Social Work

Course's general goal is to supply students with a theoretical knowledge and useful tools connected to the representation of data and to the pertaining psychometric analyses for educational research. The Programme includes theoretical lessons and workshop practical activities. Theoretical lessons will be divided into lectures, dedicated to students' training, and a part dedicated to students' questions and reflections. Classes will be about the use of questionnaires, and the approach to empirical research with a reference to the theoretical bases of quantitative and psychometric research. During the course, will be explained the instructions related to the representation of data by means of charts and graphs, the input and the management of data by using the programme Excel and the software for statistical analyses Spss, and the psychometric theories needed for the use of these software. During the practical classes, theory, previously learned, is applied by means of exercise and mid-term tests, both in the classroom and at home. At the end of the course, the student will know the basics of quantitative research applied in the pedagogical and educational areas in all their forms, will know the theories at the base of psychometric analyses, will have the needed skills for the management and input of data and preliminary analyses, will understand the basic psychometric models and their application in the specific field of educational research [Dublin Descriptor No. 1]. The acquired skills will be about the ability at creating a window for data input; creating and reading graphs representing data after the importation; importing the dataset on Spss; carrying out statistical preliminary and basic analyses. The student will be able to apply these skills in educational research [Dublin Descriptor No. 2]. Cross skills will concern the ability at applying what the student has learned to his/her scientific context. Students will be able to interpret and apply in an independent way psychometric analyses, that is to transpose the acquired theoretical knowledge into an application context [Dublin Descriptor No. 3]. During the course, the student will participate to individual and group activities, and he/she will report the experience as a discussion into the classroom or a presentation with slides. Students will report their experiences also through exercises at home, in this case individually, through a written composition. This will allow the student to become competent in summarising with clarity the discussed topics [Dublin Descriptor No. 4]. The course is aimed at making the students independent concerning the basic psychometric analyses, a skill useful for the final thesis or for a detailed study on specific topics during one's career. The student should be able to autonomously use the software Spss concerning the first analyses, understanding the procedure and the theory at its base [Dublin Descriptor No. 5].