EDU 3002: Social and Cultural Worlds of Children

Assessment #1

Assessment Type:                      Group Research Project

Weighting:                              30% for the written paper and 10% for the interview questions constructed and interviews conducted.

Duration:                                 4 weeks to complete the research and submit the written paper.

Conditions of Assessment:      Group Project with limited support from lecturers.

Due Date:                                Week 8.

Task Description

Students will be required to work in groups of two. The group will:

• Research: 
  • Construct six questions related to educational changes and reforms that have occurred in the UAE.
  • Students will then conduct two or three interviews as follows: one interview with a parent and/or grandparent and one interview with a primary school child. 

• Written Paper:

After collecting and analysing the data, the group will prepare a report of 1000-1100 words based on the interviews which describes and analyses the similarities and differences in the upbringing and learning between the two generations. In the written paper, students need to focus on the factors and elements that caused the changes, the features of these changes, analysis and evaluation of these changes, their opinion on these changes (positive, negative, significant…etc.), the challenges UAE education is facing and will face in the future due to these changes, the role of the school and home, and their role as an educator to enhance the changes and development. Students’ ideas and explanation need to be linked to concepts and theories discussed in class. Due to the broad scope of the students’ choices as far as research topics, students can link to the education trends, concepts and notions relevant to the readings and teaching material provided throughout the teaching weeks.

The written paper will form a synthesis based on one aspect from the content of each of the learning outcomes and the APA referencing style must be used.

NOTE: All groups should consist of 2 students, unless the total number of students is odd. In that case, there will be one group of 3 students. 

Specific Task Instructions

Interview questions:

- Each group should conduct 2 interviews with people representing different generations (e.g., a child and a parent, or a child and a grandparent). The groups that consist of 3 students should conduct 3 interviews (with a child, a parent, and a grandparent).

- The interview questions should follow the guidelines provided by the instructor. The questions should also be approved by the instructor before interviews take place.

- Instructions about the responses need to be provided by the interviewer (the student) to the interview (child, parent, or grandparent).

- Follow-up interview questions should be used in case not sufficient and in-depth information has been elicited from the interviewees. Refer to the guidelines provided by the instructor.

- The interview questions and responses should be submitted together with the written paper (voice recorded and/or written responses).

Written paper:

- Each group should focus on only one aspect of educational change/reform (e.g., curriculum, assessment, teaching strategies, bilingual education, parental involvement).

- The responses of the interviewees will be excluded from the word count (1000-1100 words). The word count includes the following: introduction, discussion, links to theories and class materials, findings, recommendations, and conclusions.

- The number of sources used for this paper should be at least 4.

Format of the paper:

  The paper should beorganized to include the following parts:

1. Introduction
2. Links to relevant theories (  according to the responses &data collected  from research participants at least links to 3  different theories)
3. Similarities between generations with  links to responses and  theories
4. Differences between generations with links to responses and theories
5.  Discussion  and  suggestions for changes (  analysis of the changes, evaluation of these changes and constructing  suggestions  to enhance school  improvement and reforms)
6. Conclusion
7. References
8.  Appendix 1-   raw the data collected ( responses  from the interviews)

Criteria and Marking

The marks for the Research Group Project will be broken down as follows:

• Written paper 30%
• Designing research and interview questions 10%

The interview questions will be graded in terms of their suitability and purposefulness, structure, organization and language, depth, originality and creativity, appropriateness in terms of age and complexity level for the child and the parent, and link to concepts, theories and issues covered in class.

The written paper will be graded with regard to synthesis and critical arguments presented with relevance to: a) the features and factors that caused the changes and reforms in UAE education system; b) the challenges UAE education is facing, comparative analysis, presentation of viewpoints and opinion on the educational trends, changes and challenges in the UAE educational system, links to relevant theories, structure, organization and language and APA Style, citation and referencing.

Submission Details

The report and questions should be submitted to the relevant lecturer by the published deadline.  The names of group members and identification details must be present on the written work submitted.