CAPSTONE PROJECT
1
Capstone Project
Terrance Guinn
Alcorn State University
CAPSTONE PROJECT
2
Effectiveness of advising programs in colleges
Identify your specific research question. Discuss why the research question is good based
on the four essential characteristics that were discussed.
The researcher's question to this paper is whether colleges should hire advisors and if
advising has any impact in a learning institution. The four essential characteristics of a research
question is that it should have a yes or no answer, ethical, interesting, and relevant. Looking at
this research question it is relevant in academics since it gives insights on understanding the
importance of advising academics. The question can have a yes or no answer if asked directly.
Also it is an interesting question to talk about considering the cultural differences in the schools
today. Finally the question is ethical since it isn't biased.
Why is this research problem/topic worthy of investigation? Use relevant literature with at
least three (3) articles that are no older than ten (10) years.
The topic under which our research problem is based on is the developmental advising
academics. The issue about advising academics in colleges is worth investigating because the
advisors and the institutions with academic programs have a great impact on the students
(Gavero, 2016). Looking at the diversity in schools today it is important to note that the students
need advisors and the colleges that lack advising programs are disadvantaged (Ledwith, 2014).
According to research papers, institutions with advising programs are likely to benefit from
donors. Also there is a good relationship between these institutions and the alumni.
Prepare a mini literature review using at least seven (7) articles no older than ten (10)
years. The literature review should summarize/synthesize research that has already been
CAPSTONE PROJECT
3
conducted about the topic, showing patterns, disagreements, gaps, and indicate how your
research fits in. The literature review should be written in APA format.
Several research papers have been written regarding the issue of advising programs in
colleges and other learning institutions. In a research paper by Ledwith, (2014), she wrote that
there is a difference between career advisors and academic advisors but both should play a
significant role to ensure that the students make the best choices. In another study, the
researchers found that the institutions that had to advise programs turned out to have a good
relationship with alumni and received sponsorship from donors (McGill, Duslak and
Puroway, 2020). In addition to this other researchers have stated that it is vital for the advisors to
understand the population in the institution so that the program will focus on the problems facing
them (Gavero, 2016). According to Steele, (2018) the advisors should ensure that their identity is
hidden to avoid bias. To hide the identity, it is vital to have a strategic plan that will be used to
advise the students (Winham, 2020). Another research found that developmental advising
academic is good to the students and advises all the schools to adopt programs that will help the
students overcome particular challenges (Zhang, 2016). Another study has discussed about the
developmental issues faced by the Asian students and why advising programs are essential to this
group (Harootian and Reilly, 2015). Finally, it is vital for the advisors to incorporate activelearning activities in the advising programs to engage the learners directly.
Identify the specific research method that would be most appropriate to address your
specific research question. Include if the method is quantitative or qualitative.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
4
For this research paper, I will use interviews to get the findings. The interview will be
based on a focus group. The main group that we are going to interview will be the advisors and
students from minority groups. This method is qualitative because it gives the participants to
give a general answer and then the researcher will use the responses to generate the findings. The
interviews will focus on the main question that gives an insight into the benefits of the advising
academic in institutions and how it benefits them. Also the interview questions will help the
advisors to explain the impacts of the developmental advising academic in the institutions they
work.
Explain in detail why this method would be most appropriate.
I find the use of interviews to be most appropriate because it gives the participants to
write down several opinions. These opinions can make a comparison that later brings a better
understanding of the issue in question. Since the study will focus on different focus groups, it
will be easier to compare the feelings of the learners and those of advisors to find out if there is
any common understanding. When an interview is used, one is free to answer a question or not.
This makes the participants feel more comfortable when answering the questions.
Identify the proposed subjects for your study. Provide demographic information about the
subjects. Why are these appropriate subjects to conduct the study?
