In order to reform and develop education, it is necessary to strengthen scientific research in education. In order to conduct educational scientific research, it is necessary to have correct, scientific, and modern educational research methods.
1. Definition of the concept of educational research methods.
1.Definition of Educational Research Methodology.
The method, which is interpreted semanticly as "in a certain way" (from the Greek words "along" and "way"), refers to the description of the principle of regulation that must be followed in order to achieve a certain end. The annotation in the Chinese Chinese dictionary is: the order of action and the standard for judging the square. "Mozi Tianzhizhong" said, "Those who are in the middle of the moment are called the square, and those who are not in the middle of the moment are said to be not the square, and they can be known by the square and the non-square. "Method, which is a reflection on the research activity itself, is not only a technique but also an art, and its essence lies in the application of the law, and following the law becomes the method. Method is a general way of thinking and behaving, a general procedure and criterion for studying a problem. Methodology is a theory about the method of understanding the world and transforming the world, and it is a system of methods.
So, what is educational research?Educational research, like all scientific research, is composed of three basic elements, namely: objective facts, scientific theories, and methodological techniques, which also perform the functions of interpretation, control, but the characteristics of the object of study are different. Educational research is oriented towards the discovery or development of scientific knowledge systems, and promotes the development of generalized principles and principles through the explanation, control and control of educational phenomena. As a form of scientific research, educational research is characterized by creativity. As a kind of human cognitive activity, but it is different from the general cognitive activity in daily life, it has a strong purpose and planning, and its purpose is to solve certain educational and scientific problems.
In the process of building a theoretical system of educational science, what kind of methods can be used to discover the laws of education?What kind of approach should be followed when creating a theory?Educational research methods are a set of systematic research processes that take educational phenomena as the object, scientific methods as the means, follow certain research procedures, and obtain knowledge of the laws of educational science as the goal. It is likewise an epistemic process that results in the interpretation or, discovery or development of certain educational principles, principles and theories. It is both a system of knowledge (way of thinking) and a rule of behavior (way of acting).
Educational research is different from general experience summarization and news reporting. There are laws in experience, and experience can find essential regularities through repeated screening. For example, in the history of science, there is a legend about foxglove grass curing heart disease (talking about a witch who used six things such as the hair on the horse's tail, the sky falling into the water, and the foxglove grass to make medicine, and many times ** heart disease people. Later, people found by chance that one of these six things was sometimes missing - except for foxglove, which could still cure the disease, and it was finally proved that the cure depended on foxglove), but only by experience, it not only took a long time, but sometimes it took a lot of trouble to find the pattern. Educational research is also different from authoritative arbitrariness, such as Aristotle's belief that flies have five legs (in fact he happened to catch a fly that had lost one leg), but for many years people did not seem to doubt it. Whether you believe these stories or not, there are plenty of facts that show that relying solely on experience and authority as knowledge** has great limitations.
2.Educational research methods are divided into types.
Different types of research, and different types of educational research have their own characteristics and scope of application. The following is a brief description of the six types of studies established using the three classifications.
1) Value research and factual research.
Based on the content and nature of educational research questions, educational research can be divided into two types of research: value research and factual research. As the name suggests, value research refers to the general term for research done on the value of education. This type of research should ask the questions of "what should be" and "why it should be". As a specialized discipline with the mission of promoting individual development and the transmission of human society and culture, the discipline of education involves a wide variety of issues related to values. From the highly abstract value of human existence to the concrete value of education and society, there are many large and small "what should be" questions, prompting many educational researchers in different eras and regions to devote a lot of energy and time to it.
Educational factual research refers to the research conducted on the objective factual issues of education. Education is a kind of social practice of human beings, and the research on educational facts focuses on the facts of activities in the field of education, focusing on the questions of "what is", "what is not", "how it is" and "what can be". Educational activities run through the life of the individual and take place in the family, various educational institutions and various social life spaces, for which the variety of educational facts is also abundant.
2) Basic and applied research.
Educational research can be divided into basic research and applied research according to the different purposes, functions, and roles determined by the research. The basic research of education aims to expand the knowledge of educational disciplines, develop and improve educational theories, and enrich and enhance educational practices. In basic research, researchers can focus on discovering new trends in the development of educational practice, and summarize new theories from them, so as to better play the role of educationWe can also draw on new theories, new perspectives and new methods to re-examine the existing problems in the process of educational development, update the original understanding, and generate new interpretations, so as to expand the educational practice of mankind.
