Dissertation Research Page

This page is a compendium of materials that I found useful during this stage of my journey. Being devoted to the idea of lifetime learning, I cannot see a time when I will not be involved in some course or study or research. This phase of my education started in the fall of 1995 and culminates with my graduation on December 17th, 1999. It has been a long and sometimes painful journey but looking back I would not have denied this experience to myself. It feels so wondrous to have completed it. The hardest lesson to learn was that I was ultimately in charge for all of it. I hope some of my observations will help those of you who are still on this journey. (11/21/99)

The following are some materials collected during REF893 Advanced Research which I took during the summer of 1998. Developing the first drafts of the first three chapters within the structure of a course was very valuable for me. If your university has a similar course - take it.

Dissertation Personality Quiz

Sample Time Line

Criteria for Topic Selection Questions your Committee Chair will likely be thinking about as he or she reads Chapter One.

Critique of Literature Review Questions your Committee Chair will likely be thinking about as he or she reads Chapter Two

Critique of Methods Questions your Statistician will likely be thinking about as he or she reads Chapter Three

A short reading list and other helpful resources

My Abstract

I don't know where Dr. Witta got this so I apologize to whoever originally developed it. Answer the questions below. Think about what each answer means about your self-image, your degree of self-discipline, and your dedication to attaining a goal.

1. I turned in my course papers on time.
2. I did my course papers because they were required and I didn't want to fail.
3. I did no more or no less than I thought was needed for the course.
4. I take courses because they are required, not for the love of learning.
5. I really like being a student.
6. I don't think of myself as a scholar.
7. I think my professors are more scholarly than I am.
8. I wait till the last minute to do a paper.
9. I can't imagine myself writing a book.
10. The thought of using statistics scares me.
11. I am self-motivated.
12. I can't possibly think of a topic.
13. I hope I can pick an easy committee.
14. I have set a date for completing my dissertation.
15. I think I am different from my professors.
16. When I think about the dissertation, I see it as an obstacle.
17. I am afraid that I will fail.

• Start
• Complete researching completed dissertations in your subject area
• Complete researching committee choices
• Complete preliminary literature review and topic search
• Finalize advisor/committee choices (file necessary paperwork)
• Finalize topic
• Submit Proposal
• Develop a work plan (mine was 5-6 am M-F + Saturdays from Noon - 5pm spent reading and/or writing. I taught 5 courses per semester while working on my dissertation so spreading the work was necessary.)
• Proposal Accepted
• Impliment work plan
• Apply for Diploma
• Deliver final dissertation to Committee
• Oral defense
• Dr. (your name here)'s Party (Stop and have a glass of wine, the hard work is done!)
• Copy to graduate reader for proofing
• Deliver corrected dissertation and abstracts on required paper with required forms to graduate office
• (Order regalia, invitations and such - optional)
• Graduation

1. Is the topic delimited so that the purpose of the research is clear?
2. Will the study of this topic be significant; i.e., will it make a useful contribution to the field (both theoretical and practical importance?)
3. Is the research topic unique? Will the project be original?
4. Does the researcher seem to have a genuine interest in the topic?
5. Does the researcher have the expertise (both understanding and technical expertise) to study this topic?
6. Will it be feasible to study this topic? (Consider time constraints, data collection requirements, available resources, technical support, and committee support?

1. Does the introduction to the literature review begin by discussing the general context of the study and the relevant theories or theoretical models which are appropriate?
2. Does this introduction begin to narrow and focus on the specific issues that are relevant to the study?
3. Do the subproblems relate to the larger context (grow out of this context)/
4. If the headings in the review of literature were used to make an outline, would the outline appear to have a logical sequence? Does one topical area blend into the next? Are the transitional statements effective?
5. Do the topical areas begin with an overview, lead into a discussion of theoretical relevance, report the relevant research findings and end with a short summary?
6. When reviewing the research of others, does the author describe the purpose of the study, the sample under investigation, the type of study, and the researcher's conclusions?
7. Does the review of literature section end with a summary of the relevant findings?
8. Do the hypotheses of the study grow logically from this review of literature?

Population

1. Does the researcher state the population to whom he or she hopes to generalize? If Yes, is this a resonable assumption? If no, is there an implicit population?
2. Are the size and major characteristics of the population studied described?
3. Was the entire population studied or was a sample selected?
   

