Welcome to DISS-898
Doctoral - Directed Research

This directed research seminar is designed to assist doctoral students who are at their end of coursework develop ideas that may lead them towards a future research project. Students will experience the process of revising and resubmitting research proposal including learning the art of developing a scholarly document of revisions (DoR) similarly to one that is required by top quality peer-reviewed journals. This directed doctoral research seminar includes chats (on-campus, phone, or Live Wimba), pre-recorded MP3 lectures, and indipendent research assignments.

DISS-898 - Directed Research Seminar with Dr. Levy (4 credits)
Winter 2012 - January 3, 2012 - April 22, 2012
(Online)

 PROFESSOR'S INFORMATION:
   

Name:

Dr. Yair Levy
Associate Professor of Information Systems

Address:

Nova Southeastern University
Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences
The DeSantis Building, room 4058
3301 College Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314

E-mail:

levyy@nova.edu (please send all correspondence via e-mail)

Phone:

954-262-2006 (for faster respond, send me an e-mail...)

Fax:

954-262-3915

Prof.'s Web Site:

http://scis.nova.edu/~levyy/

Class Web Site:

In BlackBoard via https://sharklink.nova.edu/
or via: https://mako.nova.edu/webapps/login/

Office Hours: 

By appointment only via e-mail.

 

 

 E-MAIL COMMUNICATION:

Send me all correspondence to levyy@nova.edu. When sending me e-mail, please make sure to:

  • Send me e-mail from your NSU e-mail address ONLY -- this is GSCIS policy! (Also note that e-mails sent from non-NSU e-mail address maybe detected as spam and will not be received or answered!)
  • Type "DISS-898" in the subject line.
  • Type your full name in the message.
  • Type your BlackBoard username in the message.
  • Type your NSU e-mail address in the message.

E-mails will be usually answered within 24 hours on weekdays and within 48 hours on weekends or official holidays, although in most cases, I will answer you even before. If I'm out of town and have posted a note to the site about it, you will get an automated respond and I will answer it when I get back or have access to the Internet from that location. 

 DISS-898 COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Students pursue a development of a proposed initial idea for a research study or an externally funded research project. Projects may include a research paper on theoretical concepts, framework development, or actual projects dealing with definition, design, or implementation of an IS. For additional topics of interest, see the "Research Topics" page.

 DISS-898 TEXTBOOKS:
   
Hart, C. (1999). Doing a literature review. Releasing the social science imagination. London: Sage Publications.

ISBN#: 0761959750

   
Williams, J. M., & Colomb, G. G. (2007). The craft of argument (3nd). New York, NY: Longman.

ISBN#: 0321453271

   
Mertler, C. A., & Vannatta, R. A. (2010). Advanced and Multivariate Statistical Methods (4th ed.): Practical Application and Interpretation
(Prior editions are also OK)

ISBN#: 1-884585-84-1

   

APA (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)  (6th ed.).

ISBN#: 978-1-4338-0561-5

   

Davis, G. B., & Parker, C. A. (1997). Writing the doctoral dissertation: A systematic approach (2nd). Hauppauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series.

ISBN#: 0812098005

Additional articles, Internet resources and notes will be provided in class or via the BlackBoard site assigned to this course. Please check the BlackBoard site regularly!
   

 INSTRUCTION METHODS AND TOOLS:

This course will utilize BlackBoard as supplement for in-class activities. Assignments, projects and class discussions will take place in the BlackBoard site assigned to this course.

 DISS-825 ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING:

There will be three major assignments in this project course. The three assignments are related to the same topic and students should take it as a gradual development of a major research project or their future dissertation topic. All work should be original and related to the content of this course. The amount and quality of work required in this course must be consistent with that required for a typical four-credit doctoral-level course.

Additional information  will be provided during the class meetings. Moreover, additional information on each assignment is also provided under each of the assignment guidelines in the "Course Content" section of the course's BlackBoard site. All assignments should be uploaded into the Dropbox area in BlackBoard. Additional information on the uploading process will be provided in our first class meeting.

Note: Please allow yourself enough time prior to due date to upload your assignment to the BlackBoard's dropbox.

Assignment Due Date Grade Weight
Scheduled phone, on-campus, or Live Wimba chat to discuss potential research topic, research-worhty problem, and ideas for proposed study goals (i.e. measurables) 01/15 0% (required)
Research Proposal - Draft 1 (Assignment #1) 01/29 30%
Research Proposal - Draft 2 + Document of Revisions (DoR)  (Assignment #2) 03/04 35%
Research Proposal - Draft 3 + Document of Revisions (DoR)  (Assignment #3) 04/15  35%

Grading Scale:

[93-100] =A   [83-86) =B   [73-76) =C
[90-92) =A-   [80-82) =B-   [70-72) =C-
[87-89) =B+   [77-79) =C+   Below 70 =F
               
 CLASS/COURSE RULES:
  • Mutual respect and courtesy.
  • Professional quality in the organization, completeness, neatness, and timeliness of any material submitted will be expected.
  • Late assignments will not be accepted! However, the professor realizes that exceptional situations (such as justified emergencies or medical situations) do occur. In such cases, please inform your professor via e-mail to obtain special permission for late submission, prior to the deadline.
  • A student may not do additional work or repeat an examination to raise a final grade.
  • All papers and assignments should include a certificate of authorship signed by the student.
  • The professor is not obligated to communicate with students via e-mail or telephone about the course or assignments after final grades have been submitted. However, official Challenge of Course Grade and Student Grievance Procedure, as outlined in the graduate catalog, will be processed.
  • Students should be aware that any submitted work for this course may be subjected to detection of breach of copyright.

 NOTE:

Although some sections above are parts of this course's syllabus, this is not the course syllabus. The purpose of this page is to allow students and prospective students to gain understanding on the nature of this course. The course syllabus will be provided via WebCT and will be available for all students who register for this course.

Looking forward seeing you in my class!

Yair Levy, Ph.D. (levyy@nova.edu)
Associate Professor of Information Systems
Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences
Nova Southeastern University
Copyright ©  - Yair Levy, all rights reserved worldwide.