Below you will find some tips that may help you narrow down your research topic. If you have
questions or need help with this, I am happy to discuss the topic with you and help you decide
how to make your topic work for this assignment. As soon as you have decided on a topic, I
encourage you to submit it to Blackboard for feedback before beginning the outline.
1. The chosen topic should relate to school improvement/academic achievement in some
way.
2. You must have data available so that you can describe the problem. Test scores may be
the easiest type of data to use to indicate a problem with achievement. From there, your
proposed intervention could be anything that you think would improve achievement.
3. The project must be an experimental design.
4. You should use past research to support the selection of your proposed intervention.
5. You are only writing a research proposal. You will not conduct the proposed study in this
class.
Example
Example Topic: This research proposal aims to explore the topic of student engagement in the
online environment.
Problem Statement: The problem is students are less likely to engage with peers and instructors in
the online environment. It is believed that the more students interact with their peers and instructors,
the more likely they are to complete courses and their degree programs.
Best practices used to address your problem: Past studies have shown that online students are
less likely to engage with peers and instructors in the online environment than in the traditional
campus environment. Falloon (2011) stated that student engagement is an essential strategy for
impacting student satisfaction, persistence, and retention rates.
Hypothesis: Incorporating engagement strategies such as scheduled Zoom meetings in online
courses will increase online students’ course completion and satisfaction rates.
Study Population: The study population will consist of students taking online ED504 this semester.
This population consists of online graduate students of all ages.
Variables (independent and dependent): Course completion and satisfaction rates will be the data
evaluated in this study. The independent variable is implementing Zoom meetings as an
engagement strategy within the classroom. The dependent variables are course completion and
satisfaction rates.
Brief plan of action for executing experimental design: Students from two sections of ED504 will
be used in this study. One section will complete the online course with no Zoom meetings scheduled
by the instructor. This group will be the control group. The second section will complete the course
with required weekly Zoom meetings scheduled by the instructor. Once the 8-week term ends,
course completion and satisfaction rates will be gathered from the students within both sections and
evaluated to determine if incorporating engagement strategies such as Zoom meetings affects
course completion and satisfaction rates.
