University of Colorado School of Education

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University of ColoradoSchool of Education

• Margaret Eisenhart (Chair)
• Tracy Naber (Student)
• Lorrie Shepard (Dean)
• 7 Other Members of the Faculty

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First year Introduction to discipline and
department

• Goal of Program To develop a cohort of students
  who form a community of scholars at CU and later
  become leaders in evidence-based educational
  research, policy, and practice

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First year Introduction to discipline and
department (cont.)

• Old Approach (required courses)
• Doctoral Research Seminar (1 course required
  first Fall)
• Multicultural Seminar (1 course recommended first
  Spring)
• Intro to Disciplined Inquiry (1 course
  recommended first year)

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First year Introduction to discipline and
department (cont.)

• Intermediate Statistics (1 course recommended
  first or second year)
• Ethnographic Methods (1 course recommended first
  or second year)

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First year Introduction to discipline and
department (cont.)

• New Approach (required cohort)
• First-year required core
• Big Ideas 1 and 2
• Quantitative Methods 1 and 2
• Qualitative Methods 1 and 2
• On-going Special Seminar (each program area)
• Informal gatherings

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Introduction to the research enterprise

• Old Approach
• Various, highly individual apprenticeship
  experiences
• Various course activities
• Sporadic conference attendance
• Publishable paper
• Result Uneven preparation of students

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Introduction to the research enterprise (cont.)

• New Approach
• Attempt to equalize opportunities for both
  research and teaching apprenticeships
• Better coordination of course activities
• Better monitoring of opportunities
• Desired Result More balanced and stronger
  preparation for all students

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Significant Transition

• Preparing and defending a dissertation proposal
  (the prospectus)

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Dissertation and defense

• Research Topic Negotiated between student and
  major advisor
• Advisor-Student Relationship Negotiated
• Form of Dissertation Most are standard
• When to Defend? After ok from advisor

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Innovation

• New first-year core

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Novel Idea

• Field trips to the seats of power
• More explicit attention to the national education
  scene (the agenda, the players, implications,
  opportunities, critiques, alternatives)