Practitioner Enquiry and Learning (ECE316)

ECE316 Practitioner Enquiry and Learning focuses on the importance of evidence-based practice and the importance of “insider” practitioner-designed research in educational settings as part of continuous teacher learning, innovation and growth. The systematic process of teacher enquiry through action research methods is emphasised as a thinking and learning tool to make informed decisions in curriculum and pedagogy.

• Reflective practitioners and teacher-as-researcher
• Professional learning and growth
• Teacher research in educational settings
• Teacher research designs in early childhood education
• Selecting a purpose or a problem for practitioner enquiry
• Literature review process
• Drawing up a plan for investigation
• Ethical considerations in teacher research
• Generating qualitative data for teacher research
• Generating quantitative data for teacher research
• Interpreting and analysing patterns in data
• Sharing and communicating learning points

• Examine the steps involved in selecting a teaching problem and a suitable research design to investigate the problem and its solutions
• Compare various data gathering and data analyses methods suitable for practitioner enquiry
• Discuss the ethical dimensions of teacher research
• Formulate teacher research questions
• Employ data-gathering methods in a classroom
• Review relevant literature for a topic of their choice