For this study, our participants will be minority learners and advisors. We will choose
500 learners among them, 100 black Americans, 200 Latinos, 100 Asians, and 200 Hispanic
students. These students will come across different institutions with developmental advising
academic programs. The advisor will be 50 in number. The reason I choose the minority students
CAPSTONE PROJECT
5
in this study is because they are ones that are experiencing developmental issues and advising
academic benefits them a lot. The advisors are ones in a position to understand the impacts these
programs have in their institutions and how the students benefits from advising academic.
Therefore, these participants will give reliable data.
Identify what type of sampling method you would utilize for your proposed study. Why is
this the most appropriate sampling method for this research?
The sampling method for this study is not easy because each of the population being
sampled is big. Also we are involving a different institution which means that sampling the
population might be difficult. In this case, I would suggest that we use random sampling. This
will require use to go to particular schools and make a random selection of the participants.
Under such a situation, we will select each learner independently, meaning that each person has
an equal chance. The importance of this method of sampling is that it is not biased and anyone
can get s chance to participate in the study.
What are the ethical concerns that may arise with conducting your research? How will you
as the researcher deal with these ethical concerns?
In every research paper, there are ethical concerns that might arise when conducting
research. As a researcher, it is vital to understand how to deal with such issues. In this case, there
is the issue of biases that might occur due to the failure to involve the white students. Most
people might claim that failure to involve these students is a form of discrimination. As a
researcher, I will be firm in making sure that I insist on the developmental issues facing the
CAPSTONE PROJECT
6
minority groups. The other ethical issue is the privacy of the data collected. As a researcher, it is
my duty to ensure that I provide security to the data by using strong passwords and
authentications.
Which IRB category will this research fall into? Provide an explanation.
The research falls under the exempt IRB category. The research that falls under this
category should be educational and involves minimal impact on the participants. In this case our
study is conducted and is acceptable in an education setting because it incorporates normal
education practices (Harootian and O’Reilly, 2015). Also the practices involved are not in a
position to impacts the learners' ability to learn the other course materials or the educators giving
them the instructions. In general, the research has no impact on the institution and the learners
involved in the study.
Identify and attach the proposed instrument(s) that would be used to collect the data for
your research. You should consider using an instrument from research that has been
already been conducted.
Data collection methods can be a researcher of the subject completed. For each method
chosen, it is vital to note that there are advantages and disadvantages. In this case, our data
collection methods will be subject- completed. We are going to use interviews that are selfchecklist. This is a form of interview where the participants are given printed questions to
answers. The participants are given time to give answers and give the papers to the researcher.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
7
Figure 1 example of a self-checklist questions
What is the validity and reliability of the proposed instrument?
Before choosing a particular method to collect data, researchers should know that
everyone wants to know the reliability of the data collected. Therefore, to get reliable data, it is
vital to ensure that the data collection method is valid and reliable. In this case, the self-checklist
method is valid because all it is a well-known method of data collection. The responses collected
are reliable because the answers are matched to the given list. Therefore, this method can be
relied upon as the other interviews where the data is collected and filled in by the researcher.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
8
References
Gavero, G. C. (2016). The importance of early mentorship for minority students. Academic
Psychiatry, 41(2), 303-304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0643-7
Harootian, D. P., & O’Reilly, E. N. (2015). undefined. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal,
87-97. https://doi.org/10.37237/060106
How to motivate your advisors: Help them capture more assets and produce at higher levels.
(2015). The Bullish Thinking Guide for Managers, 121129. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119198833.ch9
Ledwith, K. E. (2014). Academic advising and career services: A collaborative approach. New
Directions for Student Services, 2014(148), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20108
McGill, C. M., Duslak, M. P., & Puroway, A. (2020). Entering academic advising. Journal of
Academic Advising, 2. https://doi.org/10.14434/jaa.v2i1.27416
Steele, G. E. (2018). Student success: Academic advising, student learning data, and
technology. New Directions for Higher Education, 2018(184), 5968. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20303
Winham, I. (2020). Advising pre-dead students. Journal of Academic
Advising, 2. https://doi.org/10.14434/jaa.v2i1.27614
Zhang, Y. (2016). Appreciative advising with international students in American community
colleges. International Education at Community Colleges, 93109. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53336-4_7
CAPSTONE PROJECT
1
Capstone Project
Terrance Guinn
Alcorn State University
CAPSTONE PROJECT
2
Effectiveness of advising programs in colleges
Identify your specific research question. Discuss why the research question is good based
on the four essential characteristics that were discussed.
