Research in Education

Running head: RESEARCH IN EDUCATION
Research in Education
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1RESEARCH IN EDUCATION
Educational research
Educational research represents a systematic method for gaining a better understanding of
the process of education, such as, teaching methods, student learning process, classroom
dynamics, teacher training etc., with a purpose of improving the efficiency of the education
system (Wellington, 2015). Educational research involves the application of the scientific
methods for assessing the educational problems. As highlighted by Edwards, Fenwick &
Sawchuk (2015), educational research is a scientific process and hence systematic, objective,
inquisitive and methodical. It revolves around a research problem that is completely related to
the field of education, and requires a specific plan formulation. It also requires data collection,
analysis and interpretation of the data to answer the research question. In majority of the cases,
primary data is collected through surveys, interviews, focus groups etc. for the purpose of
educational research. On the other hand, Wellington (2015) stated that the outcome of
educational research is not predetermined and hence, it is never conclusive.
The importance of classroom research depends on the assumptions, such as, quality of
learning by the student is directly related to the instruction quality given in the classroom,
awareness of the teacher about the content of learning by the students, and the inquiry and
intellectual challenge from the students is also beneficial for the upgrading the skills of the
teacher. If the educational research is conducted by the classroom teachers, the actions as well as
the assessments will be prompt (McKenney & Reeves, 2018). For example, the classroom
teachers sometimes need feedback devices, which would tell them the way the students are
responding to the classroom procedures. Often the classroom teachers want to know if a review
session before the mid term examinations would be helpful for the students for long term
retention or it is useful only for immediate test scores. To address this issue, the teachers should

2RESEARCH IN EDUCATION
conduct a survey in the classes and with the primary data collected; they can perform a
quantitative study to know what the majority of the students think and thus, take decisions
regarding implementing the feedback review process. Another example could be taken as when
the classroom teacher is interested to know that if a field trip is helpful in changing the attitude of
the students regarding a particular social or educational problem or if a mathematics teacher
wants to improve his teaching style and test a new method in the classroom. In such as cases,
again primary data needs to be collected directly from the students to know their perception
regarding the issue. This method will be less time consuming and actions can be taken swiftly
(Powney & Watts, 2018). Another example highlighted by Hartas (2015) is the students’
perspective regarding the relevance of the course curriculum as per the industry requirement in
the market. The reaction of the students regarding the course curriculum and the quality of
instructions is an essential factor to be taken care of, and feedback devices, such as, surveys and
interviews are scientific processes that help the teachers to address the research issue in a more
precise and less time consuming manner. By analyzing the findings, the education authority can
bring changes in the course curriculum to make it more relevant for the students.