Education Research Methodology

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

Pre-teaching period:

During the pre-teaching period, students will be required to complete reading that will be provided via LMS.

170 hours

150 points of study in the Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) or Master of Teaching (Secondary) or a Masters degree in Education, with an H2A average, or equivalent.

One of

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject will guide the student through the structure and design of an education research study including; critical evaluation of the literature; the purposes and characteristics of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and descriptive and statistical techniques for data collection; procedures for preparing and executing a research project including make decisions about design and analysis and ethical considerations for the conduct of the project. Students will be expected to obtain a supervisor and to present a research proposal and presentation of their proposed project as part of the seminar series

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the processes in the conduct of research;
• Demonstrate knowledge of current research in a particular area of education;
• Understand the relationship between issues and methodology in research;
• Participate in reflective and critical discussion of current issues in research in education.

• Literature Review or Ethics Project within Program Application (1,500 words) due early in the teaching period, 40%
• A research proposal (3,500 words) due end of subject, 60%

Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

• Kervin, L., Vialle, W., Herrington, J. & Okely, T. (2006). Research for Educators. Melbourne: Thomson Social Science Press.
• MacNaughton, G. Rolfe, S. & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (Eds.) (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis [Electronic Resource].

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject, teacher candidates will have the knowledge, skills and understanding to enable them to:

• Be skilled communicators who can effectively articulate and justify relationships between theory research and teaching
• Be flexible and able to adapt to change through knowing how to learn using research processes;
• Understand the significance of developing their practice on the basis of research evidence;
• Work in teams with skills in cooperation, communication and negotiation to engage in reflective and critical discussion of research in education;
• Be independent of mind, responsible, resilient, self-regulating;
• Have a conscious personal and social values base and apply to their work