1 LRC Can Tho University

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Research Methodology in Education

• Wilfried Admiraal
• Huub van den Bergh
• Gert Rijlaarsdam

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• Goede morgen

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• Goede morgen
• Good morning

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Who are we?

• Wilfried..
• Huub
• Gert

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Programme

• Four full days
• Result end of the week
• All participants have written a draft research
  proposal
• How?
• Morning sessions
• Research questions, variables, variable schemes
• Conceptual plan designing research
• Operational plan data collection, choices to
  make
• Data analysis
• Report
• Afternoon sessions
• Tutor groups working on research proposal
• Using resources
• (website http//www.lrc.ctu.edu.vn/VietnamCourse/V
  ietnamCourse.htm)
• EBSCO database
• Closing session
• Friday afternoon poster session, paper
  presentation, discussion celebrating winners of
  proposal competition

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Limitations

• Learning to do researchLearning is in the doing
• No course in doing research
• Empirical Research (Qualitative, quantitative)
• No course in literature review
• Learning to plan research
• Learning to do research through planning research
  (think, write, talk and discuss)

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Research ideas

• Trung Thu Kim Lien, What specification on the
  literature lessons will enhance a certain quality
  of interaction that leads to critical thinking?
• Tran Thi Phung Ha, (1) How does technology
  (e-learning) affect students learning? (2) Does
  CTU prepare students for their future profession?
• Pham Viet Tien, Does a language study that
  consists of tasks close to the learning needs of
  non-English majors result in more intensive task
  involvement and to larger learning gains in
  communicative competence?
• Trinh Quoc Lap, Does improvement of Teacher
  Training in CTU contribute to improvement of sec,
  ed, in Mekong Delta?
• Nguyen Thi Phuomg Nam, (1) What is the attitude
  of learning of Kmer students, and their
  psychology, in a mixed class in Mekong Delta
  schools? (2) How to improve the quality of
  teaching in a mixed class including Vietnamese en
  Khmer students?
• Pham Xuan Binh, (1) What should be done to
  improve textbooks for English in order to enhance
  skills in English language use?
• Ngo My Le Anh, Is Learning by discovery an
  effective teaching approach in Vietnamese
  culture?
• About difficulties in doing research
• Huynh Van Da,
• Truc Ngoc,
• Dang Thi Bac Ly, How difficult it is to find a
  research problem

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Establishing and sustaining a research programme

• Developing a programme and expertise
• Time and funds
• Domain expertise develops in a certain area of
  the domain, over time
• Research expertise develops over time
• So.educational research within a faculty or
  school must be programmed, structurally, not on a
  ad hoc basis
• Research is group work
• Program should have projects, in which at least
  two senior researchers are involved as
  supervisors
• Program should invite PhD candidates for projects
• Strict selection of PhD candidates

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Today

• In class experiment
• Scientific empirical research in and for
  education Defining
• Purpose of scientific research
• Research plan elements
• Research variables, variable scheme

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For a start Experiment in Can Tho University

• Assessing Reading Skill English
• Keep text closed wait for signal concentrate.
• Signal read text in two minutes, questions
  unseen
• Wait for signal answer 7 questions, until signal
• Assessing quality
• Collect number of correct answers.

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Research is our best alternativefor real
progress in education
But. See course website Lysynchuk, L.M,
Pressley, M, Dailly, H., Smith, M., Cake, H.
(1989). A methodological analysis of experimental
studies of comprehension strategy instruction.
Reading Research Quarterly, 24(4) 458-470.
Good research is our best alternativefor real
progress in education
But even then.
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Scientific Attitude

• This study was conducted to prove
• This study answered the following questions
• From this study, several questions emerged.
• Our position
• Scientist do not carry out research work to prove
  a point, but to get an answer

