underachievement of African American teachers in research methodology courses: Implications for the supply of African American school administrators, The

Journal of Negro Education, The, Winter 1998 by Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J

METHOD

Sample and Setting

Subjects from this study were drawn from a small suburban university college of education in the mid-South. This institution's student body is predominantly European American; its African American enrollment comprises only 11.9%. The subjects included all 174 in-service teachers enrolled in the college's required graduate-level research methodology course within a three-year period from academic year 1994-95 to 1996-97. Of these, 96.6% were enrolled in Master of Science in Education (M.S.E.) programs, with the remainder enrolled in Education Specialist (Ed.S.) programs.'

Participation, which was voluntary, required students to sign an informed consent document. Participants received extra course credit. No subject declined to participate. Thus, the sample was comprised of 145 European Americans and 29 African Americans. With respect to the European American sample, the majority of participants was female (89.6%), ranging in age from 23 to 60 years old (M=30.9, SD=8.8), and having a mean grade point average (GPA) of 3.63 (SD=0.40). With regard to the African American sample, most of the participants were female (86.2%), ranging in age from 23 to 55 years old (M = 34.8, SD = 8.0), and with a mean GPA of 3.51 (SD = 0.43). An independent t-test revealed no significant difference (t= 1.48, p>.05) in GPA between the two groups. According to the university's graduate school handbook, the research methodology course in which the participants were enrolled involved the "application of scientific method to educational research, including nature of research problems in education, theory of research, experimental design, techniques in data gathering, the interpretation of results, research reporting, and bibliographical techniques." The same instructor taught all sections of the course. The instructor was a faculty member of the college of education, whose expertise included research methodology, statistics, testing and measurement, educational psychology, and teacher education.

In this course, conceptual knowledge was assessed to determine students familiarity with research concepts, methodologies, and applications, as measured by comprehensive written midterm and final examinations. On a weekly basis, students were assigned readings from the course textbook as well as quantitative and qualitative research articles from a variety of professional journals. However, the major course requirements were (a) a written critical evaluation of a published research report (article critique) and (b) preparation and presentation of a research proposal. The primary goal of the article critique exercise was to allow students to practice evaluating published research articles utilizing principles of scientific method. With respect to the research proposal assignment, the goal was to engage students in practicing the decision-making skills required to plan an original research study.

The proposals, which could represent either quantitative or qualitative research on a topic of the student's choice, had to include the following elements: a title; introduction section; review of the related literature; methodology section; analysis section; bibliography; and an appendix containing a timetable, budget, consent form(s), and authordesigned instrument(s). Research proposals had to be unique and realistic. They also had to have educational significance and extend the knowledge base. Students were expected to prepare their proposals following guidelines specified by the American Psychological Association (APA) (1994). Students' writing style (e.g., grammar, punctuation, clarity, and adherence to APA guidelines) was assessed in the article critique and research proposal. A scoring rubric was utilized to provide students with detailed feedback from their instructor for both assignments.