EDUC30090

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, students will be able to:
- Search for, access, and critically engage with peer-reviewed educational literature using academic databases and online repositories.
- Summarise and synthesise relevant educational research to support and contextualise a chosen research topic.
- Explain the importance of ethical considerations when conducting educational research.
- Formulate a clear and focused research aim suitable for a small-scale, classroom-based action research project.
- Identify and justify appropriate methods for collecting and analysing data from normal classroom practice.
- Prepare and present a research proposal to inform their Year 4 capstone project planning.

Indicative Module Content:

The module is organised into four thematic blocks, each lasting three weeks:
Block 1: Foundations of Educational Research
What is research? Why does it matter in education? What does it mean to be a teacher-researcher?
Block 2: Engaging with Literature
How do you find, read, and use research to inform your own thinking and writing?
Block 3: Planning for Action Research
How do you turn classroom reflections into researchable questions and choose methods to explore them?
Block 4: Preparing the Research Proposal
How do you put your plan together and write a clear, structured proposal for your capstone project?

Student Effort Hours:

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

Online content.
Self-directed learning tasks.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.

Module Requisites and Incompatibles

Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy

 

Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Alvesson, M. & Sandberg, J. (2013). The context of constructing and formulating research questions. In Constructing research questions: Doing interesting research (pp. 10-23). London: SAGE Publications Ltd doi: 10.4135/9781446270035.n2
Bolton, G. (2014). Reflective practice: Writing and professional development (Fourth ed.). London;Los Angeles;: SAGE
Burke, J and Dempsey, M. (2022) Undertaking Capstone Projects in Education – A practical guide for students, Routledge: Oxon
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education: Eighth edition. Routledge.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (International student, 6th ed.). SAGE.
Efron, S. and Ravid, R. (2019) Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide, The Guilford Press: London
Fahie, D., & Bergin, S. (2022). Doing research in education: A beginner's guide. University College Dublin Press.
Hopkins, D. (2014). A teacher's guide to classroom research (Fifth ed.). Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: McGraw Hill/Open University Press.
Gallagher, A and Thordarson, K. (2021) Design thinking in play – An action guide for educators, Virginia: ASCD
Goldman, S and Zielezinski, M. (2022) Design Thinking for Every Classroom – A practical guide for educators, Routledge: Oxon
Hart, C., & Open University. (2018). Doing a literature review: Releasing the research imagination (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Kemmis, Stephen, and McTaggart, Robin (2005) Participatory action research: communicative action and the public sphere. In: Denzin, Norman K., and Lincoln, Yvonna S., (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California, USA, pp. 559-603.
Leacock, N and Calos, J (2020) Capstone: Inquiry and action in school, John Catt Educational Limited: Woodbridge
Mertler, C.A. (2019) The Wiley Handbook of Action Research in Education First published:7 March 2019, Print ISBN:9781119399964 |Online ISBN:9781119399490 |DOI:10.1002/9781119399490
McNiff, J. (2016). You and your action research project (Fourth ed.). London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Teaching Council of Ireland. (2016). Cosán Framework for Teachers’ Learning. The Teaching Council.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.