Colleagues, I am pleased to announce two education research short courses at the GSA Annual Meeting in Houston in October 2008. For the last couple of years, I have facilitated a qualitative education research short course and it has been well attended. I will offer that course again this year. New this year is a quantitative education research that I will co-facilitate with a colleague, Jim Dugan. Jim is the co-director of the Research and Development Center at Colorado State University. The two short courses will be half day and will run back-to-back. You can sign up for both or only one of the courses. I look forward to seeing you in Houston! Here are the descriptions of the courses: Education Research I: Conducting Qualitative Geoscience Education Research Facilitator: Julie Sexton, NSF Center for Learning and Teaching in the West, Colorado State University Day/Time: Sat. 4 Oct., 8 a.m.- noon. Fee: Will be somewhere close to $100, but the exact amount will be determined by GSA Description: In this workshop, participants will learn qualitative education data collection and analysis methods used in geoscience education research. Case studies, demonstrations, and inquiry-based activities will be used to introduce participants to developing qualitative research questions, collecting qualitative data (e.g., interviews), and analyzing qualitative data (e.g., coding). This workshop is geared for students, college and K-12 educators, and researchers who are engaged in or who plan to be engaged in geoscience education research. This course can be taken alone or in conjunction with the short course "Conducting education research II: An overview of quantitative education research methods." Education Research II: Conducting Quantitative Geoscience Education Research Facilitators: Julie Sexton, NSF Center for Learning and Teaching in the West, Colorado State University; James J. Dugan, Research and Development Center for the Advancement of Student Learning, Colorado State University and Poudre School District Day/Time: Sat. 4 Oct., 1-5 p.m. Fee: Will be somewhere close to $100, but the exact amount will be determined by GSA Description: This interactive, activity-based course serves as an introduction to quantitative education research methods. It is designed for geoscience faculty or students who are or will be conducting quantitative education studies. Topics will include developing quantitative education research questions, designing a quantitative study (e.g., selecting appropriate statistical tests), collecting quantitative data (e.g., surveys), and analyzing education data using statistical tests (e.g., ANOVA). This course can be taken alone or in conjunction with the short course "Conducting education research I: An overview of qualitative education research methods." --Julie --------------------- Julie Sexton Ph.D. Candidate, Geoscience Education NSF Doctoral Fellow, Center for Learning and Teaching in the West School of Education, Colorado State University email: [log in to unmask] ph: 303-277-9790