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Research

Science
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Merriam-Webster Online
Main Entry 1research Pronunciation
ri-'srch, 'rE-"Function nounEtymology Middle
French recerche, from recercher to go about
seeking, from Old French recerchier, from re-
cerchier, sercher to search -- more at SEARCH1
careful or diligent search2 studious inquiry
or examination especially investigation or
experimentation aimed at the discovery and
interpretation of facts, revision of accepted
theories or laws in the light of new facts, or
practical application of such new or revised
theories or laws3 the collecting of
information about a particular subject
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Merriam-Webster Online
Main Entry 1research Pronunciation
ri-'srch, 'rE-"Function nounEtymology Middle
French recerche, from recercher to go about
seeking, from Old French recerchier, from re-
cerchier, sercher to search -- more at SEARCH1
careful or diligent search2 studious inquiry
or examination especially investigation or
experimentation aimed at the discovery and
interpretation of facts, revision of accepted
theories or laws in the light of new facts, or
practical application of such new or revised
theories or laws3 the collecting of
information about a particular subject
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Merriam-Webster Online
Main Entry science Pronunciation
'sI-n(t)sFunction nounEtymology Middle
English, from Anglo-French, from Latin scientia,
from scient-, sciens having knowledge, from
present participle of scire to know perhaps akin
to Sanskrit chyati he cuts off, Latin scindere to
split -- more at SHED1 the state of knowing
knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or
misunderstanding2 a a department of
systematized knowledge as an object of study ltthe
science of theologygt b something (as a sport or
technique) that may be studied or learned like
systematized knowledge lthave it down to a
sciencegt3 a knowledge or a system of knowledge
covering general truths or the operation of
general laws especially as obtained and tested
through scientific method b such knowledge or
such a system of knowledge concerned with the
physical world and its phenomena NATURAL
SCIENCE4 a system or method reconciling
practical ends with scientific laws ltcooking is
both a science and an artgt
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Merriam-Webster Online
Main Entry science Pronunciation
'sI-n(t)sFunction nounEtymology Middle
English, from Anglo-French, from Latin scientia,
from scient-, sciens having knowledge, from
present participle of scire to know perhaps akin
to Sanskrit chyati he cuts off, Latin scindere to
split -- more at SHED1 the state of knowing
knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or
misunderstanding2 a a department of
systematized knowledge as an object of study ltthe
science of theologygt b something (as a sport or
technique) that may be studied or learned like
systematized knowledge lthave it down to a
sciencegt3 a knowledge or a system of knowledge
covering general truths or the operation of
general laws especially as obtained and tested
through scientific method b such knowledge or
such a system of knowledge concerned with the
physical world and its phenomena NATURAL
SCIENCE4 a system or method reconciling
practical ends with scientific laws ltcooking is
both a science and an artgt
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Research Science

• 1 Both discovery of facts
• Science facts are collected to test or develop
  theory
• Research no or no strong focus on theory (Market
  research for instance)
• 2 Nature of facts
• Science facts in basic processes in nature
• Research facts that will serve a useful purpose
• Science basic research
• Research applied research

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Research in Education Perspectives, Roles

• Science, scientist
• creating and test knowledge,
• developing theory, general laws in education
  processes
• Engineering, engineer
• Creating and test things
• developing a solution, an educational device, am
  instructional method, to solve a problem, and
  test the quality of the solution

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Main features of Educational Research Methodology

• Precise measurement
• Generalizability
• Research control
• Statistical analysis
• Replicability
• Positivistic orientation

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Effect of Research on Educational Practiceand
Educational Practice on Research

• Impact
• Many educational innovations are not based on
  sound research
• Much research does not have impact on practice
• Research . ..Implementation

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Considering a choicemain purpose

• Generalizability
• Truth
• singularity of vision, probabilistic
• Hypothesis testing

• In-depth understanding
• Meaning
• diverse interpretation, relativism
• Exploratory, hypothesis generating

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Purpose of Educational Science Develop new
knowledge
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Design Research Develop new education
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Purposes of science to explain, to theorize

• To describe
• identification and description of structures
• dependent on instrumentation for measurement and
  observation
• To predict
• predicting associations between phenomena if X
  is in state Z, than X will be W in a later stage
  Or if X is in state Z, than X will have been in
  state Z.
• prediction/association is a step towards
  explanation
• To test manipulating a variable, predicting
  specific effects (cause-effect)
• experiments

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Purposes of Design Research to improve

• To describe
• identification and description of problems, or
  desirable state
• dependent on quality of problem analysis,
  analysis of desirable state
• To design
• designing criteria success
• associations between phenomena if X is in state
  Z, than X will be W in a later stage Or if X is
  in state Z, than X will have been in state Z.
• prediction/association is a step towards
  explanation
• To test manipulating a variable, predicting
  specific effects (cause-effect)
• experiments

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Educational Research A discipline?

