Overview - Dissertation Seminar

This is an outline of the entire course.

You could print this page out and check off each section as you complete it to ensure you don't miss anything.

1. Getting Started
2. Stating the Problem
3. Literature Research
4. Research Design and Procedures
5. Data Analysis

Welcome to EDR 798

Dissertation Seminar

What You Will Need:

- Access to an Internet account at home, school or work and knowledge of your user name and password of your dana Internet account

or:

- A subscription to a commercial service such as America Online (AOL), Prodigy or CompuServe and knowledge of your user name and password of your dana Internet account.

*** You must maintain your e-mail and Internet access connection for the duration of the course (entire Fall '99 session, 8/30/99 through 12/16/99). ***

Preliminary Information for EDR 798, Dissertation Seminar:

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1. Our course is Web-enhanced, which means a combination of live group face-to-face class meetings and Internet interaction.



2. During our first regularly scheduled class meeting (Friday, 9/3/99), we will mutually select two additional meeting days and times for this course.
   
   
3. The remainder of our interaction will be via Internet; specifically, e-mail and Virtual Conference Center (VCC) postings of assignments (to be discussed in greater detail shortly).



4. The first class meeting (Friday, 9/3/99) will be primarily devoted to a hands-on working session in our Eastburn Education Computer Lab. Specifically, we will learn about the VCC and how to access it to post assignments. Due to the critical nature of this VCC access skill to the remaining interactive requirements of the course, students must attend this first class meeting on Friday, 9/3/99 in order to maintain active enrollment in the Fall '99 EDR 798 Dissertation Seminar. Failure to attend this first class meeting will result in the student being administratively withdrawn (involuntarily dropped) from the course.



5. A critical prerequisite of enrollment in EDR 798 Dissertation Seminar is having a researchable idea or topic in mind as you begin this all-important capstone course of your doctoral studies. The assignments and related course expectations are intended to build upon this focused topic of interest and help you expand it into the key portions of the dissertation prospectus (first three chapters). If you do not yet have a specific topic area of interest in mind, you will not be able to do the assignments and will therefore not derive the maximum learning benefit from the dissertation seminar course. If this is the case, you are strongly urged to withdraw from the Fall '99 section of EDR 798 Dissertation Seminar and work on identifying a topic area of interest before re-enrolling in this course. You can develop a researchable topic in several ways: by working intensively with your assigned dissertation chair and committee members; by retaking EDR 720 Research Design, which is intended to help you develop a researchable topic and a doctoral research proposal (precursor to the first 3 chapters of the dissertation, the prospectus, that we develop together in EDR 798 Dissertation Seminar).



6. In like manner, you are strongly discouraged from enrolling in EDR 798, Dissertation Seminar, until the semester after you have successfully passed your doctoral comprehensive examinations. Experience has shown that those students who try to enroll for Dissertation Seminar during the same semester that they are planning to take doctoral comprehensive exams soon become overwhelmed, stop attending the Dissertation Seminar class, stop actively participating in our assignments and discussions…and therefore do not derive maximum benefit from the learning objectives of our course.

Learning Resources for EDR 798, Dissertation Seminar

1. During our first class meeting on Friday, 9/3/99, I'll provide you with a floppy disk containing ten (10) learning modules. These modules are the equivalent of an electronic textbook. You are encouraged to print them out and perhaps place them in a binder with tabbed dividers in order to facilitate ease of studying. In order to successfully print out these modules, you will need one-time access to one of the following word processors:
   
   
   1. Microsoft Word for Macintosh; or
   2. Microsoft Word for Windows.
      
      
   If you do not have a friend, co-worker, family member or colleague who has access to at least one of the above, you might want to consider remaining in the Eastburn Education Computer Lab after our 9/3/99 beginning class has concluded. We offer both of these word processors for student use in our computing lab, and you are welcome to print out your materials using our facilities if you wish.
   
   
2. You will also receive an addendum to this syllabus containing the related assignments and due dates.
   
   
3. I also like to make my EDR 610, Introduction to Research, and EDR 720, Research Design, online curriculum available to all of my dissertation seminar students. In the past, students have shared with me that they found it beneficial to download and study some of these materials as adjuncts to the dissertation seminar learning modules, or for their own review of these earlier research concepts. These materials are periodically cross-referenced in the Dissertation Seminar modules. Here are the URLs (Internet addresses) for the above two courses, for your perusal of these materials:

   EDR 610, Introduction to Research

   EDR 720, Research Design
   
   

4. For those of you also wishing to have access to my EDR 725, Qualitative Research curriculum, you are welcome to do so. It is not yet online (projected date for inclusion in NAUOnline: Spring '00), but I would be happy to provide you with a floppy disk containing the EDR 725 Qualitative Research learning modules upon request. As part of your request, please let me know which version(s) you would like: Microsoft Word for Macintosh, or Microsoft Word for Windows.

Grading Policy and Student Expectations

EDR 798, Dissertation Seminar, carries the following grading options: At the end of the Fall '99 semester, students typically receive an "IP" (in progress), provided they have completed the assignments and other expectations of the course. These will be outlined below.

Per NAU Graduate College requirements, the "In Progress" is cleared and replaced with a "Pass" once the student has done the following:

1. Successfully completed the first three chapters of his/her dissertation (the prospectus);
2. Successfully defended this prospectus before his/her chair and dissertation committee members in a formal prospectus hearing; and
3. Provided the EDL office with a copy of his/her prospectus, including a copy of the cover page signed by his/her chair and committee members to signify successful completion of the prospectus hearing (as in (2), above).

In order to receive an "IP" for this course at the end of the Fall '99 semester, you must successfully complete all of the following in a timely manner (on or before the due dates indicated on the syllabus addendum):

Failure to complete an activity, above, will result in a written warning from me. Three (3) such warnings will constitute failure to meet the expectations of the course and therefore a grade of "F."

Please note: Massive submissions of past-due assignments, as well as failure to attend and participate in the remaining class meetings, will also result in a grade of "F" for the course.

*** The primary keys to success in this course may be summarized in two steps:

(1) Remaining ACTIVELY engaged in the activities and expectations of the course throughout the entire semester; and

(2) Notifying me PROMPTLY and HONESTLY of any problems you may be experiencing!

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Policy on Academic Honesty, Integrity, Plagiarism, etc. The policies, rules and regulations set forth in the current NAU Student Handbook shall apply to this course. For more information, please contact NAU's Office of Student Life (520-523-5181).

Just one more thing --
please remember that I'm ready, willing and eager to do my best
to make this a productive and enjoyable experience for you!

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E-mail M. Dereshiwsky at statcatmd@aol.com
Call M. Dereshiwsky at (520) 523-1892

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