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Action Research in Education

Explore action research in education from literature reviews through research design and ethics approval to final project outputs.

  • Duration

    5 weeks

  • Weekly study

    8 hours
Overview
Requirements

Practical advice on producing a high-quality education action research project

This course will help you to develop your education research project title and scope. It introduces the research process and then focuses on practical activities to help you frame an appropriate research question.

The course explores the role of a literature review within your project and how it links to the research question and design. It then moves on to the purpose of research design and will help you decide which design best fits the aim of your project.

You will then look at your methodology which determines how you will go about gathering evidence and analysing it, in order to answer your research question.

Finally you will examine the typical sections of an action research project report and what each section should include. The course covers what makes a good report, and advice is provided on how to write well, including tailoring it to the needs of the intended audience.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1: Action Research Project: Your project title and scope

  • How to work through the module and how to interact with the short courses
  • The process of identifying, refining and deciding on a potential action research project topic
  • The importance of checking that your topic fulfils the necessary criteria
  • How to write a precise aim and objectives, and use them to define the scope of your research question

Week 2: Action Research Project: Your Literature Review

  • Linking the literature review to the research question and using it to inform the project design
  • Analysis of the main purposes a literature review
  • Some approaches to doing a literature review
  • Discussion of strategies for identifying which sources to include in a literature review
  • The University’s guidance on plagiarism and ways to avoid committing it

Week 3: Action Research Project: Developing your Research Design

  • Establishing the need for a research design
  • Discussing some different designs and the factors which influence the choice of research design
  • Illustrating the main steps when selecting a research design, using an example scenario

Week 4: Action Research Project: Methodology and Methods

  • The link between methods and research design
  • The criteria for judging research quality
  • Practical advice on using different research methods
  • Issues of ethics in research, and how to avoid them

Week 5: Action Research Project: Writing Up

  • Examine what sections should be present in an action research project report and what content they should cover
  • Discuss practical advice on writing strategies
  • Identify criteria for recognising good project writing

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

Who is the course for?

Postgraduate students undertaking their final project as part of an MA in Education or an MA in Educational Leadership course.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992

  • Location

    Coventry

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  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
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