Good Research Questions
This important step helps researchers move from a general problem toward a clear and researchable question.
Narrowing the scope
This research type systematically design and validate products or models.
DDR
This research methodology seeks to determine cause-and-effect relationships by manipulating variables, using control groups, and randomly assigning participants.
True experimental research
This concept refers to the digital evidence learners leave behind through logins, page views, discussion posts, and submissions.
Digital learning traces
Action research is typically conducted by whom?
Practitioners / teachers
This structured questioning approach includes population, intervention, comparison, outcome, and time.
PICOT
A structured small-group method used to generate and prioritize ideas. Experts first generate ideas independently, then share them in a controlled round-robin format, followed by clarification and private ranking.
Nominal Group Technique
Selecting participants based on specific expertise or experience is called what?
Purposeful Sampling
Transforming raw data into dashboards and summaries belongs to which phase?
Report
In this approach, community members actively help design the study, collect data, and interpret findings rather than serving only as research subjects.
Participatory Action Research
This research orientation assumes knowledge is objective and measurable and often leads to questions about causal relationships.
The positivist paradigm
A multi-round, anonymous survey process used to build expert consensus.
The Delphi Method
Why is triangulation used in educational research?
Increase credibility / validate findings
Learning analytics begins with collecting traces of learner activity.
Capture
This type of action research focuses on testing whether a specific instructional intervention improves efficiency or performance outcomes.
Technical Action Research
This framework helps researchers decide whether a question is feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, and relevant.
The FINER framework
This type of design case description goes beyond reporting what was done and instead reveals the surrounding context, reasoning, constraints, emotions, interactions, and meanings behind design decisions.
Thick description
This research term refers to the philosophical or strategic approach guiding a study, while its counterpart refers to the specific tools or techniques used to collect or analyze data.
Methodology
This type of analytics answers the question: “What happened?” by summarizing engagement patterns such as time on task or number of logins.
Descriptive Analytics
This form of action research aims to challenge inequities, question institutional norms, and empower marginalized participants through inquiry and reflection.
Critical Action Research
This type of research question explores relationships between variables.
What is this type called?
Correlational research question
The unique knowledge embedded in an existing design, stored as an episodic memory.
Precedent Knowledge
This qualitative methodology focuses on understanding the essence of lived experience by exploring how individuals perceive and make meaning rather than measuring variables or testing causal relationships.
Phenomenology
At this stage, analytics moves beyond prediction and recommends targeted instructional actions like alternative activities or instructor outreach.
Prescriptive Analytics
This feature of action research refers to repeated cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in order to continuously improve practice.
Iterative Inquiry