Education
Research Design
and Methods
WELCOME TO THE COURSE
Introductions
Name
Job
I am doing this course because . .
Talk to three or more people near you
Course Overview
Session 1
Introduction to MTESOL and to Research
Methods
Session 2
Principles of research reliability
Session 3
a) Literature Review b) Ethics
Session 4
Introduction to qualitative and quantitative research
Session 5
Class interaction analysis
Session 6
Ethnographic research
Session 7
Action research
Session 8
Quantitative research
Session 9
Data collection and analysis
Session 10
Overview and assignments
What is RESEARCH?
You have 30 seconds
Write down one word that you associate
with the word research.
e.g. money / travel
Write down all the associated words
from all the students in this group
Can you divide the words into 2/3/4
categories?
What does the evidence tell us about your views
of research
Some definitions may focus on:
- posing questions
- research process
- research outcomes
- solving problems
- research experts or research institutions
Write down your own definition of research
What have we just done?
- Asked a question
- Attempted to answer the question
- Generated information/data from the
answers
- Organized the data into categories
- Analyzed the data to arrive at some
truths or conclusions
THIS IS RESEARCH
Some definitions of research
Look at the following definitions:
You will be asked to vote for the one you think
is the best
How do these definitions differ? Which is the
most helpful?
Some definitions of research
1. A systematic approach to finding answers to
questions (Hatch)
2. A scholarly or scientific investigation or
inquiry (American Heritage Dictionary)
3. Research is a process of inquiry consisting of a
question, data, analysis and interpretation
(Nunan)
4. Research is the pursuit of knowledge (anon).
What percentage of students has
voted for each one of the four
definitions?
Represent this percentage as
- a pie diagram
- as a bar chart.
We undertake research all the time
can you think of some everyday
examples of research that you do?
Good teaching involves ongoing research:
Why?
and
How?
Observations from ones own experience and
those of others
Hypothesising and experimenting
Data collection and analysis
Modification of methods
Reflection and action.
Teacher as researcher
For most good teachers research occurs
almost subconsciously. Knowledge about
teaching and learning is generally implicit
Making the implicit explicit is the basis of
much education research
This involves explaining and organising the
process in a way others can understand and
follow.
How do we identify a research
question?
Identifying a research question
Personal experience: thats odd moment
Observations: realising something over time,
and wondering why
Reading articles about teaching/learning
Conversation with others
What is the purpose of
research?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To expand knowledge
To challenge existing knowledge
To confirm existing knowledge
To solve problems
To generate new questions
Research Methods
- we are going to consider
two types of research
Research Task A
Does memorization assist the acquisition
of irregular verb forms?
Note that students have no
previous knowledge of verb forms
Research Data test scores/10
Students
Post teaching
Conclusions?
A
3
B
9
C
7
D
5
E
2
1. Theres evidence of some improvement in all cases if
we assume no prior knowledge.
2. There is considerable variation between students
scores
3. However, we dont necessarily know what causes the
improvement and variation?
4. We need further research what do you recommend?
Teach and test larger groups
Compare two teaching methods
used with two groups, or maybe with
the same group
Other?
You decide to use two different methods to
teach irregular verb forms:
1. By memorisation
2. By stories
Post- test/10
With memorisation
A
3
B
9
C
7
D
5
E
2
Using stories
10
What are your conclusions?
Test results give us interesting data but do not
give any reasons for the results
Why would stories be more effective than
memorisation?
Test results do not tell us anything about the
students views and experiences
Lets look at a different research method which
looks at students experiences.
Research Task B
What did the students think about the
teaching and learning of irregular verb
forms?
What did you as students think about the
methods of teaching irregular verbs
when you were learning them?
Does this personal information help us
to understand the learning process?
We have now looked at two
research methods.
How do these two research tasks
differ from each other?
Research method A uses numbers and is
therefore QUANTITATIVE
Research method B uses responses to personal
experiences and is therefore QUALITATIVE
List the following features under
the headings:
Research Method A
Research Method B
Numerical
Experimental
Natural
Subjective
Controlled
Objective
Outcome focus
Individual
Reasons
Experiential
Correlations
Numerical relationships
Personal
Meaning
Student centered
Process focus
General
Replicable
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Quantitative - A
Numbers/Measures
Numerical relationships
Controlled
Objective
Outcome oriented
Generalisable
Replicable
Qualitative - B
Meaning
Understanding
Naturalistic
Subjective
Process orientated
Individual
Reasons
Can both these methods be
used in a single research task?
They can be used together. We could ask
students a question about their views:
Do you like learning English?
These views could then be shown as a set of
numbers.
How?
Both methods can be used, but..
Qualitative and quantitative
methods arise out of different
theories of knowledge
Two theories of knowledge
POSITIVIST
To obtain knowledge we use observation and
measurement
The study of human behaviour e.g. how
people learn, is similar to the study of sciences
e.g. chemistry or biology
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Knowledge is dependent upon human
perception, and influenced by factors such as
culture, history and belief including those of
the researcher
Constructivist research
As a researcher, I need to think about how
others see me and react to me, and how my
views affect my interpretations of the world.
What views or attributes might affect my
research?
These might include:
gender
social class
professional beliefs
professional position
family background
ethnicity
religious and cultural beliefs and backgrounds
political loyalties
and even your physical appearance.
COFFEE
Research in action!
1. On a five point scale, vote for your level of
understanding of the course so far (5 excellent, 4
good, 3 satisfactory, 2 limited, 1 minimal)
- What is the class total?
- What is the average or mean?
2. Write down one short sentence about your
thoughts and feelings in the room this morning.
We now have a class average for course
understanding
Does this average tell us anything about individual
students?
We also have some personal statements.
Is the number or are the statements more
significant?
Do you think that people reply
honestly to questions?
Did you?
What do your answers suggest about
research?
Which do you find more useful?
The qualitative approach, or the
quantitative approach
Which method/s would you use for
these hypotheses?
1. Second language learners who identify with
the target culture will master the language
more quickly than those who do not.
2. Good relationships between teachers and
students influence proficiency gains.
3. Students who are taught formal grammar
develop greater proficiency than students who
are taught through immersion programs.
Your Assessments
Assessment one 20%
1. Research context (300/500
words)
- Where do you work?
- What do you teach?
- Teaching problems/issues?
- Research interests
- Reasons for doing the course
(please give this to me by Wednesday!)
2. Research article analysis
Identify a research article about a topic of
interest to you.
Write an analysis of this article submit by
Friday. Approx 1,000 words
Structure of the analysis
1. Briefly explain why you have chosen the article.
2. Note the research question and why it is being
asked.
3. Which research methods are used and why?
4. What are the strengths and limitations of the
methods?
5. What are the conclusions?
6. Do you think the conclusions are significant for
your own workplace?
Assesment two 20%
- Literature review and Research
Question 2000 words
- 21st October
Assessment three 60%
- Research Method Proposal 4000
words
- 18th November
Identifying a research question
It is important to start thinking about this as soon as
possible
The question might arise from your own work experience
Or it might arise from your experience as a language
learner
The research topic should be something that is important
to you
It should be very specific
Course presentation
Using a 5-point scale, respond to these
questions:
1. Can you understand the slides well?
2. Are the explanations clear?
3. Is the speed of the lecture suitable?
