Research Methods

Course goals

Upon completion of the course, students are able to:
• describe the main research approaches in educational research (such as experiments, design-based research, survey, action research, case studies) and reason about choosing a particular method.
• explain the most important methods of data collection (interviews, survey, observation) and their analysis.
• analyze simple qualitative data using coding schemes and simple quantitative data from questionnaires with SPSS.
• reason methodologically, using key concepts such as reliability, validity and generalizability.
• analyze critically the methods used in research papers.
 

Content

This course provides a general introduction into research methods in Science Education and Communication. Students will get to know the different steps of the research process and learn how to guarantee high quality methodology in research projects. Information on research techniques and quality criteria is complemented with individual exercises on those techniques. Students will also learn to make methodological considerations in the context of designing and planning research projects. This makes students to be actively involved in establishing high quality research practices and habits. Methodological reasoning is a central part of the course, which is reflected in the methodological analyses that students will conduct during the course.  Students practice data collection and data analysis of quantitative and qualitative data in class and within group assignments that further ground individual assessment of their work. Students also learn to report results from data analyses in a scientifically appropriate way and reflect on methodological limitations.