M.Ed. Proposals

Purposes of the M.Ed. Proposal

Your proposal serves a number of purposes:

1. To develop a case for the importance of what it is you intend to do. Your proposal should describe the relevance of the project to your own teaching, and its importance to the larger educational community. Usually this is done in the first chapter of your proposal.
   
2. To demonstrate that you have a working knowledge of the area in which you are conducting your study. Your proposal should show how you situate your own work within the body of knowledge that already exists about your area of investigation. This is usually the purpose of chapter two, (the review of the literature), although your introductory chapter may also make reference to existing work in your chosen field of inquiry.
   
3. To present a plan for carrying out the project. Mter the proposal has been approved by your advisor and other committee members, the proposal becomes the guiding document that you will return to as you see your project through to completion. The actual methodology for your project is described in detail in the third chapter of the proposal. This chapter also describes the setting of the study, who will be involved, and a possible timeline for the project.
   
4. To establish a kind of contract between you and your committee. Once it is accepted, the subsequent successful completion of the project you describe in your proposal represents your fulfillment of a significant portion of the requirements for the degree. Assuming all the other course requirements have been met, it is only a short step from successful completion and defense of the project, to graduating with the Master's degree.
   

Overview of Proposal Content

The following outline of the content of your proposal is only a GUIDELINE. Individual project proposals may vary depending on the advice and preferences of your project advisor and research committee. Consider the following categories as descriptors for the project proposal for this course, but keep in mind that they may be modified, deleted, or added to after consultation with your advisor.

Chapter One: Introduction to the Problem

1. Introduction
2. Purpose of the Study
   1. The research questions (or)
   2. The research hypotheses
3. Significance of the Study
4. Design of the study (Methodology)
   1. Setting
   2. Data sources
   3. Data collection
   4. Data analysis
5. Definition of terms
6. Limitations of the Study

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature

This will vary from project to project. Essentially, the purposes of this chapter are to establish your credibility as someone working toward a mastery of the knowledge in your area of inquiry, and to situate your project in relation to what is already known about the topic. Your purpose here is to establish the links between the theoretical frameworks of others, and the knowledge you are developing through your inquiry.

Chapter Three: Methods and Procedures

(Action research as a way of structuring educational inquiry.)

1. Design of the study
2. Location and Setting
3. Curriculum materials
4. Project participants
5. Data sources
6. Procedures for data cdllection
7. Procedures for data analysis
8. Timeline for the study