kam fun facilitator: kurt schoch, edd academic coordinator, phd in education university coordinator,...
TRANSCRIPT
KAM Fun
Facilitator:
Kurt Schoch, EdD
Academic Coordinator, PhD in Education
University Coordinator, 7100 Forums and KAM Processes
What you always wanted to know about improving KAM
submissions, but were afraid to ask – or didn’t know who to
ask.
Webinar Outcomes
At the end of the webinar attendees will be able to:
• Identify overall KAM development and review sequence.
• Identify most common causes of KAMs being returned to the assessor for review and student revision.
• Identify appropriate responses for typical KAM problem or concern situations.
Quick KAM writing review
• Learning Agreement written by student, approved by assessor:
• All three components complete, with objectives, references, demonstration.
• Approved by assessor; rubric submitted via Faculty Portal with LA included.
• Student writes KAM
• Aligned with LA objectives, references, demonstrations.
• Rubric submitted via Faculty Portal by LA assessor, with KAM demonstration attached.
KAM Review Process
• KAM rubric and demo submitted via Faculty Portal rubric
• KAM Help staff reviews rubric and demo
• If KAM does not meet basic guidelines, KAM is forwarded to University KAM Coordinator for review.
• http://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=90&navoid=20955
• If Coordinator review determines revisions are needed, KAM is sent to appropriate program leadership
• Program leadership requests that assessor work on revisions with student
• KAM and rubric re-submitted when revised
Over one year’s worth of reviews led to . . . .
Top KAM concerns, submitted for your consideration . . .
What should the KAM assessor do in this situation
The student did not indicate the length of the Depth component in the Learning Agreement Depth demonstration section (which is required by the LA rubric) and wrote a 10 page Depth essay. Only a few articles from the Annotated Bibliography are reviewed, and there appears to be no mention of theory(ies) from the Breadth.
APA Formatting
What is wrong with this citation?
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Correct:
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation
methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
APA Formatting
What is wrong with this citation?
Alexander, G., & Bonaparte, N. (2008). My way or the highway that I built. Ancient Dictators, volume 25, # 7. pp. 14-31.
Correct:
Alexander, G., & Bonaparte, N. (2008). My way or the
highway that I built. Ancient Dictators, 25(7), 14-31.
doi:10.8220/CTCE.52.1.23-91
APA Formatting
Appropriate APA formatting help, resources:
The Learning Agreement template: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/393.htm
KAM template: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/395.htm
The APA Manual:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association (6th
ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Annotated bibliography
How should the KAM assessor respond to this situation:
The student is writing an advanced KAM and the student’s perspective on the topic, while falling within the guidelines of the KAM Curriculum Guide, is a little obscure. As a result, the student is having difficulty finding recent, scholarly articles. Also, her residence is in a geographic location where there are no public or university libraries, and internet access can be spotty at best. She says she has looked and looked for articles for the Depth component, but can only find ten that relate to her topic, and some of those are not academic or scholarly, although they seem to be “professional.” A few, which seem interesting, are from the 1990s.
Application component
How should the KAM assessor respond to this situation:
In the Learning Agreement, the student writes a paragraph indicating that the Application component project will be a PowerPoint presentation for the board of a local nonprofit agency, listing ways that the organization can use its mission, vision, staff, and influence in the community to advance social change.
In the KAM demonstration, the PowerPoint project is embedded in the Application component itself.
Application component concerns
• Lack of the 8 – 10 page essay showing integration of the Breadth and Depth knowledge into the Application project.
• Unclear project, that is not a practical project or does not clearly show social change implications.
Successful Application criteria
A successful Application meets the following criteria:
• It is demonstrably informed by theory and/or current research findings.
• It is a practical project that deals with a concrete situation.
• It is oriented toward social change (on an appropriate scale).
(A Guide to the Knowledge Area Modules, pp. 28 – 29)
Breadth component concerns
• Use of secondary, rather than primary, sources
• Length: less than 25 pages
• Lack of alignment to Breadth objectives in Learning Agreement
Formatting errors
The student submits a KAM demo that contains many spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and similar errors.
Formatting resources
• Editors
• Grammarly
• LA and KAM templates at the Writing Center
• The APA Manual
• Spell checker, grammar checker in MS Word
• Formatting software . . . .
• Careful proofreading
• Bottom line . . . .
Don’t accept
poor work
A few other situations
What is wrong with this statement?
The research found that history professors were satisfied with their jobs.
Correct statement:
The researchers found that history professors were satisfied with their jobs.
Issue:
Research is incapable of finding anything as it is simply the investigation itself; the researchers draw the conclusions based on the research, so only they can find anything.
We want another one, just like the other one. . . .
What is wrong with this statement?
The article discussed the prevalence of HIV in suburban communities.
Correct:
Rogers (2010) discussed the prevalence of HIV in suburban communities.
Issue:
An article cannot discuss anything as it is simply written composition, but the writer can.
One more, this time with feeling . . .
No:
Research suggests that faculty seem to enjoy their jobs.
Maybe:
Salter (2013) found that faculty seem to enjoy their jobs.
Yes!
Faculty seem to enjoy their jobs (Salter, 2013).
Anthropomorphism
Attributing human characteristics to animals or to inanimate sources.
“the attributing of human shape or characteristic to a god, animal, or inanimate thing.”
(Webster’s New World Dictionary, 4th ed., 2000)
Final thoughts for a high-quality KAM
• Review A Guide to the Knowledge Area Modules
• Review the KAM Curriculum Guide for the KAM the student is writing (http://researchcenter.waldenu.edu/367.htm)
• Review and follow the LA and KAM rubrics
• Insist on accurate formatting and style, quality writing
• Faculty resource: ELMS module – “Academic Properties of a KAM”
Questions?
Kurt Schoch, EdD
Academic Coordinator, PhD in Education
Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership
University Coordinator, 7100 Forums and KAM Processes
Center for Research Quality
317-294-2901