EDUC2301: Educational Research Methods

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• To help students understand the purposes and implications of educational research.
• To enable students to develop a critical appreciation of the different ways in which research can be carried out in education.
• To help students understand ways to assess the quality of educational research.

• The nature and context of educational research;
• Epistemology and ontology in relation to educational research
• Developing research questions;
• Negotiating the research process;
• Literature searches and reviews;
• Critical appraisal of research;
• Research design;
• Ethics in educational research;
• Data collection in educational research;
• Data analysis and presentation;
• Evidence in education;
• Using theory in educational research;
• Educational policy evaluation;
• Enquiry, reflection and reflexivity in educational research;
• Writing research proposals.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module, students will be able to: understand and evaluate different views about the nature of educational research knowledge and the purposes of educational research.
• use and demonstrate knowledge and understanding about different kinds of educational research designs and methodologies, and the kinds of research questions for which they are appropriate.
• appreciate the complexities of educational research in schools and other education settings
• appreciate the issues and complexities of collecting, analysing and interpreting educational research data.

Subject-specific Skills:

• identify ways of accessing evidence related to educational research
• think critically and interrogate the assumptions underpinning educational research;
• identify strengths and weaknesses in educational research
• critically evaluate literature on a variety of contemporary educational issues
• understand the relationship between the nature of educational knowledge and research methodology

Key Skills:

• think critically and independently;
• analyse, synthesise, evaluate and identify problems and solutions;
• communicate effectively with appropriate use of specialist vocabulary;
• interpret and present relevant numerical information;
• use ICT and a variety of library and IT resources;
• improve their own learning and performance, including the development of study and research skills, information retrieval, and a capacity to plan and manage learning, and to reflect on their own learning;
• work to deadlines.

• Teaching will consist of a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops. A blended approach to learning will be utilised for some of the teaching.
• Lectures will introduce key ideas and knowledge.
• Seminars will provide opportunities for discussion and detailed exploration of key issues.
• Workshops will provide an opportunity to explore specific aspects of educational research methods in depth.
• Much of the work in seminars will be student-led, using a range of structured and supported activities.
• Assessment will comprise of an essay and a research proposal, facilitating different opportunities for students to assimilate and demonstrate their learning from the module.
• Students will be provided with a module handbook and learning will be supported by the virtual learning environment (VLE).

Written formative feedback on formative assignments will be provided; this may be provided to a group of students or an individual student dependent upon the assessment. Formative assessment tasks will be explicitly linked to the summative assessments.

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