EAD Summer Workshops
The following workshops are available at no cost to all EAD graduate students. Space is limited so respond early to ensure a spot. Also, if your summer plans change, please notify Rebecca (rjacobs@msu.edu) as soon as possible so that others may utilize your spot.
To register, please complete the enrollment information form: EAD Summer Workshops Registration
Introduction to Quantitative Methods
Instructor: Erica Harbatkin, PhD 2020, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Post-doctoral Researcher with the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative, MSU
Monday to Friday, August 17 – 21, 2020
9am to 1pm – lunch provided
This workshop provides a basic introduction to statistics, probability, and quantitative data analysis in preparation for the course sequence in regression and econometric methods offered by EAD through the education policy program (EAD 946A and B). Topics include basic differential calculus; an introduction to matrix algebra; working with data; probability; common distributions used in statistics; means and standard deviations; and hypothesis testing for means.
If you took College Algebra or higher, you are prepared – no matter how long ago that was!
This course is meant to build familiarity with key concepts and build confidence in students who may be uncertain about pursuing quantitative methods. No prior experience with quantitative methods is necessary.
Students will be expected to do small amounts of homework between workshops days to help solidify concepts taught during the course.
About the Instructor: Erica’s research uses rigorous quantitative methods to answer questions around low-performing schools, school leadership, and educational inequality, with an emphasis on the role of public policy in shaping student outcomes. Prior to beginning her Ph.D., she worked as an education researcher at SRI International, a government consultant at ICF International, and a journalist at multiple newspapers throughout the country.
Interviewing: The Art and the Method
Instructor: Rebecca Jacobsen, Associate Professor, Education Policy Program, Department of Educational Administration
Monday to Thursday, August 24 to 27, 2020
9am to 2:30pm – lunch provided
This workshop explores qualitative interviewing as a research strategy and as a practice. The focus of the course is on learning the craft of interviewing. Students will develop the necessary skills to plan and execute interview-based research projects. We will cover topics such as navigating the IRB process, sampling, recruiting respondents, creating the interview protocol, building rapport while conducting interviews, and briefly touch upon analyzing and writing up data. We will also consider interview ethics and the complexities of interviewing various populations.
Students at all levels of the graduate student process are welcome. However, the workshop tends to focus on issues that arise at the beginning stages of a research project. Those who have already collected interview data for their dissertation may not find the topics covered as useful. Instead, those with data may find EAD949 – Advanced Qualitative Methods with Rebecca (FS 2020) more useful as it will focus on analysis of data.
Students will be expected to purchase one text and do small amounts of outside reading to prepare for workshops topics.