#UAQual and Online education
As part of her commitment to high quality teaching, including virtually, Dr. Shelton has earned QM-Certified Online Teaching Certificate. Information about her credentials may be found here.
Qualitative Research opportunities at UA
The Qualitative Research Program at UA offers multiple opportunities to engage in qualitative inquiry. First, students may pursue a Ph.D. in Educational Research with an emphasis on qualitative methods. More information about the degree program may be found here. Second, students may earn a Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Research. Those interested in the certificate will find additional information here.
Qualitative research courses
Dr. Shelton’s Current Course:
No courses offered Fall 2023-Spring 2024
Upcoming Course:
Summer 2024: BER 631: Qualitative Research I (asynchronous online)
Below are the courses that Dr. Shelton has taught/facilitated at UA:
No courses offered Fall 2023-Spring 2024
Upcoming Course:
Summer 2024: BER 631: Qualitative Research I (asynchronous online)
Below are the courses that Dr. Shelton has taught/facilitated at UA:
- BER 630: Qualitative Case Study Research: This course is about case studies and the production of case studies as a legitimized research approach in multiple disciplines. We will approach the case study critically, with the idea that we cannot critique that which we do not know. As such, we will explore and employ case study techniques even as we interrogate the assumptions and rationalities that grant them meaning. In this way we will consider the case of the case study.
- BER 631: Qualitative Research I: This course serves as an introduction to basic theory and the history of naturalistic inquiry, including the growth of methods and frameworks for conducting research. Students will have a practical experience developing a interview-based qualitative research project. The project includes skills such as development of a basic research design, research questions, different approaches to interviewing, and protocols. Students also practice data analysis skills including coding, memo writing, and analysis. Throughout the semester, students learn to critically read and write about qualitative research while gaining understandings of this field of inquiry.
- BER 632: Qualitative Research II: Anthropological methods and theoretical skills grounding data collection, analysis, and writing with a focus on ethical research practice concerning researcher/subject relations. Students continue to build a data corpus and conduct a second hands-on project of ethnographic observation and field work to develop the skills of writing field notes and collecting field documents, coding, analysis, write up of data; focus groups are also covered in this course.
- BER 633: Qualitative Research III: This course focuses on the writing phase of qualitative research. Basic skills of assertions and warrants, data presentation, and other forms of qualitative writing are studied and practiced. Students develop a qualitative-focused prospectus as part of their final project. Issues of ethics and representation are discussed through the post-structural and interpretive frameworks that ground the field.
- BER 636: Qualitative Interviewing: This course examines interviewing in qualitative educational research. The course considers various interviewing and transcription approaches and the research designs best served by specific approaches. Additionally, the course examines the conceptual and theoretical frameworks that inform interviewing as a research approach, the criteria used to assess interviewing, the range of ethical issues in interviewing, the relationships between interviewers and interviewees, and the ways that interviewing is implemented across various research situations and designs. Students consider issues such as selecting interviewing approaches, interview participants, transcription conventions, and data analysis approaches.
- BER 638: Social Justice in Qualitative Research: This course is designed to examine the role of qualitative inquiry in critiquing, rejecting, and potentially perpetuating systemic oppressions in educational research. The course also explores the importance and challenges of engaging in anti-oppressive, socially just, culturally sensitive, and decolonizing research activities. Students will also consider philosophical underpinnings and methodological approaches to qualitative inquiry that support social justice aims in research.
- BER 672: Mentored Teaching in Research Methodology: This course provides students with the opportunity to assist in teaching a research methods course. Working closely with an Educational Research faculty member, students will gain experience in designing curriculum, implementing thoughtful pedagogical practices, as well as insight into the affordances and challenges that accompany teaching various research-related topics.
- BER 687: Field Experience in Educational Research: This course offers one-on-one work with a select faculty member for a student to design, implement, and write a research project resulting in a manuscript of publishable quality. Projects and deadlines must be arranged with the instructor. *Note: This course is only available to Qualitative Research Certificate students and students in the PhD in Educational Research program.
- BER 689: Practicum in Educational Research: Faculty-supervised participation in research and other educational projects. Work is related to advisor's research interests. Field work required. *Note: This course is only available to Qualitative Research Certificate students and students in the PhD in Educational Research program.
- BER 695: Special Topics: Analyzing Talk and Social Interactions: This course considers the analyses of everyday social interactions, including talk/conversations, through Ethnomethodology (EM), Conversation Analysis (CA), Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA), and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). We will discuss the theoretical and/or philosophical underpinnings of each approach, the various ways that these methods are adapted and applied, their ethical implications, and relevant debates in qualitative inquiry.