Mathematics Education Ph.D. Qualifying Experience

The purpose of the Mathematics Education Qualifying Experience is to provide early experiences in exploring the published research literature and/or conducting your own research in an area you are interested in researching. It should be a valuable learning opportunity prior to planning and conducting your dissertation research. The Qualifying Experience culminates with a final product at the end of Year 2, but the project spans your first two years in the program. In Year 1, you will engage deeply with published literature around your area of interest. In Year 2, you will build on and extend Year 1 by choosing one of the following two options: you will either (a) conduct a critical literature review to identify gaps in the field, or (b) conduct a pilot study. This two-year process is described in more detail below.

Phase 1: Year 1 Presentation and Initial Examination of the Literature

Your Qualifying Experience begins in Year 1 with you identifying a major area of focus or potential research questions that will guide your planning for the Qualifying Experience. You will present your major area of interest (which may include proposed research questions) during a session of EDUC 838 in spring of Year 1 to obtain feedback from students and faculty. Additionally, you will also read literature related to your major area of focus and keep track of the ideas presented in the literature by creating an annotated bibliography, which will be the final product of Phase 1. You will discuss with your advisor the number of articles to include and a date by which your final product will be submitted to your advisor.

Phase 2: Year 2 Literature Review (Option A) or Pilot Study (Option B)

In consultation with your advisor, you will select one of the two options described below for completing your Qualifying Experience in Year 2.

Option A: Qualifying Critical Literature Review

The goal of Option A, the Qualifying Critical Literature Review, is to explore an important researchable issue within a larger topic area, analyze and synthesize various viewpoints about the issue and their relative merits, and suggest directions for resolving the issue. You should also review extant literature to demonstrate your ability to research a topic, identify salient issues within that topic, and convey those ideas in writing. The literature review might serve to inform your dissertation or might lead you to select another area of research for your dissertation.

As part of the Qualifying Critical Literature Review, you will produce a final written report. This report must present a clearly focused issue of interest that is at a researchable grain-size, and a synthesis and integration of literature relevant to that issue; however, this does not mean that your final report should be an

exhaustive literature review. Additionally, your goal should not be to create a final report that reads like a list of studies or ideas presented in the literature or that simply summarizes a body of published research. Rather, your goal should be to produce a final report of your review of the literature that operationalizes an issue that you want to investigate, synthesizes prior research, includes both relevant theoretical constructs and empirical evidence, and makes claims about the issue supported with evidence from the literature. The written report should be of sufficient quality that it could become a conference presentation and/or be submitted for publication.

You will consult regularly with your advisor (as well as other students and faculty) as you plan and conduct your critical literature review, but you will be the sole reviewer of the literature and author of the literature review paper.

Your Qualifying Critical Literature Review in Year 2 will build on your initial examination of the literature in Year 1. The main activities related to your Qualifying Critical Literature Review will likely occur during fall and early spring of Year 2.

You will present your in-progress Qualifying Critical Literature Review in at least two public presentations and report on your literature review in a written final paper. The public presentations will be during sessions of EDUC 838 in fall and spring of Year 2. During these presentations, you should be clear about the claims you are making and the evidence that supports these claims.

If you choose Option A, the final paper reporting on your Qualifying Critical Literature Review will be submitted as part of your Qualifying Examination (usually taken during the summer of Year 2). The paper should include all the aspects identified in the previous paragraphs.

Option B: Qualifying Pilot Study

The goal of Option B, the Qualifying Pilot Study, is to provide an early experience in conducting research. It should be a valuable learning opportunity prior to planning and conducting your dissertation research. It might serve as a pilot study for your dissertation or might lead you to select another area of research for your dissertation. Although it will be a small-scale pilot study, it should be of sufficient quality that it could become a conference presentation and/or be submitted for publication.

You will consult regularly with your advisor (as well as other students and faculty) as you plan and conduct your study, but you will be the principal investigator.

Your Qualifying Pilot Study begins in Year 1 when you identify research questions. Those questions will then guide your planning for the Study during the spring of

Year 1 and the summer before Year 2. You will present your research questions during a session of EDUC 838 in spring of Year 1. Data collection for your Qualifying Pilot Study will likely occur during fall or early spring of Year 2.

You will present your Qualifying Pilot Study in at least two public presentations and report on your study in a written paper. The public presentations will be during sessions of EDUC 838 in fall and spring of Year 2. The fall presentation should focus on the research questions, the rationale for the questions, including a review of the literature in which the questions are situated, and the methods that will be used to investigate the questions. The spring presentation should include the analyses that have been conducted along with, at least, tentative results. You should be clear about the claims you are making and the evidence that supports these claims.

If you choose Option B, the final paper reporting on your Qualifying Pilot Study will be submitted as part of your Qualifying Examination (usually taken during the summer of Year 2). The paper should include all the aspects identified in the previous paragraphs.

Evaluation of Qualifying Experience

A committee of three faculty members in mathematics education will be assigned to evaluate the progress for your Qualifying Experience during your Year 2 EDUC 838 fall and spring presentations. Although the committee will not conduct a formal evaluation of your presentations, they will provide written advice about the products from your Qualifying Experience. As described above, you will then write a final report of your Qualifying Experience (i.e., a report on your literature review or a report on your pilot study). Writing your final report will be an opportunity for you to independently develop your research writing skills.

Your literature review report or pilot study report should be written and formatted similarly to how literature review articles and research articles are written and formatted, respectively. Additionally, your report should be no more than 25 pages (double-spaced, one-inch margins), excluding title page and references. The paper must conform to the APA style manual. Your paper should be independently conceived and written, but your advisor should also read and offer feedback on your draft (your advisor can read and provide feedback paper until one month prior to the submission deadline).

Along with your final report, you will also be expected to prepare a separate document explaining how you incorporated (or the reasons you choose not to incorporate) the advice given to you by the committee during your Year 2 EDUC 838 fall and spring presentations. Your written report of your Qualifying Experience will be submitted by June 15th of Year 2.