I Know What You Can Do This Summer! A friendly guide to help you prepare for the dissertation module over the Summer.
BA (hons) Education Studies
Peter Shukie
1. Introduction
Hello! Welcome to the dissertation module….almost! The material in this guide is meant as a guide to the dissertation module for those of you hoping to spend some time over the summer preparing for this research project. Firstly, a brief description may help. What is a dissertation? In this case, it is an 8000 word research project that must be clearly linked to EDUCATION and must also include some form of empirical research. The approach to education, what is meant by the term, can be open and diverse but MUST be agreed by your Supervisor before you begin. The dissertation will be expected to have the following sections: Abstract Introduction Aims and Objectives Methodology and Ethics Literature Review Findings/ Discussion Recommendations Conclusion Bibliography You will have opportunity in sessions and in 1:1 with your supervisor to discuss all of these. For the summer, the most significant thing you need to look at is – What do you want to research? It seems a straightforward enough question and with some guidance hopefully that is what it will prove to be. The next section discusses some things to consider.
2. Choosing a Subject
The choice of subject should be something you are interested in, has a clear relationship to education, allows you the opportunity to conduct a small piece of empirical research and can be dealt with reasonably in the word limit allowed. Here are a few points to ponder: 1.
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The subject/ topic area you choose must be significant enough to allow you to discuss it fully in 8000 words BUT should not be so big as to be impossible to fit into a relatively small word count. Issues of huge, general interest can be located in a single class, but will need to be structured and designed well. Try Activity 1 on selecting a reasonable topic area. Identify the exact focus of your research. You may be interested in ‘outdoor play’ for instance, but what element of outdoor play? All of it is too much, so perhaps you could look at how teachers in a particular school use outdoor play and the reasons for it? Identify what kind of research you want to do. Are you hoping to introduce something new? Are you looking to study something already happening? Think about what the empirical part of your research will involve and this will help shape what you are actually looking for. Do you have access to the people/ schools/ organisations you are interested in? This is worth finding out as early as possible, and remember… …Is your research ethical? This involves making sure nobody will come to harm (psychologically, physically, financially, or any other way). If you have a critical approach to something happening in your school, will researching it be likely to stir up a hornet’s nest? Is there time to do what you are interested in? It may seem a lengthy process, but it isn’t! There’s no point asking how something affects exam grades or assessments if these happen after your research time is finished. Size matters!
3. Framing your Questions
This can be the most frustrating and difficult part of the process, so hopefully by thinking NOW about what we want to know, the process can be much nicer! The Research Questions are NOT the title, they come after the introduction (in the Aims and Objectives section) and are the structure, the framework, the signposts for the whole dissertation. In effect, the questions allow you to go from the wider interest of the research as a whole and create three (often three) different strands of inquiry. The structure of the questions is such that whatever you ask MUST be answered. Whatever you DON’T ASK has no place to be answered! We suggest three key components in the early stages of think about your questions – we DON’T need the perfect question here, just a beginning to help you structure what you hope to do. In essence these three points answer Who? What? Where? a. Stakeholders – who is it that you want to answer the question, whose views/ actions do you want to know about? (Who?) b. Action – actually, not necessarily an action but the thing you want to know about. For instance, you may want to know about how someone ‘feels’ about something, or perhaps what work is ‘produced’, or how do children ‘respond’ or ‘interact’. (What?) c. Context – Where will this take place? Is it in a specific classroom? Often research questions initially ask massive questions – imagine asking ‘what do children think about technology?’ It leaves us asking, what children? All of them? What ages? Everyone under 18? In the world? That mean seem ridiculous, but without context it is hard to manage your questions. Try Activity 3 to see how your thoughts are going regarding framing your questions.
4. Choosing a methodology
The methodology section of the research is crucial in letting the reader know exactly how you decided to tackle this subject. Later on, in September, we will look at collecting and analysing data (interviews and focus groups are obvious and useful, but also lots more to think about).
For the summer period the best thing to do is to consider the broad issues around research, trying to identify what it is you hope to do. Here are two examples of well used and possible research methodologies: Action Research In action research the goal is it to introduce an intervention, effectively a change in how things are currently done, in order to find what happens when something new is introduced. If you have started an after school club, for instance, as part of your research, you will then tie your research questions into how the users respond to this. Action Research is usually in cycles, where each cycle provides data that can be used when planning the next session or event. Case Study A case study allows you to study some existing practice in a particular context and timescale. This may be a classroom, a school or a particular student or teacher cohort. Often described as a snapshot, case studies give you the opportunity to reveal what is happening at a local level and then apply this to broader discussions at a regional or national level. In both of these examples of methodologies, it is possible to make a defined timescale that allows you to plan ahead and be organised in a short timescale – we would advise a maximum of six weeks on empirical research. Try Task Four to match your research questions with a methodology.
