2023 ISLS Early Career

From Carol Chan

Writing

Research and publishing

  • A good goal is to have an impact on the field.
    • The best impact is probably both theoretical and practical.
    • One kind of impact is through citations. But citations don’t necessarily mean that people are using your work. The best impact is probably through “use.”
  • Some heuristic criteria (a hodge podge of things you might consider…)
    • Would a textbook author include your work?
    • Would a paper in the Annual Review of Psychology, or Review of Research in Education, refer to your work?
    • Would a K-12 workshop developer prepare workshops partly around your work? Would a book written for educators feature your work?
    • Does this project have the potential to change the way research is done?
    • Does this project have the potential to change practice?
  • There is a balance between being pragmatic and following your passions.

In preparation for writing: Read!

  • Read extensively:
    • your topic, inside and out.
    • related topics
  • what the reviewers will expect you to have read (and cited).
  • In addition to reading about theories, designs of learning environments, and so on, pay attention to methods. Who is using methods like yours, that you can refer to as precedents for your research? Who has described a method like yours in a way that is particularly effective, and that you could emulate?
  • Read in the journal(s) you plan to submit to. (Read a lot of these articles)
  • Browse broadly (journals, Research Gate, Google Scholar alerts, etc.) so that you know what all the current issues are
  • Also read selectively in related fields. If you can ground your research in an extended literature, it is all to the good.

2. Identify what and where you are contributing

  • Identify in theory, empirical findings, methodology, and/or practice….
    • gaps
    • weaknesses
    • problems
    • opportunities
  • Be clear about how you are addressing these.
  • Your work is in a conversation with the field.

Convincing reviewers

  • Write to convince reviewers/editors that your work is valuable.
  • Do not expect reviewers/editors to work out what is new and important about your work, or what important gaps/problems/opportunities you are addressing. You will have to spell it out for them word by word! Don’t expect readers to figure out what you do not tell them explicitly.

Early Career Workshop, ISLS 2023 Writing for Grants

  • Carol Chan
  • Clark Chinn
  • Julia Eberle

Principles for writing the proposal

  1. Coming up with a good /new idea

  2. Why it matters - A juicy, complex and significant problem Why important to solve the problem? Aims and objectives that address the research problem Research questions that address aims and objectives

  3. Depth of understanding and background/ context

  4. Use the right tools – research design Address the problem through appropriate design Feasibility and plausibility -

  5. Impact – Theoretical, conceptual, methodological, practice

  6. Writing – Both sophisticated and comprehensible

  7. Coherence and alignment among all parts

  8. Abstract First Impression most important

1 What is the problem/issue? goal Provide context and background to the problem; why problem significant

  1. Explain how others have addressed the problem; gaps in existing knowledge base

  2. Explain why you and your approach can address the problem – aims/approach/ rationale/

  3. Explain how you are going to do that – research design

  4. Outline outcomes, impact & significance

Identify key issues and problems (#1 and 2)

What is your approach – why and how? (#3 and 4)

state possible outcome In terms of relevance, significance and value (#5) Is the problem an important one that needs to be investigated and solved. 3

  1. Impact and Objectives Long-term Impact: Statement of Problem and Significance

Identify the key issues and problems being addressed, and state the possible outcome of the research project in terms of its relevance, significance and value

Problematize and conceptualize the themes/ issues to be addressed Contextualize the problem within scientific and scholarly debates Current state of knowledge and gaps / puzzles and contradictions Demonstrate how your work will build on existing research with significance and contribution Explain your approach and provide rationale Elements critical to solutions – significance and contribution theoretical, methodological, educational, practice

Identify (argue) a problem of significance – theoretically and practically

  • Explain why your approach is important. Rationale.. Overcome problems
  • objective section –list the objectives (you may add hypotheses for each objective)

4

  1. Research Background Work of others Organize and structure into key areas Conceptual frameworks / conceptualizing areas Know your area/key research/ and where the gaps/ weaknesses Identify previous and alternative approaches to the problem Highlight/argue why your approach –uniqueness and justification Extensive, focused, relevant, updated, recent

Work of yourself Explain why you are well placed to do this research Previous research and pilot study (published, conference paper; pilot)

Show you have a line of study – how previous work builds onto the current proposed study
5

  1. Methodsand Design Provide detailed and concrete account of what will take place Research Design setting/sampling/participants/design/procedure/ implementation - where, who, what, when, how, (justification; power statistics; new methods) Data sources, instrumentation and analysis What data will be collected from which population? What instruments, for how long? Under what conditions? At what time frame? Using what tools and what analysis

  2. Methods and Design How would the methods address the RQs? Develop research designs and methods aligned with objectives and research questions Justify research design in terms of objectives/ outcomes (e.g., why quantitative? Why mixed methods) How data analysis methods can deliver intended answers to research objectives and questions Are the methods appropriate? Feasible? Participants, scale, timing of activities and resources need to be proportionate and realistic Will the research design deliver the anticipated outcomes Are the data valid and reliable? What checks will you make?

Be clear and be concrete

Coherence and alignment Different parts of proposal need to be linked to each other – coherence

identify problem and issues – define aims and objectives –what have others done - frame research questions – Design methods and tools to find answers to address RQs and objectives –findings with impact and outcomes for solving the problem with significance

More tips on writing Be clear and succinct- avoid complexity Include key information Keep sentences short Avoid unnecessary jargons Do not use too many acronyms/abbreviations Beware of over-statements – ‘world class’, ‘never been done before’
Use topic sentences and transition to help readers/reviewers to focus