The researcher's question to this paper is whether colleges should hire advisors and if
advising has any impact in a learning institution. The four essential characteristics of a research
question is that it should have a yes or no answer, ethical, interesting, and relevant. Looking at
this research question it is relevant in academics since it gives insights on understanding the
importance of advising academics. The question can have a yes or no answer if asked directly.
Also it is an interesting question to talk about considering the cultural differences in the schools
today. Finally the question is ethical since it isn't biased.
Why is this research problem/topic worthy of investigation? Use relevant literature with at
least three (3) articles that are no older than ten (10) years.
The topic under which our research problem is based on is the developmental advising
academics. The issue about advising academics in colleges is worth investigating because the
advisors and the institutions with academic programs have a great impact on the students
(Gavero, 2016). Looking at the diversity in schools today it is important to note that the students
need advisors and the colleges that lack advising programs are disadvantaged (Ledwith, 2014).
According to research papers, institutions with advising programs are likely to benefit from
donors. Also there is a good relationship between these institutions and the alumni.
Prepare a mini literature review using at least seven (7) articles no older than ten (10)
years. The literature review should summarize/synthesize research that has already been
CAPSTONE PROJECT
3
conducted about the topic, showing patterns, disagreements, gaps, and indicate how your
research fits in. The literature review should be written in APA format.
Several research papers have been written regarding the issue of advising programs in
colleges and other learning institutions. In a research paper by Ledwith, (2014), she wrote that
there is a difference between career advisors and academic advisors but both should play a
significant role to ensure that the students make the best choices. In another study, the
researchers found that the institutions that had to advise programs turned out to have a good
relationship with alumni and received sponsorship from donors (McGill, Duslak and
Puroway, 2020). In addition to this other researchers have stated that it is vital for the advisors to
understand the population in the institution so that the program will focus on the problems facing
them (Gavero, 2016). According to Steele, (2018) the advisors should ensure that their identity is
hidden to avoid bias. To hide the identity, it is vital to have a strategic plan that will be used to
advise the students (Winham, 2020). Another research found that developmental advising
academic is good to the students and advises all the schools to adopt programs that will help the
students overcome particular challenges (Zhang, 2016). Another study has discussed about the
developmental issues faced by the Asian students and why advising programs are essential to this
group (Harootian and Reilly, 2015). Finally, it is vital for the advisors to incorporate activelearning activities in the advising programs to engage the learners directly.
Identify the specific research method that would be most appropriate to address your
specific research question. Include if the method is quantitative or qualitative.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
4
For this research paper, I will use interviews to get the findings. The interview will be
based on a focus group. The main group that we are going to interview will be the advisors and
students from minority groups. This method is qualitative because it gives the participants to
give a general answer and then the researcher will use the responses to generate the findings. The
interviews will focus on the main question that gives an insight into the benefits of the advising
academic in institutions and how it benefits them. Also the interview questions will help the
advisors to explain the impacts of the developmental advising academic in the institutions they
work.
Explain in detail why this method would be most appropriate.
I find the use of interviews to be most appropriate because it gives the participants to
write down several opinions. These opinions can make a comparison that later brings a better
understanding of the issue in question. Since the study will focus on different focus groups, it
will be easier to compare the feelings of the learners and those of advisors to find out if there is
any common understanding. When an interview is used, one is free to answer a question or not.
This makes the participants feel more comfortable when answering the questions.
Identify the proposed subjects for your study. Provide demographic information about the
subjects. Why are these appropriate subjects to conduct the study?
