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.
Leah McGuire's research interests include growth modeling within the item response theory (IRT) framework and explanatory item response models (EIRM). She also works collaboratively with content-area specialists on designing and revising instruments using information from item response models. She teaches courses in measurement and IRT.
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.