EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Academic Year 2020/2021 - 3° Year - Curriculum Educatore nei servizi per l'infanzia
Teaching Staff: Valeria DI MARTINO
Credit Value: 9
Taught classes: 54 hours
Term / Semester:

Learning Objectives

The course aims to provide the theoretical knowledge and methodological skills needed to design and conduct an empirical research and to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions. The main goal is to introduce students to empirical quantitative and qualitative research methods in education by activating the skills to identify research, synthesize their main outcomes, design and implement empirical studies on educational themes, analyze the results and draw conclusions.


Course Structure

Lessons will be conducted favoring active learning methods with collaborative activities in pairs and in groups, collective discussions, exercises and formative evaluation activities.

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.


Detailed Course Content

  1. Empirical research in education: approaches, paradigms and models.
  2. Research planning (identification of problems and research objectives, formulation of hypotheses, definition of hypotheses, construction of the research design, sample selection).
  3. Research styles: definitions and characteristics (ethnographic research, case study, action research, survey, experimental and quasi-experimental research, measurement research).
  4. Techniques and tools for data collection, coding and analysis.
  5. Communication of results.
  6. Evidence Based Education (origins, definitions, methods of research, results and critical debate).

Textbook Information

Benvenuto G. (2015). Stili e metodi della ricerca educativa. Roma: Carocci.

Di Martino V. (2020). Insegnare il problem solving nella scuola primaria. Lecce: Pensa Multimedia.

Vivanet G. (2014). Che cos’è l’Evidence Based Education. Roma: Carocci.