Aims and Fit of Module

This module is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles and techniques used for conducting research in the field of global education. The module will:
1. Build students’ foundational understanding of the research process, key research paradigms, and methodological debates in education and the social sciences, with particular relevance to global education.
2. Develop students’ understanding and ability to apply qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and practice-based approaches to inquiry, including action research, design-based research, evaluation research, and practitioner inquiry, and examine how these approaches can be used to address authentic educational problems.
3. Develop students’ ability to formulate researchable and practice-oriented questions, critically engage with relevant literature, select appropriate research designs and justify their use, and choose suitable methods for data collection and analysis.
4. Engage students in research-led and project-based learning through the design of small-scale inquiry projects that connect theory, evidence, and professional practice.
5.S Cultivate ethical, reflective, and responsible research practice, including the critical and appropriate use of digital and AI-enabled tools in literature searching, data management, analysis, and research communication.

Learning outcomes

A. Critically distinguish among key research paradigms and designs used in global education — including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, action research, design-based research, evaluation research, and practitioner inquiry — and evaluate their suitability for different research purposes.
B. Formulate clear, feasible, and ethically sound inquiry questions, and justify coherent choices of research design, sampling, data sources, and methods that align with the problem, literature, and intended use of findings.
C. Apply appropriate techniques to collect, organise, analyse, and interpret qualitative and quantitative data from interviews, observations, surveys, and documents, and communicate the resulting design decisions and findings clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences in written, oral, and visual forms.
D. Demonstrate ethical and professional judgement throughout the research process by applying principles of consent, confidentiality, data protection, research integrity, and responsible AI use.

Method of teaching and learning

This course adopts a Research-Led Project-Based Learning (RLPBL) approach with comprehensive AI integration and a real-world practice orientation, enabling students to develop research competencies through conducting a small-scale, hands-on research project from conception to completion. Students engage in an iterative process that connects theoretical knowledge, methodological training, and practical application, supported by the responsible and critical use of AI tools for tasks such as literature exploration, data management and preliminary data analysis. Teaching sessions are interactive and structured as seminars, fostering a project-based, AI-supported learning environment that prepares students for practice-oriented research in real-world and global contexts.