5. Selecting Literature
Most of the research any of you will do is going to have to be supported by significant recourse to the literature on your subject area. This is significant from the introduction, where you support the ‘wider why’ of your research – why is this interesting to people other than me? It is also, obviously, significant in the literature review. In the literature review you should attempt to support the arguments in your introduction and also provide a background discussion around the research question focus you have created. For instance, if you chose outdoor play, then there will be a lot of material on this and lots of it relevant – equally, lots of it will not fit into your argument. If your research questions are about the way teachers feel about outdoor play, that would define what research and literature you would be looking for. Teacher focussed research on the advantages of outdoor play might fit, but outdoor play as an aid in fighting obesity probably would not. It is important to remember that the literature you use is helping you to structure an argument. To begin with, read widely until you are happy with what your argument is going to be. Choose the key texts for this argument and tat to structure around them, highlighting key points and aligning the literature into ‘for’ and ‘against’ for example. At this stage, we will not go into massive detail, but a beginning to your literature research may include: Academic Journals; sector-specific journals/ magazines/ periodicals; books; relevant media – newspapers/ TV documentaries; policies and white papers; research papers. It is important that all your literature is referenced well and is academically appropriate. To begin with, research for interest and then check with your supervisor if the sources are valid.
6. Beginning to organise your timescale
This may be too early to discuss in any real detail, but it is important to know that as part of the proposal you are expected to hand in an activity outline. This will show that you are organised and are able to structure a small-scale research project. Theer are several points to consider and that may be relevant over the summer.
Where will the research take place? This involves: - seeking permission (factoring in the time to write the request, deliver and await a response in writing) - Creating a presentation or report to highlight what you hope to achieve - Requesting permission from teachers/ parents/ Heads to interview them or otherwise involve them in the research - Creation of Participant Information sheets – documents that allow the people being asked to take part to read through the research proposed and make an informed choice. - Consent forms
Literature Search: What will you be looking for? Where and when do you hope to get this completed? - Check library opening times and access to Educational Studies librarian - Visiting other libraries (Lancaster Uni or specialist libraries) - Accessing online material can yield much material, but when will you read it? Create a timescale for background reading and stick to it. - Drafting an outline of your argument for the literature review. This will give you a start over the summer and a good idea is to start to create a plan of action between now and September. Try Task Five to begin this.
7. Tasks
Task 1
Choosing a subject for your dissertation Consider the following titles and discuss whether they can be conducted by you, a lone researcher, in 5 months, in 8000 words. If the title is NOT possible, is there anything you could do to make it more appropriate for a dissertation?
Technology is essential for the future of education so how do we make it fit into schools so that it is beneficial to all children?
Nature and the environment get left behind with children always playing on their devices so what can be done to get outdoor learning into the school experience
What are the advantages of using meditation and mindfulness strategies for children?
In what ways do teachers use technology to teach children in the contemporary primary school?
Do children like outdoor play more than they like classroom based sessions?
Are there too many languages in classrooms to be able to teach children properly
Task Two Think of your own subject, what you are interested in researching. With a partner, complete the table: The general subject area I am looking at
What I am interested in finding out
The reason I find this interesting is…
This is of interest to others because…
The people that would be able to help me answer this are…
A possible title I could use would be:
Task Three Look at these questions and decide if they are OK, good questions to ask. If not, why not?
Question Are their enough options for children when they have school dinners and does this mean they don’t have healthy bodies and minds?
What is the best way of using technology to give children a head start when they leave school to work in a high tech economy?
Can playing outdoors bring additional benefits to school children at key stage 2 that are greater than purely class-based activity? Should kids play competitive sport more? Do universities give enough consideration to cultural difference and internationalisation in their taught delivery? Is Moodle useful for learning in Higher education? Are support workers making a difference to those students using them when it comes to exams and assignments?
OK? If Not, why?
Task Four Use the table to start to outline your own questions. The emphasis is on identifying the three areas discussed when framing questions. Who, What and Where. Discuss your answers with a partner to see if you are clear to others. Who would be involved in your research questions? Who would you think needs to be included?
What do you want to know about – specifically?
What is the context of your research? Are all the people in one school, or class, or university?
How do these responses fit with your style of research - case study or action research, for instance?
Task Five What I will do
By When?