For this study, our participants will be minority learners and advisors. We will choose
500 learners among them, 100 black Americans, 200 Latinos, 100 Asians, and 200 Hispanic
students. These students will come across different institutions with developmental advising
academic programs. The advisor will be 50 in number. The reason I choose the minority students
CAPSTONE PROJECT
5
in this study is because they are ones that are experiencing developmental issues and advising
academic benefits them a lot. The advisors are ones in a position to understand the impacts these
programs have in their institutions and how the students benefits from advising academic.
Therefore, these participants will give reliable data.
Identify what type of sampling method you would utilize for your proposed study. Why is
this the most appropriate sampling method for this research?
The sampling method for this study is not easy because each of the population being
sampled is big. Also we are involving a different institution which means that sampling the
population might be difficult. In this case, I would suggest that we use random sampling. This
will require use to go to particular schools and make a random selection of the participants.
Under such a situation, we will select each learner independently, meaning that each person has
an equal chance. The importance of this method of sampling is that it is not biased and anyone
can get s chance to participate in the study.
What are the ethical concerns that may arise with conducting your research? How will you
as the researcher deal with these ethical concerns?
In every research paper, there are ethical concerns that might arise when conducting
research. As a researcher, it is vital to understand how to deal with such issues. In this case, there
is the issue of biases that might occur due to the failure to involve the white students. Most
people might claim that failure to involve these students is a form of discrimination. As a
researcher, I will be firm in making sure that I insist on the developmental issues facing the
CAPSTONE PROJECT
6
minority groups. The other ethical issue is the privacy of the data collected. As a researcher, it is
my duty to ensure that I provide security to the data by using strong passwords and
authentications.
Which IRB category will this research fall into? Provide an explanation.
The research falls under the exempt IRB category. The research that falls under this
category should be educational and involves minimal impact on the participants. In this case our
study is conducted and is acceptable in an education setting because it incorporates normal
education practices (Harootian and O’Reilly, 2015). Also the practices involved are not in a
position to impacts the learners' ability to learn the other course materials or the educators giving
them the instructions. In general, the research has no impact on the institution and the learners
involved in the study.
Identify and attach the proposed instrument(s) that would be used to collect the data for
your research. You should consider using an instrument from research that has been
already been conducted.
Data collection methods can be a researcher of the subject completed. For each method
chosen, it is vital to note that there are advantages and disadvantages. In this case, our data
collection methods will be subject- completed. We are going to use interviews that are selfchecklist. This is a form of interview where the participants are given printed questions to
answers. The participants are given time to give answers and give the papers to the researcher.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
7
Figure 1 example of a self-checklist questions
What is the validity and reliability of the proposed instrument?
Before choosing a particular method to collect data, researchers should know that
everyone wants to know the reliability of the data collected. Therefore, to get reliable data, it is
vital to ensure that the data collection method is valid and reliable. In this case, the self-checklist
method is valid because all it is a well-known method of data collection. The responses collected
are reliable because the answers are matched to the given list. Therefore, this method can be
relied upon as the other interviews where the data is collected and filled in by the researcher.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
8
References
Gavero, G. C. (2016). The importance of early mentorship for minority students. Academic
Psychiatry, 41(2), 303-304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0643-7
Harootian, D. P., & O’Reilly, E. N. (2015). undefined. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal,
87-97. https://doi.org/10.37237/060106
How to motivate your advisors: Help them capture more assets and produce at higher levels.
(2015). The Bullish Thinking Guide for Managers, 121129. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119198833.ch9
Ledwith, K. E. (2014). Academic advising and career services: A collaborative approach. New
Directions for Student Services, 2014(148), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20108
McGill, C. M., Duslak, M. P., & Puroway, A. (2020). Entering academic advising. Journal of
Academic Advising, 2. https://doi.org/10.14434/jaa.v2i1.27416
Steele, G. E. (2018). Student success: Academic advising, student learning data, and
technology. New Directions for Higher Education, 2018(184), 5968. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20303
Winham, I. (2020). Advising pre-dead students. Journal of Academic
Advising, 2. https://doi.org/10.14434/jaa.v2i1.27614
Zhang, Y. (2016). Appreciative advising with international students in American community
colleges. International Education at Community Colleges, 93109. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53336-4_7
Final Research Assignment
ED 514
Summer 2020
Name ________________________________
A#____________________________
Directions
Respond to the following twelve (12) items about your specific research. Each response should
be related to the research topic that you were assigned during the second week of this course.
