Quantitative methods in education (QME) at the University of Minnesota
The QME track within educational psychology
offers training in measurement, evaluation,
statistics, and
statistics education leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.
M.A. and Ph.D. options
Students studying for the M.A. in the educational psychology,
quantitative methods in education (QME) track may concentrate on measurement and accountability,
statistics, or statistics education. Information on concentrations for
the M.A. is available in the QME student
handbook.
Students studying for the Ph.D. in the educational psychology, QME
track may concentrate on measurement, evaluation, statistics, or
statistics education. Information on concentrations for the Ph.D. is
available in the QME student handbook.
Measurement
Students concentrating in measurement study the theory and methods of measuring
important variables in education, such as achievement, attitude,
specialized cognitive and non-cognitive variables, and issues and
methods associated with educational accountability.
Evaluation
Students
concentrating in educational evaluation learn to evaluate the
effectiveness of educational programs and education-related human
services using a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques.
Statistics
Students concentrating in statistics develop an understanding of the
relationship between research design and statistical analysis and
acquire skills in using a variety of statistical techniques appropriate
for specific problems.
Statistics education
Students concentrating in statistics education develop knowledge
in this area and acquire skills needed to conduct research applied
to the teaching and learning of statistics.
Career possibilities
Training in QME prepares students for a wide variety
of careers, including positions in test publishing firms, college and university
teaching and research, research and evaluation centers, public
school systems, state departments of instruction, and private industry.
Information about the kinds of positions our graduates have taken
is available.
Faculty
The QME faculty have a distinguished teaching and
research record that speaks to the high quality of the training
available to students.
Ernest Davenport
has published several papers examining mathematical artifacts of
statistical procedures, especially those used in measurement. Dr.
Davenport has also won the College of Education and Human Development’s
Community Service Award.
Mark Davison's
expertise in
measurement in general, and multidimensional scaling in particular, is
nationally recognized. He is currently co-director of the
Minnesota Interdisciplinary
Training in Educational Research (MITER) program. MITER is one of
ten federally funded pre-doctoral training programs preparing a new
generation of researchers whose ability to apply experimental
methodology and cognitive sciences to practical educational issues will
place them at the forefront of research and academic endeavors
worldwide. In addition to many research papers, Dr. Davison has
published the book Multidimensional Scaling.
Robert delMas has published several papers on the development of students'
statistical understanding and reasoning. He has been a co-investigator with
Joan Garfield on several NSF-funded projects that have developed software,
curriculum, and assessment materials for teaching introductory statistics.
He is the author of a simulation tool, Sampling SIM, that can help
students
develop a conceptual understanding of sampling distributions.
Joan
Garfield is a well-known scholar in how students learn statistics
and has won the Morse-Alumni Award as a Distinguished University Teaching Professor. Dr. Garfield has also received the
Distinguished Teaching Award in the College of Education and Human
Development.
Michael Harwell has expertise in
hierarchical linear modeling, nonparametric statistics, meta-analysis, and
missing data problems, and has published papers in these areas.
Dr.
Harwell has also studied the relationship between various indicators of
socio-economic status and student achievement, as moderators and
mediators of the relationship.
Frances Lawrenz' work
in evaluation and science education has made her a nationally known
figure in these arenas. In addition to her many grants from the National
Science Foundation, Dr. Lawrenz has published several papers on program
evaluation.
Jeffrey Long has expertise in
methods of longitudinal data analysis and has published papers in the
application of multivariate methods to ordinal data. Dr. Long also
regularly applies his statistical expertise to substantive topics in
psychology, such as validating instruments designed to assess various
clinical disorders.
Michael Rodriguez has
expertise in understanding the psychometric properties of tests and has
published papers on the effects of item formats and the use of
constructed-response versus multiple-choice items. Dr. Rodriguez has
also conducted several validity studies of Latino youth development
program evaluation instruments.
Department, college, university
QME is one of the tracks in the Department of Educational
Psychology in the College of Education and Human Development.
The QME track is affiliated with the
psychological foundations of
education track within the department of educational psychology. The
college has consistently ranked among the best professional schools of
education in the U.S. In the most recent U.S. News rankings, the College was rated
seventh among all public graduate programs of education, 13th
overall, in the country.
The Department of Educational Psychology was ranked eighth in the U.S.
in the most recent U.S. News rankings.
Information about the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is available
at
www.umn.edu/twincities/01_about.php.
Admission
We encourage applications from
students with undergraduate or master’s degrees in psychology,
education, mathematics, statistics, or one of the behavioral or
social sciences. Applicants are admitted to either the Ph.D. or M.A.
program. The track admits for fall and spring semesters, as well as
summer session. All application materials must be received by the
following dates:
Fall: December 1 (for fellowship and
departmental financial aid consideration)
or March 1
Spring: October 15
Summer: March 1
Please note: There are two deadlines for fall semester
applications. The departmental application form is for both
admission and financial support. Students who wish to be considered
for fellowships and departmental financial assistance must submit
all application materials to the program and the Graduate School by
the December 1st deadline.
Spring, summer and fall (March) applicants will be disadvantaged
in fellowship and TA/RA opportunities.
Financial aid
A variety of sources of
financial aid
are available, including teaching and research assistantships,
fellowships, and scholarships. Assistantships include partial or full
tuition remission as well as a stipend.
For more information about QME please contact Dr.
Michael Rodriguez, Department of Educational Psychology, University of
Minnesota, 163 Education Sciences Building, 56 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN
55455, e-mail: mcrdz@umn.edu,
phone: 612-624-4324.
November 2007
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