Applied research refers to the research carried out by educational researchers to solve a certain problem in the reality of education. The purpose of such research is to apply the existing educational theories, methods and methods to specific areas of educational practice, with a view to improving the current state of education and designing and promoting more appropriate educational practices. For example, the encouragement and positive attention to the educated in the educational process should be based on a full understanding of the Rosenthal effect. Of course, some applied research may only be carried out to test the effectiveness of a new educational theory, method, and tool, and examine the effectiveness of the new theory, method, and tool through trial and error, but it is fundamentally to achieve guidance for specific educational practice through abstract educational theory, or to realize the enrichment and updating of educational theory in educational practice.
3) Quantitative and qualitative research.
Depending on the paradigm used in the study, educational research can be divided into quantitative and qualitative research. Paradigm is a general term for the beliefs, values, common technical means, terminology, logical analysis methods and other factors that researchers engaged in a certain type of research abide by. In humanities and social science research, there are three main research paradigms: the positivist paradigm, the interpretivist paradigm, and the critical theory paradigm.
Quantitative research adopts the positivist paradigm, that is, the use of standardized survey, experiment, measurement, statistics and other quantitative means to collect and analyze data, and the whole research process highlights the characteristics of scientificity, standardization and accuracy. When conducting quantitative research, researchers generally have theoretical assumptions in advance, and the purpose of research is to confirm or falsify existing hypotheses, so as to grasp the overall situation and regular characteristics of the phenomenon under study. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the conclusions of the research are not significantly different from one researcher to another.
Qualitative research adopts the paradigm of interpretation, emphasizing the use of non-standardized and naturalistic methods, such as in-depth interviews, on-site observations, and physical analysis, based on the site where the research question is generated. In the course of the study, not only will the researcher not set the research hypothesis in advance, but the research design will change as the research progresses. The purpose of the research is to seek an explanatory understanding of the research question through the interaction between the researcher and the research object, and does not pay special attention to whether the research conclusions have regular characteristics. Qualitative research pays special attention to the personal feelings and experiences of researchers. Different researchers may obtain different interpretations of the research question because of their different theoretical foundations, research perspectives, knowledge reserves, and analysis methods.
3.Characteristics of educational research methods.
The research method of educational science has the characteristics of the general research method, which is:
First, the purpose of the research is to explore the laws of education and to solve important theoretical and practical problems in education. Whether it is exploratory research aimed at discovering or developing certain principles, principles, methods, or theories, or countermeasure research aimed at seeking answers to practical problems, it is necessary to explain theories and conduct logical arguments, rather than simply collecting data or listing speeches.
Second, there should be scientific hypotheses and a statement of the research question, and the research question should have clear objectives and indicators that can be examined.
Third, there should be a scientific research design, accurate and systematic observation, recording and analysis, and reliable data collection. In other words, it is necessary to form conclusions on the basis of sufficient scientific facts and certain data, and prevent arbitrarily extracting individual typical examples to draw conclusions and make judgments.
Fourth, emphasize the scientific nature of the method. As a kind of scientific research, it is a purposeful and planned cognitive activity that uses certain scientific methods and follows certain scientific research procedures. Therefore, the method itself is recognizable, the application process and the results of the study are testable, and the results of the research should be tested back in practice.
Fifth, creativity. It is the most important feature of research to make a breakthrough in the original theoretical system, way of thinking and research methods.
Educational scientific research also has its unique characteristics that are different from natural science and thinking science, which are mainly manifested in: (1) It has a strong comprehensive and holistic nature;(2) The period of the study is long;(3) Pertinent and practical;(4) The active participation of educational and scientific research workers and practitioners has a broad mass base.
The fundamental reason why educational research has these characteristics is that it is very complex and difficult to explain, control and control the phenomenon of education with people as the object, to explore the relationship between various elements within education and other things, and to explore the changes and laws between the quality and quantity of education. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that educational research methods exist in educational science itself, and the understanding of the general and special laws of educational science can be transformed into research methods in the field of education. The more general the law we recognize, the wider the scope of application of the corresponding method.
2. The function of educational research methods.
Education is a specialized social practice that has been differentiated from the evolution of human civilization. The core value of education can be summarized in two aspects: promoting the development of the human individual and promoting the inheritance of human culture. The purpose of educational research is to help people realize the core values of education. In general, there are two ways for educational research to play a role: one is the construction and development of educational theories, and the other is the design and improvement of educational practice. At the operational level, the function of educational research can be summarized as descripting, explaining, and improving.
