Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
Knowledge:
• understand and explain major research paradigms in educational sciences (positivism, interpretivism, critical theory)
• demonstrate knowledge of diverse research methods and their applications in educational research
• comprehend ethical dilemmas and standards related to conducting research with human participants
• explain principles of mixed methods research and data triangulation
Skills:
• formulate research problems and questions appropriate to the chosen paradigm
• design qualitative and/or quantitative studies, selecting appropriate methods and instruments
• conduct qualitative data analysis (e.g., coding, thematic analysis) and quantitative analysis (descriptive statistics)
• critically evaluate scientific publications in terms of methodology and reliability
• prepare research reports according to academic standards (APA style)
Social competencies:
• demonstrate awareness of ethical responsibility as researchers toward research participants
• collaborate effectively in research teams, sharing knowledge and experience
• remain open to criticism and constructive discussion of research ideas
• understand the importance of academic integrity and honesty in research
• appreciate cultural diversity in educational research approaches
DETAILED COURSE SCHEDULE
MODULE I: INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (6h)
Session 1 (2h): What is educational research?
Topics:
• Science as a way of understanding educational reality
• Purposes of educational research: exploration, description, explanation, prediction
• Differences between basic and applied research
• Research in education vs. Research on education
• Introduction to research paradigms (positivism, interpretivism, critical theory)
Session 2 (2h): Research design – From problem to research questions
Topics:
• Identifying and formulating research problems
• From problem to research questions – criteria for good questions
• Literature review as foundation of research
• Research aims and hypotheses/assumptions
• Operationalisation of concepts and variables
Session 3 (2h): Ethics in educational research
Topics:
• Ethical principles in human research: autonomy, beneficence, justice
• Informed consent and its boundaries in research with children
• Confidentiality, data anonymization, data protection (GDPR)
• Ethical dilemmas: covert observation, research with vulnerable groups
• Ethics committees and procedures for obtaining research approval
• Cultural considerations in ethical research practice
MODULE II: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS (10h)
Session 4 (2h): Introduction to qualitative research
Topics:
• Characteristics of the interpretive paradigm
• Goals and assumptions of qualitative research in education
• Types of qualitative research: ethnography, narrative inquiry, phenomenography, grounded theory, case study
• Role of researcher in qualitative research – reflexivity and subjectivity
• Quality criteria in qualitative research: credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability
Session 5 (2h): Interviews as research method
Topics:
• Types of interviews: structured, semi-structured, unstructured
• Designing interview protocols – open vs. closed questions
• Interview techniques: active listening, paraphrasing, probing
• Group interviews and focus group interviews (FGI)
• Interview transcription and data preparation for analysis
Session 6 (2h): Observation in educational research
Topics:
• Observation as data collection method: structured vs. unstructured
• Participant and non-participant observation
• Observation protocols and field notes
• Methodological challenges: observer effect, perceptual subjectivity
• Video-research and analysis of visual materials
Session 7 (2h): Document analysis and narrative research
Topics:
• Documents as data sources: school documentation, diaries, portfolios
• Document content analysis
• Biographical and autobiographical research in education
• Narrative inquiry: analysing life stories and experiences
• Autoethnography as research method
Session 8 (2h): Qualitative data analysis
Topics:
• Data coding: open, axial, selective coding
• Thematic analysis
• Content analysis – qualitative and quantitative
• Grounded theory and generating theory from data
• Software for qualitative data analysis (NVivo, MAXQDA, Atlas.ti)
• Presenting findings from qualitative research
Required reading:
MODULE III: QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS (10h)
Session 9 (2h): Introduction to quantitative research
Topics:
• Characteristics of the positivist paradigm
• Goals and assumptions of quantitative research in education
• Types of quantitative research: experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, descriptive
• Variables: independent, dependent, control, confounding
• Research hypotheses and their verification
• Population and sample – sampling techniques
Session 10 (2h): Surveys and questionnaires as research instruments
Topics:
• Designing surveys: closed-ended, open-ended questions, Likert scales
• Principles of question formulation – errors and pitfalls
• Validity and reliability of measurement instruments
• Standardized vs. author-developed questionnaires
• Online surveys: Survey Monkey, Google Forms, Qualtrics
• Piloting research instruments
Session 11 (2h): Tests and measurements in education
Topics:
• Types of educational tests: achievement, competence, personality
• Standardised vs. non-standardised tests
• Measurement scales: nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio
• Test item analysis: difficulty, discrimination power
• Norms and standards in educational measurement
Session 12 (2h): Introduction to descriptive statistics
Topics:
• Types of data: qualitative (nominal, ordinal) and quantitative (discrete, continuous)
• Measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode
• Measures of dispersion: standard deviation, variance, range
• Normal distribution and its significance
• Data visualization: histograms, bar charts, box plots
• Basics of correlation analysis
Session 13 (2h): Quantitative data analysis – Introduction to inferential statistics
Topics:
• Statistical hypothesis testing: statistical and practical significance
• Parametric tests: t-test, ANOVA
• Non-parametric tests: chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test
• Correlation analysis: Pearson, Spearman coefficients
• Type I and Type II errors
• Interpreting results and reporting statistics
MODULE IV: MIXED METHODS RESEARCH AND PRESENTING FINDINGS (4h)
Session 14 (2h): Mixed methods research
Topics:
• Rationale for combining qualitative and quantitative methods
• Types of mixed methods designs: sequential, concurrent, embedded
• Data triangulation, method triangulation, investigator triangulation, theoretical triangulation
• Integrating findings from different data sources
• Challenges and opportunities of mixed methods
• Examples of mixed methods research in education
Session 15 (2h): Reporting research findings and writing research papers
Topics:
• Structure of research paper: introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, discussion
• APA, MLA and other citation styles
• Presenting findings: tables, graphs, interview quotes
• Discussing results in context of literature
• Study limitations and recommendations for practice and future research
• Academic integrity: plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data manipulation