Peer Review

Crafting a Research Question

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Reviewed:: May 26, 2022 by Library and Information Services

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Coming up with a good research question is essential for any research! Whether you're joining a faculty-led group or initiating an independent research project, research questions will be central to your work. By the end of this activity, you'll be able to: Generate potential research questions, refine and improve your research questions, and explain the broader significance of your research question.

If you are joining a faculty-led project, you can still benefit from working through this tutorial. Learning about the process of generating a research question can prepare you for your future independent projects.

Type of Material:

Tutorial

Recommended Uses:

As a supplemental assignment outside of class hours, with room for discussion afterwards. This is ideal for any students being asked to write a research paper, especially those without much experience.

Technical Requirements:

The tutorial should function using more browsers and is also mobile-friendly. Accessibility features are also generally supported in H5P.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The purpose of this tutorial is to guide users through the process of gaining an understanding of what a research question is and how to develop one. As stated by the authors, upon completing this tutorial users can be expected to be able to:

Develop potential research questions
Refine and improve research questions
Explain the broader significance of research questions

Target Student Population:

College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: Content is well-organized, and demonstrates a clear knowledge of the topic. At several points, users are given an opportunity to learn more via outside resources. The content is useful for students of any discipline, and offers suggestions on more advanced ways of refining a research question. There are also avenues for the user to consider more advanced topics, such as how a research question might affect readers of an article or the deeper implications of the research.
Concerns:: One (minor) concern is that when discussing research mapping, users may feel inclined to start listing any related topics that come in mind, which might be counterproductive when refining a research question.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: This is a topic which is often glossed over when discussing with students how to write a research paper, so a quick tutorial like this could be invaluable for students. The authors provide clear learning goals for the tutorial, and include a number of modalities for different learning styles. The practical nature of the tutorial allows students to work with their own research topics in a low-stress environment, while also allowing users to review their work, their answers, and the content of the guide. Encouragement and feedback are built into various parts of the tutorial.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The tutorial is easy to use and includes clear instructions. The design is clean and simple, with a consistent layout. All video components are captioned and the the other components are fully accessible. The h5p code makes it easy to re-use this content and to embed it into existing LMSs. The tutorial is engaging and just the right length.
Concerns:: Students could potentially be confused about their score report because it does not include the long-form questions and activities, which are arguably the most valuable parts of the tutorial. Perhaps emphasizing the "download your text" feature at the end of the tutorial which saves the students' long answers could help alleviate this issue, especially if students might be expected to submit the long responses to their instructors.

Other Issues and Comments:: This is an excellent resource on a oft-neglected topic which can benefit students across any discipline.
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