Course Code: ECE598
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Synopsis

ECE598 Early Childhood Curriculum Research allows students to bring together the knowledge and skills they have acquired in the MECED to investigate or evaluate an area of work, which can be curriculum, pedagogy, curriculum leadership or professional development of teachers. The approach adopted is Action Research, where practitioners investigate and evaluate their work with a focus on improving their own practice and the practice of others. Students will be individually supervised to put up their research proposal, seek ethics approval from the Programme Ethics Review Committee, execute the project over a period of about six months, present a written report on their project and their findings and learning at a programme level Seminar.
Level: 5
Presentation Pattern: EVERY JAN

Topics

  • The Action research cycle
  • Management of the project
  • Research Ethics
  • Writing the proposal and research questions
  • Reviewing literature and legitimate sources to inform one’s work
  • The value of a conceptual framework and how to formulate one
  • Validity and reliability issues
  • Developing questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, instruments for observation
  • Data reduction methods
  • Organizing and Presenting data
  • Synthesizing data from various sources
  • Positionality and bias
  • Interpreting findings and drawing conclusions

Learning Outcome

  • Apply the ethics requirements spelt out by the Programme Ethics Review Committee to the research project
  • Evaluate available literature and/or resources on their research topic
  • Synthesize the information from available literature and formulate a conceptual framework
  • Prioritise the various research questions
  • Predict findings based on conceptual framework
  • Design an Action Research to examine issues on pedagogy, curriculum, leadership in educational settings
  • Formulate a plan to execute the research
  • Execute the plan and evaluate it regularly to make timely changes
  • Design instruments needed for data collection based on a conceptual framework
  • Analyse data collected (quantitative and qualitative)
  • Interpret, synthesize and conclude the findings
  • Appraise research design adopted for study