Unit 4: The ODeL Research Project

Overview of Unit 4
Unit 4: The ODeL Research Project places emphasis on the completion of a draft research proposal or a draft research article. The unit is in itself a topic. As such, this unit has no embedded topics. What follows is an outline of a draft research proposal or article.

Specific Learning Outcome
Upon completion of this unit, it is envisioned that you will have drafted a research proposal ready for submission to an ethical review committee; or a journal article ready for submission to an accredited journal.

Introduction
In the preceding sections of this OER, you have been guided through the necessary components of an ODeL research study. This unit aims to bridge all these pieces together into one coherent puzzle.

Guidance
The OER by Laverty (2018) has once again been placed into this OER due to its concise yet thoroughly comprehensive account of conducting educational research. Kindly familiarise yourself again with the contents. Thereafter, visit the external website (listed under the resources) for an overview on Writing a research proposal: Outline, format and examples. Lastly, engage with the final learning activity for this OER.

Time needed
You'll need approximately 1.5 hours to engage with the content on this topic.

Resources

 * Educational Research: A practical guide, Laverty (2018) (PDF – 1,802KB)
 * Writing a research proposal: Outline, format and examples (External website)

Learning Activities
Activity 4.1.1 : Using all the information and skills you have gained throughout the course of this OER, draft a research proposal or article for your own research. HINT: If you’ve completed the crucial activities throughout this OER, then you’ve already done most of the work!

Copy the work from your research space (i.e., the 'My research space' tab) into a word processing software (such as MS Word) or use a template (see the link in the Resources section above for more information). Structure it according to the guidelines (as set out by the ethics review committee/journal) and further refine it for peer review. And then, YOU'RE DONE! Congratulations on the compilation of your draft research proposal/article! All the best with your submission processes!