• NO, borrowing form other disciplines
• Anthropology mankind in education
• Biology (genetic basis for individual
  differences)
• Computer science (artificial intelligence)
• Economics
• History
• Linguistics (sociolinguistics)
• Statistics
• Physiology, Neuro science
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology

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Positivistism Subjectivism

• Or
• Scientific Artistic
• Quantitative Qualitative
• AND
• We need both approaches for understanding and
  theory building

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Examples
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Types of educational research Ways of
classification

• Topic
• Type of phenomena learning processes,
  instruction methods, motivation, school climate,
  subject matter instruction
• Purpose
• Descriptive characterization of a
  variable/phenomenon
• Explanatory
• Hypothesis
• Exploratory Many variables included, and their
  relations, to further understanding of the
  phenomena
• Confirmatory Theoretically based. Focused on a
  limited set of variables
• Basic vs. applied
• Basic fundamental structures and processes
  (laws) trying to understand them
• Applied structures and processes as they appear
  in educational practices, to develop knowledge
  that is directly useful to practitioners

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Identifying research problems must a research
problem be new?

• One strategy Replication
• Why starting a replication study?
• Choose an important study to replicate
• To check the findings of a major or milestone
  study
• To check the validity of research findings across
  different populations
• To check trends or change over time
• To check important findings using different
  methodology

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Research plan
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Research plan

• Problem statement
• Research problem
• Clear, specific, manageable,
• Review of most relevant problem
• Review most relevant theoretical literature
• Demonstrating writers knowledge and
  understanding, 5-10 key references
• Argument
• why problem is relevant
• What contribution the proposal will make to
  educational knowledge
• Bridging the expected outcomes, major educational
  problems and needs.

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Research plan

• Objectives
• In descriptive studies
• or
• Hypotheses
• In explanatory studies
• Objectives/Hypotheses
• Place clear and specific goals
• Provide a basis for selecting relevant samples,
  dependent variables, research procedures

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Research plan Criteria for good hypotheses

• A hypothesis should
• state an expected relationship between two or
  more variables (independent-dependent for
  instance, an intervention and the possible effect
  on outcome
• be in agreement with already established
  knowledge in the field
• be testable
• be brief, clear, and relevant

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Research Design

• Descriptive.What is.
• Causal
• .What factors determine.
• What causes underachievement
• Does this new instructional approach lead to

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Hypotheses to play with

• Using audiovisual materials in lectures will
  result in gains in student achievement
• In Can Tho University students learn to
  co-operate better than in Ho Chi Minh City
  University

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Factors to consider(1)

• Quality of theory Formulation of hypothesis
• Quality of Sampling Sampling bias
• Using volunteers?
• Participants lost in process
• Participants do differ on the variable under
  study (language proficiency) but also on a
  hidden but relevant variable (age, gender)
• Questioning are participants representative
  (generalizing over samples)
• Quality of design Overlooking relevant variables
• In experiment two instruction formats compared,
  two teachers involved in experiment. Effect of
  instruction biased by effect of teacher quality
• Quality of Measurement
• Reliability
• Validity
• Appropriate test for the sample (ceiling effects
  bottom effects)

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Factors to consider (2)

• Observer bias
• Leading questions in interviews
• Recording behavior (participant induces what
  seems to be correct or interesting in the
  interviewees text
• Annoying, embarrassing questions (leading to
  false replies)
• Observations guided by observers expectations
• Measure
• Intra-observer inter-observer agreement
• Descriptive, no judgments/inferences

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• Experimenter bias
• Researcher knows what happened during independent
  variable (treatment), which influences his
  observation of the dependent variable

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Research variables

• Research variables

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Effect
Independent variable
Dependent variable
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Effect
Use of Audiovisuals
Quality of Reasoning
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Effect
Independent variable
Independent variable
Dependent variable
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Effect
Use of Audiovisuals
Discussion tasks
Quality of Reasoning
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Effect (comparison)
Quality of Reasoning
Use of Audiovisuals
Discussion tasks
Quality of Reasoning
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Effect
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Dependent variable
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Effect
Quality of Reasoning
Use of Audio visuals
Transfer to other issues
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Example Lap Trinh, 2005
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Effect
Intermediate variable
Independent variable
Dependent variable
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Effect
Quality of Reasoning
Use of Audio visuals
Transfer to other issue
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Effect
Moderator variable
Independent variable
Dependent variable
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Effect
Learning Style
Use of Audio-visuals
Quality of Reasoning
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Interaction Effect
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Example Lap Trinh, 2005
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Example of interaction Kieft 2006 study
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• Questions and Comments

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• This afternoon

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Afternoon, Day 1

• Three groups
• Group A (Discussion room A) participants with
  research idea paper
• Group B
• Group C
• Groups B/C create a research topic/idea/education
  problem during lunch
• All groups start in discussion room
• 13.30 exchange and share ideas, short
• 14.30 work in pairs or individual on research
  plan
• Describe problem
• Formulate research question
• Sketch idea of research approach
• Search for five relevant articles (library
  database)
• 16.15 finish work, hand in a copy of your work
  to the tutor