   Sampling Method

4. Is the method of selecting the sample clearly defined? Is the sampling frame described in detail?
5. Is the sampling method one that is likely to result in a representative, unbiased sample?
6. Is the sample large enough for the purposes of the study?
   

   Sample

7. Is the size of the sample described, along with the major characteristics? Is a map provided, if appropriate, to show where the subjects came from? (survey research)
   

   Design

8. What type of research design was used?
9. Is this type of design appropriate for testing the hypotheses of the study?
10. Are there any weaknesses in the research design that could affect the results or serve as threats to the internal or external validity of the study? Does the author acknowledge the purpose of this type of design, as well as strengths and weaknesses?
    

    Measurement of Variables

11. Is a rationale given for the selection of the instruments used? Why was each particular instrument chosen?
12. Is the purpose and content of each instrument described?
13. Are the instruments appropriate for measuring the variables?
14. If an instrument was developed specifically for the study, are the procedures involved in its development described? Are validation procedures described in detail? Were there any difficulties in this process?
15. Is there evidence presented that indicates each instrument is appropriate for the sample under study?
16. Is validity of scores produced discussed? Are coefficients given if appropriate? If yes, are they adequate? Were the appropriate type of validity coefficients used?
17. Is reliability discussed in terms of the type and size of reliability coefficients? If yes, are they adequate?
18. If appropriate, are estimates of reliabilities of scores produced by the subtests given? If yes, are they adequate?
19. If an insturment was developed for this study, are the administration, scoring and interpretation procedures described?
    

    Materials and Procedures

20. Were there treatments or stimulus materials used? If so, are they described in sufficient detail? If not, what specific information is omitted?
21. Are the procedures described in sufficient detail to permit them to be replicated by another researcher?
22. Are control procedures described?
23. Are there any potential confounding variables which were not controlled?
    

    Pilot Study

24. Does the research indicate the purpose of the pilot study?
25. Was the sample used in the pilot study representative of the population to be studied?
26. Was the sample size large enough to obtain accurate data?

Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research by Donald T. Campbell and Julian C. Stanley

Educational Research Competencies for Analysis and Application by L. R. Gay

Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Sciences by Richard J Shavelson

One very valuable activity that I participated in was the ACM SIGCSE Doctoral Consortium. Consider participating in any such activity that is available to you in your field of study. The organizers, participants and 'consultants' (V. Almstrum, N. Dale, S. Fincher, F. Culwin, M. Petre, A. Fleury) of this event have my eternal gratitude.

ABSTRACT

THE APPLICATION OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORY
TO PROGRAMMING CONCEPT INSTRUCTION:
CHUNKS VERSUS PROGRAMS FROM SCRATCH
by
Elizabeth Anne Gates Applin

December 1999

This study explored the relationship between assignment based teaching methods and achievement in an introductory programming course. Subjects in the study were 42 community college students in south Mississippi. All participants completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Productive Environment Preferences Survey. These instruments along with ACT English score, ACT math score, and high school math grade point average formed the pretreatment measures for the subjects. After two identical programming assignments, students in the control group wrote all programming assignments from scratch while students in the experimental group began adding their coded solutions to larger well-documented programs furnished by the researcher / instructor.

Various cognitive psychologists tell us that instructional content should be grouped into chunks, delivered in an optimal sequence, and presented in a context at or just beyond the learner's understanding to force deep processing and permanent memory of the content. Advance organizers allow scaffolding of new ideas onto old established concepts and this introduction presented in advance of the actual topic coverage in a classroom setting has proven effective.

Language acquisition studies indicate that new vocabulary must be introduced in context to aid understanding. Second language acquisition theories also suggest that new material should be presented in forms that are just beyond the learner's current level of competence in the language.

The analysis of covariance statistical procedure was used to show effect for group. The adjusted means for the control group and the experimental group on the variable final exam grade were 55.8053 and 62.0232 respectively with an observed significance level of .019. The adjusted means for the variable final course average were 69.8892 and 73.4523 respectively with an observed significance level of .043.

Qualitative observations of students from the two groups in CS2 the following semester seem to indicate that the template methodology can have positive long term effects on many characteristics of student programs. The programming style, documentation practices, parameter passing mechanism use, code reuse, and modularization practice of those students who had been part of the experimental group was superior to that of the control group participants.