Your responses should not be a broad answer from the textbook. This means that each of your
responses should prove that you understand the concept being posed in each question. Therefore,
be sure that you provide detailed responses for each item based on the topic.
Due Date
This assignment should be submitted in Canvas no later than Tuesday, June 30, 2020, no later
than 10:00 pm. There will be NO grace period for this assignment. NO late assignments will be
accepted.
Questions
1. Identify your specific research question. Discuss why the research question is good based
on the four essential characteristics that were discussed.
2. Why is this research problem/topic worthy of investigation? Use relevant literature with
at least three (3) articles that are no older than ten (10) years.
3. Prepare a mini literature review using at least seven (7) articles no older than ten (10)
years. The literature review should summarize/synthesize research that has already been
conducted about the topic, showing patterns, disagreements, gaps, and indicate how your
research fits in. The literature review should be written in APA format.
4. Identify the specific research method that would be most appropriate to address your
specific research question. Include if the method is quantitative or qualitative.
5. Explain in detail why this method would be most appropriate.
6. Identify the proposed subjects for your study. Provide demographic information about the
subjects. Why are these the appropriate subjects to conduct the study?
7. Identify what type of sampling method you would utilize for your proposed study. Why
is this the most appropriate sampling method for this research?
2
8. What are the ethical concerns that may arise with conducting your research? How will
you as the researcher deal with these ethical concerns?
9. Which IRB category will this research fall into? Provide an explanation.
10. Identify and attach the proposed instrument(s) would be used to collect the data for your
research. You should consider using an instrument from research that has been already
been conducted.
11. What is the validity and reliability of the proposed instrument?
12. Attach a properly formatted APA reference page. All of the references used in this
assignment should be included on the reference page.
7:55
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v
Final Research Assignment
ED 514 Methods of Educational Research
Spring 2013
Graded Items
Comments
Points Earned/Possible
Points
/10
/25
/25
/50
Appropriately develops a researchable
research question.
Clearly states why the identified
problem/topic is worthy of investigation
using relevant literature.
The student identifies a specific research
question that is feasible, clear, significant,
and ethical.
The student writes a clear, coherent literature
review using the most up-to-date literature.
The literature is synthesized and is
appropriate to the topic. The literature review
and reference page is written in the
appropriate APA format.
Correctly identifies the independent and
dependent variables. If applicable, the student
must correctly identify the moderator,
mediator, and/or extraneous variables.
The appropriate research method is clearly
stated by the researcher. In addition, the
student explains why the identified research
method is appropriate.
The student correctly identifies and states
who the subjects will be in the research study.
/20
/30
/20
/30
The student correctly states what ethical
issues may arise with conducting this
research. Further, the student provides
explanations about how the ethical issues will
be addressed in the study.
Page 1 of 2
La Toya Hart, Ph. D.
Final Research Assignment
ED 514 Methods of Educational Research
Spring 2013
/10
/20
The student appropriately addresses the
procedures necessary to gain IRB approval.
The student identifies the appropriate
sampling method for the study. The student
provides a clear rationale about the reason the
research method was selected.
The appropriate instrument is selected for the
study. In addition, the student provides a
cogent rationale about the reason the
instrument was selected and identifies the
type of data collection instrument.
The appropriate validity and reliability tools
are identified for the proposed instrument.
Writing that is appropriate at the graduate
level.
/20
/15
/25
Total Points
/300
Page 2 of 2
La Toya Hart, Ph. D.
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