research question 56
Journal: Your Research Question
Each week, you will have a chance to refine your action research or practitioner inquiry question. In your journal for this week, describe your initial topic and action research/practitioner inquiry question.
For your chosen capstone, answer the appropriate questions to briefly describe a research topic.
- Action Research
- What is the area you wish to investigate? This should relate to your educational context or professional role. Examples of contexts include a classroom or school, corporate training, or even one-on-one tutoring.
- Your question and exploration should relate to and describe an opportunity for improvement. This can be in teaching/pedagogical practice, some aspect of student learning, etc.
- It is also helpful to think in terms of strategy—an approach you believe can improve educational outcomes.
- Note: If you are in the MCTE program, you are required to complete Action Research, and you will need to select your research topic from the approved MCTE Research Topics
. - Provide a rationale and a research question in your posting.
- Practitioner Inquiry
- What is the area you wish to investigate? This should relate to your educational context or professional role. Examples of contexts include a classroom or school, corporate training, or even one-on-one tutoring.
- Your question and exploration must relate to and describe an opportunity for you to reflect on and improve your practice or knowledge as an educator.
- You will not be focusing on student learning as a direct measure, so avoid questions that seek outcomes that reflect an impact on student achievement. You are focusing on yourself and how you can improve to impact student learning after the program is complete.
- Provide a rationale and a research question in your posting.
Important note: This is merely the first stage in getting ideas down on paper. Your question will continue to evolve and shift throughout EDGR 601, as well as into the early stages of your capstone class. The research and reading you will do, along with your instructor’s input, will allow you to move gradually from a more general question to a specific one. Your early understanding that this is an ongoing process will make it much easier for you to work with the continued evolution of your ideas.
For examples of action research and practitioner inquiry questions, explore the following:
- Action Research to Improve Teaching and Learning (Ross-Fisher, 2008)
- Practitioner Inquiry at Concordia: Types of Research Questions (Bates, 2015)
You can also review chapter 7 in Understanding Education Research: A Guide to Critical Reading (Shank, Brown, & Pringle, 2018) where research questions and statements are reviewed. Additionally, chapter 4 in Who Says? The Writer’s Research (Holdstein & Aquiline, 2016) provides guidance for research questions and thesis statements.
For examples of completed projects, please see the Concordia M.Ed. Online Library: Capstone Project.
Work collaboratively with your instructor in your journal area to refine your research question or topic to begin exploring your thesis focus.
Support your statements with evidence from the required studies and your research. Cite and reference your sources in APA style.
References
Bates, A. (2015). Practitioner inquiry at Concordia: Types of research questions [PowerPoint]. Portland, OR: College of Education, Concordia University.
Purdue University, Online Writing Lab. (2014). Tips and examples for writing thesis statements. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/
Ross-Fisher, R. (2008, July 1). Action research to improve teaching and learning. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 44(4), 160-164. doi:10.1080/00228958.2008.10516516
Shank, G., Brown, L., & Pringle, J. (2018). Understanding education research: A guide to critical reading (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
