Meeting Times, Location, & Course Delivery Details
Wilmington College defines an online course week as one which commences at 6:00 A.M. each Monday and ends at 11:59 P.M. the following Sunday. All students enrolled in Online (asynchronous) courses must log in to the course(s) on Blackboard and complete any assignment(s) or other academic related activities, to be determined by the instructor.
Attendance is required for all class weeks. In the case of online courses, “absences” shall be defined as “non-participation.” Non-participation may be defined as but is not limited to:
- Not following the instructor’s participation guidelines as stated in the syllabus.
- Not submitting required assignments.
- Not contributing meaningful discussion in required chat rooms, discussion boards, or other online forums.
- Not participating in scheduled activities; or
- Failure to communicate with the instructor on academic related matters as required. Failure to attend as defined above constitutes an absence.
It should be noted that simply logging into the course does not constitute participation. Students must demonstrate that they are actively participating in the course by submitting required assignments, contributing to discussion forums, etc. as outlined above.
Contact Information
Author: L.B. Christensen, R.B. Johnson, & L.A. Turner
Publisher: Pearson
Edition: 12
ISBN: 978-0205961252
Optional
Tentative Schedule
Subject to change during the semester at the Professor's discretion.
| Week 1 | Introduction: Scientific Research |
| Week 2 | Reading & Reviewing Research Literature |
| Week 3 | Research Problem, Research Questions, and Hypotheses |
| Week 4 | Research ArticleAnalysis I due |
| Week 5 | Measuring Variables and Sampling, Research Validity |
| Week 6 | Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics / Experimental Research vs. Quasi Experimental Research |
| Week 7 | Control Techniques in Experimental Research |
| Week 8 | Research ArticleAnalysis II due |
| Week 9 | Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research |
| Week 10 | Research Article Redesign submit for approval - discuss your redesign |
| Week 11 | Research Article Analysis III due |
| Week 12 | Midterm Exam |
| Week 13 | Research Article Analysis IV due |
| Week 14 | Research ArticleRedesign due: Presentation of redesign |
| Week 15 | Research Posterdue: Present |
Research Article Analysis
Students will choose a published research article to their research interest and provide a summary and analysis of it. The summary part should be composed of the following: a) purpose of the study, b) research questions, c) conceptual framework, d) research methods, and e) results. Note that students should write their summary based on their own language and should not copy and paste sentences from the article. Simply coping and pasting sentences from the article is plagiarizing. In the analysis part, students are asked to apply the principles of research design covered in this course to critique the article. This should include analysis of how variables have been operationalized, selection and treatment of participants, collection and analysis of data and threats to internal and external validity and reliability of results. The analysis part will be the foundation for the following assignment 4. Research Article Redesign. Throughout this assignment, students will learn to apply the principles of sound research design for purposes of critically analyzing published research literature and develop critical thinking skills.
| Criteria: | Score |
| Did you choose an appropriate article? | 15 |
| How clearly and concisely did you provide a summary of the selected article? | 15 |
| How logical are you in analyzing the selected article? | 15 |
| In terms of the analysis, to what extent did you analyze threats, bias, and control? | 15 |
| To what extent do you accurately use research terminology in this assignment? | 15 |
| Total score | 75 |
Research Poster
As part of the research class, the student(s) will create a poster that summarizes your academic project and research that has been conducted throughout the semester. Toward the end of the semester, students will present their posters at the annual Student and Faculty Research Forum. Class sessions will function as research conferences, with student presenters reviewing poster content and answering questions as small groups of viewers visit their poster areas.
| Criteria | Score |
| Project title | 10 |
| Background of topicselected | 40 |
| Objectives | 25 |
| Experimental Plan | 50 |
| Results | 50 |
| Conclusion | 25 |
| Total score | 200 |
Weekly Progress Reports
The researcher will meet with the faculty member supervising the research participation on a weekly basis. During these sessions, the researcher will provide evidence of work completed toward the experiment. Additionally, the researcher will outline what they plan to accomplish between the existing session and the following week. A total of 15 weekly progress reports will be completed throughout the term.
| Criteria | Score |
| Attend weekly session | 2 |
| Provided evidence of completed work | 2 |
| Outline of work to be completed | 6 |
| Total score | 10 |
Research Article Redesign
This assignment extends the analysis of part 1. Research Article Analysis based on the article that each student chose for analysis. As part of the research article analysis, students are asked to redesign the article. Namely, students will suggest an alternative method for addressing the research problem addressed in the original article. For the alternative study, students will frame research questions(s), and adjust any other aspect of the original study required to execute the research using the selected alternative methodology.
| Criteria | Score |
| How logically are you suggesting an alternative study? | 20 |
| How clearly are you addressing your research question(s)? | 20 |
| How well does the conceptual framework guide your alternative study? | 20 |
| How appropriately are you choosing methods to investigate the research question(s)? | 20 |
| How well did you integrate all parts (research question(s), conceptual framework, and research method) in the proposal? | 20 |
| Total score | 100 |
Midterm Exam
The midterm exam will aim to ensure that students master the understanding of fundamental concepts in research design and develop the ability to apply the concepts to practice. The exam covers the content learned over the semester. Students are asked to answer essay questions on the exam. The exam sheet will be available on WC Blackboard so that students will have enough time to think about the questions and provide a concise and detailed response to each question.
| How accurate are your answers? | 25 |
| How clearly and concisely did you writeyour answers? | 25 |
| How detailed are your answers? | 25 |
| How logical are your answers? | 25 |
| Total score | 100 |
The grading scale will be as follows:
Students are responsible for ensuring delivery of work products by the stated due date. Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are to be submitted on Blackboard by 11:59 pm, one week from initial delivery of the material. Late assignments will not be accepted. Final grades in this course will be determined by the
cumulative points, determined by the simple sum of points awarded on each graded assignment.
Criteria
Grading Scale:
Grading A = Above 95.99% A- = 95.98- 91%
B+ = 90.99 – 88% B = 87.99 – 85% B- = 84.99 – 82%
C+ = 81.99 – 79% C = 78.99 – 76% C- = 75.99 – 72%
D+ = 71.99 – 69% D = 68.99 – 65% F = Below 65%
Breakdown
Evaluation breakdown includes:
Research Article Analysis (4) 75 pts. Each 300 pts.
Research Poster (1) 200 pts.
Weekly progress reports (15) 10 pts. Each 150 pts.
Research Article Redesign (1) 100 pts.
Midterm Exam (1) 100 pts
Instructor Course Policies
Institutional and Program-Level Policies
All exams will follow the Final Exam Schedule. Students scheduled to take three or more final examinations on one day may request to arrange their examination schedule, so no more than two exams occur on one day.
Requests for early or late exams are considered only under extreme circumstances. Prior to the exam period, the student must file a written request on the Early/Late Exam Form available in the Student One Stop Center, Academic Records, and on the WC portal. The form must be signed by the Instructor and the Academic Dean, approving the alternate exam time. This process must be completed prior to the scheduled exam period.
Undergraduate: FA26 Final Exam Schedule
Out-of-class Work Expectation A minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class student work is expected for each hour of in-class time for traditional face-to-face courses. For online and hybrid courses, the combination of face-to-face time and out-of-class work should be equal to 3 hours per credit hour per week. |
Instructional Course Delivery Definition of Courses |
Academic Integrity Policy The use of generative AI is prohibited except where expressly allowed in assignment instructions. Academic Integrity Policy |
Class Attendance Policy Institutional Class Attendance Policy |