact you for a meeting if this occurs.

 

Academic Integrity:

All SOE graduate students are expected to understand and observe the Rackham Policy on Academic Integrity (https://rackham.umich.edu/academic-policies/section8/). The Rackham policy defines serious violations of academic integrity.  These include, but are not limited to, falsifying or fabricating information, plagiarizing the work of others, facilitating or failing to report acts of academic dishonesty by others, submitting work done by another as your own, and submitting work done for another purpose to fulfill the requirements of a course. If you are unsure what constitutes a violation of academic integrity, please come talk with one of your instructors.

 

Accommodations for Students with Documented Needs:

If you need an accommodation for a documented need, please let me know at your earliest convenience.  Some aspects of this course, the assignments, the in-class activities, and the way I teach may be modified to facilitate your participation and progress.  As soon as you make me aware of your needs, we can work with the office of Services for Students with Disabilities to help us determine appropriate accommodations.  I will treat any information you provide as private and confidential.  For more information about services for students with disabilities, please visit this website: https://ssd.umich.edu/.  

 

Religious Observations:

This class observes University defined holidays (such as Martin Luther King Day, Winter Break). However, other days may be of more significance to you than a University-designated holiday.  If that is the case, please let your instructors know if a class meeting or due date for a class assignment conflicts with your observance of a holiday that is important to you. We will work with you to accommodate your needs.

 

Topics and Assignments by Class Session

 

CLASS 1           August 30 –  Introduction to the course

 

• Introductions
• Syllabus review
• Formulate ideas for final paper project groups

 

CLASS 2           September 6 – Framing the course

 

Evidence-based practice and why research is practical

 

CLASS 3           September 13 – Asking Pt. 1

 

Translating a practical issue or problem into an answerable question

 

CLASS 4           September 20 – Asking Pt. 2

 

Translating a practical issue or problem into an answerable question

 

DUE Wednesday 9/20:  #1 Question of Practice

 

CLASS 5           September 27 –  Contextualizing Pt. 1

 

Considering institutional contexts and student populations

 

DUE Friday 9/29:  #2 Identify institutional context and student population

 

CLASS 6           October 4 – Contextualizing Pt. 2

 

Considering researcher positionalities, subjectivities, lenses, and perspectives


 

 

CLASS 7           October 11 – Contextualizing Pt. 3

 

Considering your own positionalities, subjectivities, lenses, and perspectives

 

DUE Friday 10/13:  #3 Group Positionality Statement

 

CLASS 8           October 18 – Acquiring

 

Systematically search for and obtain evidence and information

 

DUE Monday 10/23:  #4 Annotated reference list

 

CLASS 9           October 25 – Appraising Pt. 1

 

Critiquing qualitative literature

 

DUE Friday 10/27:  #5 Identify article for individual critique

 

CLASS 10         November 1 – Appraising Pt. 2

 

Critiquing quantitative literature

 

DUE Friday 11/3:  #6 Group paper descriptive analysis

 

CLASS 11         November 8 – Aggregating Pt. 1

 

Categorizing, grouping, and qualifying literature

 

DUE Monday 11/13:  #7 Individual article critique

 

CLASS 12         November 15 – Aggregating Pt. 2

 

Summarizing evidence by general themes and sub-themes, synthesizing findings, contributing your perspectives on literature

 

DUE Monday 11/20:  #8 Group paper analytic results

 

            November 22 – Arguing Pt. 1

 

No Class – Thanksgiving Break

 

 

CLASS 13         November 29 – Applying Pt. 1 

 

Making claims about the evidence based on your appraisal and aggregation of the literature and proposing a practical solution to your original issue

 

CLASS 14         December 6 – Applying Pt. 2

 

Proposing a practical solution to your original issue

 

DUE Friday 12/8:  #9 Final group paper