Module 4 Discussion : Education-Related Issues

Module 4: Discussion: Education-Related Issues – Narrowing the Topic

In the Looking Ahead Assignment you completed at the end of Module 3, you explored resources to identify three education-related issues. To be a change agent in the field of education, you have a responsibility to be aware of current issues and how those issues positively and negatively impact a diverse (gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) group of key stakeholders.

For this Discussion, you will narrow the scope of each education-related issue you identified in Module 3, in order to formulate problems that merit further investigation. What are some of the problems associated with each of the issues and whose resolution might be informed by applying knowledge from existing research or conducting a new research study? Why is it important to investigate one or more of these problems? Why is it important to consider a diverse group of stakeholders when formulating problems to explore? Identifying issues and problems early in your advanced graduate degree program allows you to build on your knowledge base related to them. Further, you will be prepared to analyze and evaluate scholarly inquiry with a critical eye.

When evaluating an issue and reflecting on ways to positively address the issue, the task, at first, might seem overwhelming. For this reason, it is important to critically examine the issue to determine the most important related problems. As you consider problems associated with an issue, you should be able to begin identifying potential research topics. Before you can begin planning a research study for a topic, the topic must be quite narrow. When attempting to narrow a topic to a specific problem to study, you need to consider the following:

· What has already been studied in the literature?

· How much time will it take me to complete a study related to this problem?

· What stakeholder buy-in will I need to obtain to perform this study?

· What are the benefits of doing this study?

· What are the ethical considerations related to this study?

· Will I be able to recruit a diverse (gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) group of participants for this study?

Post how you would narrow a topic from each of the three issues by identifying a problem for each issue that can be researched. Identify one piece of key information you have discovered in a scholarly resource about each problem and use the SMRTguides instructions to create problem statements that concisely define the scope of how you will research each problem.