1.Description. To embark on a research, you first need to have a basic and objective understanding of the problem to be studied, and clearly answer the "what" and "what" of the problem or phenomenon you are facing. Therefore, at the beginning of the research, educational research needs to describe the various phenomena in the process of educational practice in the most factual way. In general, the description of the Great Recess involves various aspects such as the manifestations of phenomena, their characteristics, and the relationships between related phenomena. The basic principle of description is to be as objective, accurate, comprehensive, and detailed as possible. Depending on the specific research question, the perspective and focus of the researcher in the description will vary, but in any case the basic principles must be observed. For example, in the development characteristics and appropriateness education of 3-5-year-old children's spatial construction ability, the researcher must not only describe the children's behavior in the process of building blocks, but also make a detailed explanation of the similarities and differences between different children's construction works. In addition, in order to have a more accurate grasp of children's development, researchers need to describe the interaction between teachers and children and teachers' teaching strategies. Description is the beginning of educational research, and it is also the basis for advancing research work and ultimately solving research questions.
2.Interpretation. On the basis of a full description of the research question and the research phenomenon, it is necessary to provide a reasonable explanation that is faithful to the facts, and answer the questions of "why what" and "how what". According to scientific research, there is an inherent cause behind every phenomenon. At the same time, there will be relatively stable regularity behind a series of complex phenomena. These causes, root causes, and laws are important steps to help us further understand the phenomenon and grasp the problem. Because of the different research perspectives and methods selected, there will be great differences in the footholds and methods adopted by different researchers when trying to explain the research questions. For example, researchers using quantitative research methods often use statistical analysis software to explain the probability distribution of the research problem, while researchers using qualitative research methods tend to explain the significance of the research question itself. The former seems to be a searchlight turned on in response to the problem, with a wide area but weak intensity;The latter is like a spotlight, with a high intensity but a small illumination surface. In the process of educational research, researchers will choose different ways of interpretation for different research questions. However, no matter what kind of interpretation method is adopted, it must be close to the facts and abandon subjective assumptions, otherwise it will be difficult to truly understand the research problem itself.
3.**It is a practical activity that is based on the present and points to the future. As far as logical derivation is concerned, ** is an extension and expansion of interpretation to a certain extent. After answering questions such as "what is" and "why what" and "why not what", the researcher inevitably focuses on the question of "if so, then what". The development of things is not only a psychological need in the process of human cognitive activities, but also a practical need in the process of human production and life activities. Whether in terms of the goal of the activity or the natural development of human social behavior, people will never stop at the level of complex phenomena, but try their best to explore the relatively stable and regular characteristics behind the phenomena. For example, through the study of the phenomenon that butterfly larvae are extremely sensitive to light for a period of time and do not respond to light for another period of time, the unique value of the sensitive period in the process of biological individual development has been determined, and then migrated to the field of education, and the special significance of promoting the development of human individuals and implementing a certain kind of education during the sensitive period has been deduced. It should be noted that reasonable research is by no means a random guess by the researcher, but is based on an accurate and sufficient understanding of the characteristics of the things themselves and the relationships between them.
4.Improvement. Improvement is one of the four functions of educational research that is closest to the purpose of educational research. Educational research is a process in which researchers strive to discover the problems existing in the field of education and ultimately solve them, and improvement is another way to solve real problems. After an objective and accurate description of the problem, an explanation of the problem close to the facts, and a reasonable understanding of the development and change of the problem, people must take substantive actions to solve the problems they face, and change the inappropriate status quo with more appropriate educational concepts or actions. The process of improvement can be a one-time rush or a gradual one.
In general, the improvements made by humans in the field of educational research are mostly the latter. For example, researchers have tried to promote a comprehensive education curriculum after fully aware of the adverse effects of strict subject-specific education on learner development in pre-school and compulsory education. In order to implement this improvement, the researcher will first select a class in a preschool and compulsory education institution for a pilot project, and try to improve the overall work from the curriculum concept to the specific implementation and evaluation. After many explorations and repeated running-in, after confirming that they have truly solved the problem of how to implement a comprehensive curriculum, the researcher can gradually expand the scope of improvement to ensure that more educated people can receive a more ideal basic education in the researcher's mind.
*:1] Chen Xiangming. Educational Research Methods[M].Beijing: Educational Science Press, 2013
2] Pei Diana. Introduction to Educational Research Methods[M].Hefei: Anhui Education Press, 1995