RESEARCH GUIDANCE

The following resources provide guidance on approaches to EER as well as specific information on how to design research, collect and analyze data, and connect ideas to conceptual and theoretical frameworks. Clicking on links will open the resources.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning vs. EER

Oakley, B. & Finelli, C.J. (2014) Guest Editorial: A practical approach to understanding – and applying! – the scholarship of application. IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. 57, No. 2.
Felder, R.M., &. Hadgraft, R.G. (2013). Educational practice and educational research in engineering: Partners, antagonists, or ships passing in the night? Journal of Engineering Education, 102(3), 339-345.

What does it mean to conduct engineering education research?

Felder, R. (2007). Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering. Academy of Chemical Engineers Award Lecture, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla, April 18, 2007.
Streveler, R. & Smith, K. (2006). Conducting rigorous research in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(2), 103-105.

What are the common challenges in understanding engineering education research?

Borrego, M. (2007). Conceptual difficulties experienced by trained engineers learning educational research methods. Journal of Engineering Education, 96(2), 91-102.

What are the theoretical and conceptual frameworks and methodologies that can be applied to engineering education research?

Lattuca, L. R. & Litzinger, T. A. (2014). Studying Teaching and Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Programs: Conceptual Frameworks to Guide Research on Practice. In A. Johri & B. Olds (Eds.) Cambridge Handbook on Engineering Education Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maxwell, J. (2013). Conceptual framework: What do you think is going on? In Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach, (pp. 33-64). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Svinicki, M. (2010). A guidebook on conceptual frameworks for research in engineering education. http://cleerhub.org/resources/6.
Case, J. & Light, G. (2011). Emerging methodologies in engineering education research. Journal of Engineering Education, 100(1),186-210.

How do qualitative and quantitative methods compare? How can you use both?

Borrego, M., E. P. Douglas, et al. (2009). Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 98(1), 53-66.

What are the methods of quantitative research in engineering education?

Stansfield, R. B. (2010). Planning, implementing, and reporting quantitative research in education: A user’s guide. http://cleerhub.org/resources/4.

What are the methods for qualitative research?

Ragin, C., Nagel, J. & White, P. (2004). Scientific Foundations of Qualitative Research. National Science Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04219/nsf04219.pdf.
Van Note Chism, N., Douglas, E. & Hilson Jr., W. J. (2008). Qualitative research basics: A guide for engineering educators.
Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive (3rd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (See Chapter 5: What will you do? )
Case, J. M., & Light, G. (2011). Emerging research methodologies in engineering education research. Journal of Engineering Education, 100(1), 186-210.

How do you analyze qualitative data?

Carley, K. (1993). Coding choices for textual analysis: A comparison of content analysis and map analysis. Sociological Methodology, 23, 75-126.
Seidel, J. V. 1998. Qualitative data analysis. In The Ethnograph User’s Manual (v5), Appendix E. Denver, CO: Qualis Research Associates. www.qualisresearch.co
Emerson, R.M., Fretz, R. I. & Shaw (2011). Processing fieldnotes: Coding and memoing. In Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (pp. 171-199). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Saldana, J. (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, (pp. 1 – 31). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Fundamentals of qualitative data analysis. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook (pp. 69-104). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.