College of the Canyons -- Title III
The Institute of Teaching and Learning
Instructional Innovation Classroom Research Proposal

Title: SSP05C
Number of Students: 80
Level of Stipend: Level Two Stipend

In the space below (attach additional pages if necessary), present a statement of your proposed research project (approximately 500-1000 words), including a description of the scope and nature of your project, the design or the outline to be followed.  Include objectives, activities, timelines, evaluation methodology, and/or benchmarks that will provide progress measures for your project.  

Upon my successful completion of EDU 091, my enthusiasm for the case study method heightened.  Having first hand experience helped me to see how validating this method is for helping students to become better at critical thinking.  My discipline requires the ability to really think critically around issues that pertain to the field of Early Childhood Education.  The prospect of using this method as a way to encourage students to become better at critically thinking inspires me.

My proprosal is that during the Spring 05 semester I would like to use the case study method as a means of delievering part of the classroom instruction in ECE 110: Introduction to Preschool Programs and Policies.  I plan to write four case studies that deal with the following topics:


1.  The role of the early childhood educator
2.  Ethical responsibilities of early childhood educators
3.  The effects of classroom environment on children
4.  The effects of childhood physical abuse

The procedure I will follow includes:

1.  Dissemination of the case study the week prior to the discussion
2.  Students will be asked to prepare to discuss the case at the designated class meeting
3.  Inclusion of questions that will inspire their critical thinking

In each of the four case studies, I will utilize a different method of case discussion.  For example, I will utilize the pair/share method for the first case study.  As the semester progresses, I will utilize more of the sophisticated ways of discussion that we practiced in EDU 091.

In order to assess the effectiveness of this project, I will use an assessment tool after each case study discussion that will allow me to discern how critically my students were able to think about the topic.  In addition, I will include questions on the mid-term and final pertaining to the case studies we have covered to that point.

I plan to implement this in two of the four classes I am teaching this semester.  As a side experiment, I am curious as to its' effectiveness in differing classes.  An element of this project will include class/section differences.  One of the classes is a morning class and the other is an evening class.  Through the years I have found that morning students and evening students are somewhat different in not only maturity/age, but in experience.  For example, a larger percent of students who take evening classes are currently working in the field of Early Childhood Education.  Will this have any bearing on my results of this experiment?

One final thought.  As I write each case study, the will become more intricate allowing for progression of not only discussion but varying ideas that the cases will bring up.  In other words, the cases and the discussion will grow as a natural progression of learning mirroring what occured in EDU 091.

What teaching strategies/learning concepts/pedagogical theories/technology skills did you gain knowledge of through the Institute of Teaching and Learning courses that you will apply to your classroom research?

Since I have either completed or enrolled in all of the Institutes offerings, I have a plethora of material at my disposal.  As mentioned in my research proposal, I will be primarily using the case study method; however, I will also be using techniques around classroom management and classroom assessment.
What do you (as an instructor) hope to learn from your research?

My main emphasis is to research the effectiveness of the case study method.  My hope is that it proves to be an effective tool in building critical thinking skills in students enrolled in Early Childhood classes.  Should this prove to be the success that I think it will be, I plan to extend its' use in other courses that I teach.

Anticipated Research Costs (if any)?  0 ¬¬¬¬