Next Course: February 2026 [live classes: February 8, 15, 22] [Registration open] (Deadline: January 21)
Instructor: Hayo Reinders https://innovationinteaching.org/
- Course content and practical information (scroll down)
- Communication tools and protocol
- Eligibility, fees, and application procedure
[This course will need at least four registered participants in order to run.]
Course Description
This course provides structured support for educators and language-education professionals who are exploring or preparing to apply for doctoral programmes (PhD or EdD). Over three weeks, participants will refine a research idea, carry out a focused literature search, draft research questions, and design a feasible methodological framework, with the aim of creating a competitive, well-organized proposal outline. The emphasis is on clarity, feasibility, and scholarly alignment rather than producing a final full-length proposal. By its conclusion, participants will have developed a polished proposal outline suitable for submission to a doctoral programme in language education, drawing on learner autonomy or related areas.
Course Objectives
On successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Articulate a researchable and relevant doctoral-level topic in language education, informed by current debates and gaps in the field.
- Conduct a structured, focused literature search and synthesis to situate the proposed research within existing scholarship.
- Formulate clear, coherent, and researchable research questions grounded in theory and context.
- Select and justify an appropriate research design and methodology, including setting, participants, data sources, and procedures, aligned with research questions.
- Draft a concise and coherent proposal outline, demonstrating logical alignment between research question, rationale, methodology, and potential contribution.
Course Structure
- Online pre-course reading & reflection: foundational reading on research paradigms and initial reflection.
- Live synchronous sessions (x3): interactive workshops for ideation, peer discussion, feedback, and methodological planning.
- Asynchronous tasks: guided reading, literature search, mini-synthesis, research-question development, methodological planning, peer discussion in forums.
- Peer interaction and peer feedback: small-group discussion and peer review of topic ideas, RQs, and methodological plans.
- Instructor feedback and support
Course Schedule
Pre course tasks: Introductory reading + 1-page reflection on possible research directions and paradigms.
Week 1
Live Session 1
Topic development: brainstorming, narrowing focus, identifying scope and potential research variables.
Week 2
Asynchronous work
Literature search & mini-synthesis: locating and summarizing 5–8 key scholarly works, identifying themes and research gaps.
Live Session 2
Crafting strong research questions: analysis of good vs. weaker RQs; drafting 1–3 candidate RQs with peer feedback.
Week 3
Asynchronous Work
Building the proposal outline: integrating rationale, literature synthesis, RQs, and methodology into a coherent proposal structure; peer feedback and final refinements.
Live Session 3
Methodological design: choosing design type (e.g., case study, exploratory, mixed methods), defining setting, participants, data sources, and procedures.