Course Title: Approaches to Research in Education

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Approaches to Research in Education

Credit Points: 24.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

OTED1029

City Campus

Postgraduate

360H Education

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2014

OTED1029

City Campus

Postgraduate

360H Education

Face-to-Face or Internet

Sem 1 2009,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 1 2012,
Sem 1 2013

OTED1029

City Campus

Postgraduate

360H Education

Internet

Sem 1 2008,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 2 2014

OTED1033

City Campus

Research

360H Education

Internet

Sem 2 2008,
Sem 1 2009,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 2 2012

Course Coordinator: Professor Heather Fehring

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 7840

Course Coordinator Email: heather.fehring@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 220.3.14


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the major traditions and orientations informing contemporary educational research. The course materials focus on a range of research approaches, methods and techniques together with a brief outline of their historical, political, epistemological and ideological underpinnings. A key purpose of the course is to help students develop their skills as critical readers of research as well as providing underpinnings and experiences that will enable them to make informed choices about appropriate research methodologies and techniques for their own future research projects. At completion of this course students will have framed a research question and developed a research proposal that draws on understandings of the research traditions and techniques. The proposal will be relevant to a future research project or an educational inquiry in an area of professional interest.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

The course aims to develop increased knowledge and understanding of a range of approaches and methodologies in research, to enhance abilities to critically appraise reports of educational inquiry and other research literature, and to develop a research proposal.


The broad aims of the course are to enable you to develop increased knowledge and understanding of a range of approaches and methodologies in research, to enhance your ability to critically appraise reports of educational inquiry and other research literature and to develop a research proposal.

More specifically, it is intended that you will:

• Become familiar with a variety of educational research methodologies and the techniques that are characteristic of these approaches
• Explore the assumptions and beliefs underlying different approaches to reserach inquiry in education
• Acquire knowledge and understandings that will help you to outline appropriate research methodology for inquiring into questions, problems or issues relevant to your own educational practice
• Position yourself with regard to various educational research methodologies
• Be able to read research reports critically and undertake informed reflection about methodological approaches


Overview of Learning Activities

The overall purpose of learning activities is to help develop critical skills and understandings of different research approaches and their theoretical underpinnings. Activities will increase skills in reading critically, framing research questions and selecting appropriate methods and methodologies. It is intended that the course may link as much as possible to the professional lives and workplace practices of students.

Accordingly, the course has been framed in three ways for approaching an introductory study of research in education: 

  • Reading from methodology texts and recently published reports of research inquiry
  • Maintaining a learning log about reading, questions and discussions in research methodology
  • Developing a proposal outlining a research problem and an approach to
     


Overview of Learning Resources

As an online course, all materials are delivered through the learning hub and Blackboard. The available materials include:

  • Online study and course guides
  • Electronic readings
  • Web resources including online journal articles
  • Online discussion with tutor and other students


 


Overview of Assessment

The assessment tasks provide an opportunity to engage directly with the objectives of this course.

Assessment comprises practical and theoretical components, which provide opportunities to experience and identify links between appropriate theories, methodologies and practices regarding approaches to research in education in and across a variety of settings.