| Research Paper Guidelines |
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All candidates must complete a Research Paper that meets the standards established by the School of Graduate Studies.
All teacher candidates are required to complete an Action Research Paper. The purpose of preparing a master's research paper is to give future teacher-practitioners experience in carrying out the kind of research that is expected throughout their professional career. Through this process, the faculty expects each teacher candidate to demonstrate his/her ability to work independently on a problem and to document his/her familiarity with the literature in the field of study, a command of the techniques and principles of research, and the ability to form valid generalizations from the research data.
The Research Committee will be established after the teacher candidate has advanced to candidacy. The teacher candidate, after consultation with and approval by the major advisor, will select a Committee. The committee will be composed of three members: the major advisor (who serves as chairperson), one member from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and one member from the graduate faculty outside of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, providing that the individual holds a doctorate and is approved by the major advisor. Each member of the Research Committee must sign the approval sheet after reading and approving the research project.
Each study that uses research involving human subjects, including surveys, must obtain approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to starting the research. It is imperative that proper procedures are followed when using human subjects in research projects. Information about this process can be obtained from the School of Graduate Studies. Failure to obtain approval from the IRB could prevent final approval of the thesis and jeopardize receipt of the Master of Arts in Teaching degree.
Teacher candidates should follow the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), for the development of the Research paper. This manual can be purchased in the CSU Bookstore, found in most libraries, or retrieved from online sources on the Internet.
Each teacher candidate must present a copy of the final draft of the thesis approved by the Research Committee to the Chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Dean of Education and Graduate Studies for final approval before the final copy of the research is submitted. Three copies of the final version of the research paper must be submitted to the Chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction for approval. The approval form, signed by the three members of the Research Committee, along with the research paper will then be submitted to the Chairperson and the Deans of Education and Graduate Studies for final approval.
