Educational psychology minor—emphasis in quantitative methods in education

The quantitative methods in education (QME) program is pleased to offer a minor in educational psychology with an emphasis in QME. The QME program offers training in measurement, evaluation, and statistics that encompasses both theory and application in education. The coursework connected to the minor likewise emphasizes both the theory underlying various methodologies and their correct application and interpretation of results, enabling students to plan and participate in methodological aspects of research in a variety of fields. For the educational psychology minor with an emphasis in statistics education, please see separate requirements.

Specifically, students obtaining a minor in educational psychology with a QME emphasis are assumed to possess competencies in (1) understanding the relationship between research design and statistical analysis and to acquire skills in a variety of statistical techniques appropriate for specific problems, (2) 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, and (3) evaluating the effectiveness of educational programs and education-related human services using a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques. The requirement to earn the minor is successful completion of at least 19 credits of QME coursework.

Curriculum

To obtain a minor in educational psychology with a QME emphasis a student must satisfactorily complete the following:

• EPSY 5221—Principles of Educational and Psychological Measurement (4 cr)
• EPSY 5247—Qualitative Methods in Educational Psychology (3 cr)
• EPSY 8261—Statistical Methods I: Probability and Inference (3 cr)
• EPSY 8262—Statistical Methods II: Regression and the General Linear Model (3 cr)

Completion of at least two of the following courses is also required:

• EPSY 8221—Psychological Scaling (3 cr)
• EPSY 8222—Advanced Measurement: Theory and Application (3 cr)
• EPSY 8263—Design and Analysis of Experiments (3 cr)
• EPSY 8264—Advanced Multiple Regression Analysis (3 cr)
• EPSY 8266—Statistical Analysis Using Structural Equation Methods (3 cr)
• EPSY 8267—Applied Multivariate Analysis (3 cr)
• EPSY 8268—Hierarchical Linear Models in Educational Research (3 cr)
• EPSY 8272—Nonparametric Statistics in Educational Research (3 cr)
• EPSY 8282—Statistical Analysis of Longitudinal Data (3 cr)
• EPSY 8247—Advanced Interviewing and Analysis Using NVIVO (3 cr)

Student will not be allowed to substitute courses taken outside of Educational Psychology (EPSY) for any of the above courses. Students must obtain at least a grade of B in every course, and those with a grade point average of 3.25 or better in their QME coursework will be awarded the minor. While students are encouraged to take more than six QME courses if it complements their graduate training, the GPA from EPSY 5221, EPSY 5247, EPSY 8261, and EPSY 8262 plus two additional courses from the above electives will be the ones that count toward the 3.25 requirement. Students with a GPA of less than 3.25 after six courses can petition the QME faculty for an opportunity to take one additional course from the above menu that would count toward the needed GPA of 3.25, but there is no guarantee the request will be granted. Also, students seeking the minor cannot use the S-N grading option for any of their QME courses.

Please be aware that a University transcript will show the minor in educational psychology was successfully completed, but will not show that the emphasis was in QME.

Educational psychology students interested in completing an internal minor should check with their program to ensure they will accept the minor and to be aware of any conditions placed on this acceptance by their program.

For more information

Students interested in a minor in educational psychology with an emphasis in QME should contact Dr. Michael Harwell (176 Education Sciences Building, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, phone: 612-625-0196, e-mail: harwe001@umn.edu) for additional information.

April 2007