Presentation from the ALT Summer Summit 2020 describes the GO-GN Research Methods Handbook which supports researchers working in the field of open education

1. Research methods in open
education: insights from the
Global OER Graduate Network
Dr. Robert Farrow
Open Education Research Hub
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University, UK
rob.farrow@open.ac.uk
@philosopher1978

2. 2
01
Why a Research Methods Handbook?
Rationale and concept02
Production Process
Crowdsourcing research insights03
Presentation & Style
Aiming for accessibility04
Open Research: Insights
Reflections shared by GO-GN members05
Impact and Future Editions
Next steps
STRUCTURE
Introduction to GO-GN
Background on the Global OER Graduate Network
and its members
06
07
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all contributors!

3. 3
SUPPORTING DOCTORAL RESEARCH IN OPEN EDUCATION
GLOBAL OER GRADUATE NETWORK
http://go-gn.net/

4. 4
GLOBAL OER GRADUATE NEWORK
GO-GN started in 2013 as an initiative from Fred Mulder, UNESCO Chair in OER at the
Dutch Open Universiteit, in collaboration with Rory McGreal, UNESCO / COL Chair in
OER at Athabasca University (Canada).
GO-GN is currently funded through the OER programme of The William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation and administered by the Open Education Research Hub from
the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK.
The aims of the GO-GN are:
• to raise the profile of research into open education,
• to offer support for those conducting PhD research in
this area, and
• to develop openness as a process of research.
More than 100 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers
form the core of the network with more than 200 experts,
supervisors, mentors and interested parties forming a
community of practice

5. Why a Research Methods
Handbook?
Rationale and concept

6. 6
(DECEPTIVELY) SIMPLE ANSWER
WHAT IS RESEARCH METHOD?
Method:
• Approach or technique for conducting research
• How a study is completed
• How data was collected and analyzed
• Testing a hypothesis
• Supports a claim to knowledge or validity

7. 7

8. 8
RATIONALE & CONCEPT
WHY A RESEARCH METHODS HANDBOOK?
Feedback from GO-GN members consistently raises methodology as an area of
concern and the Handbook is a response to this need
• Methodology is hard, and often leads you outside your comfort zone
• Learners are rarely encouraged to critically engage with method before
doctoral study
• People writing PhDs can suffer from imposter syndrome, or feel like they are
expected to know all this stuff by now
• People often don’t feel like discussing these issues in a group
But openness also plays a part:
• Emergent field of study
• Applying methods outside original context
• Openness as object of study vs. openness as method
• Open practices challenge some of our assumptions about how to do research
• Different (academic) cultures can be more receptive to different kinds of
research

9. 9
RATIONALE & CONCEPT
WHY A RESEARCH METHODS HANDBOOK?
Rationale:
• Addressing confusion and insecurity about research methods by
acknowledging complexity
• Contextualizing these within open education research
• Building a record of the experiences of researchers in open education
• Working openly: sharing critical reflections widely
• Look for insights into “openness”
Concept:
• Offering an accessible entry point into methodology
• Convey complexity while being supportive
• Explaining the philosophical differences that underlie debate about method
• Exploring the concept of open research
• Collecting and sharing authentic experiences of researchers who have
used different methods

10. Production Process
Crowdsourcing research insights

11. 11
TIMELINE (2020)
PRODUCTION PROCESS
January – Announcement (webinars, survey)
February – Webinar; member input into scope, content
March – Survey of members closes
April – OER20 Workshop (moved online and redesigned)
May – Drafting and compiling responses
June – Open Editorial Review
July – Publication

12. Presentation & Style
Aiming for accessibility

13. 13
TIMELINE
PRODUCTION PROCESS
July 2020 – Publication

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16

17. 17

18. 18
Research Design Process (based on E891) (Open University, n.d.)

19. 19
HANDBOOK STRUCTURE
PRESENTATION AND STYLE
Philosophical Foundations
• Ontology
• Epistemology
• Axiology
Research Paradigms
Paradigmatic Methods
• Positivism / Post-Positivism
• Interpretivism
• Critical / Transformational
• Pragmatic
• Multidisciplinarity / Interdisciplinarity
• Mixed Methods & Triangulation

20. 20Progression through the Research Process (based on Brown & Dueñas, 2020)

21. 21
HANDBOOK STRUCTURE
PRESENTATION AND STYLE
Open Research
• Open Research Cycles
• Open Practices
Designing a Research Project
• Planning
• Ethical Issues
• Managing Risk
• Using Technologies
• Self Management
• Research Design

22. Open Research: Insights
Reflections shared by GO-GN members

23. 23
HANDBOOK STRUCTURE
PRESENTATION AND STYLE
Action Research & Participatory Action Research
Case Study
Content / Thematic Analysis
Design-Based Research / Interventions
Discourse Analysis
Ethnography
Evaluation Research
Experimental & Quasi-experimental research
Grounded Theory
Interviews and Focus Groups

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HANDBOOK STRUCTURE
PRESENTATION AND STYLE
Literature Review, Systematic Review & Meta-analysis
Mixed Methods
Narrative Research
Observation (Naturalistic & Analogue)
Phenomenography
Phenomenology
Social Network Analysis
Surveys & Questionnaires

25. 25
OPEN PRACTICES IN RESEARCH
OPEN RESEARCH: INSIGHTS
One characteristic feature of open researchers is that they often
integrate open elements into what they do. This can include things
like:
• Agile working & project management
• Directly influencing practice
• Radical transparency
• Social media presence, blogging
• Using networks as a research resource
• Sharing research instruments and other tools
• Use of open data
• Open access publication
• Technological innovation
• Working towards social justice

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REFLECTION PROMPTS
RESEARCH METHODS REPORT
How do you frame your research? What motivates it?
• Describing what is happening (e.g. learner diversity in MOOCs)
• Identifying patterns (e.g. how are networks changing learner interactions?)
• Challenging existing narratives (e.g. ‘digital native’)
• Focus on something overlooked (e.g. importance of sociocultural factors)
• Supporting professional practice (e.g. educator development)
• Developing new theories
• Describing new trends (e.g. open education)
• Refine/redefine roles (e.g. MOOCs)
What will be the value of answering your research question? Can open approaches
enhance or add value?
• Directly influencing practice
• Producing tools
• Data for re-use
• Open access publication
• Developing networks

27. Impact & Future Editions
Next steps

28. 28
Farrow, R., Iniesto, F., Weller,
M. & Pitt., R. (2020). The GO-
GN Research Methods
Handbook. Open Education
Research Hub. The Open
University, UK. CC-BY 4.0.
http://go-
gn.net/gogn_outputs/researc
h-methods-handbook/
Images by Visual Thinkery
CC BY

29. 29
What’s next?
• A companion volume focused
on theoretical perspectives
• Future editions to include
ongoing input from
researchers
• Expand to include discussion
of other research methods in
open education (e.g. textbook
research; COUP framework)
• Expand and refine
presentation of open research
• Build more detailed guidance
for research design

30. 30
Farrow, R. & Mathers, B.
(forthcoming). Conceptualising
Research Methodology for Doctoral
Researchers in Open Education (with
penguins)
in
Buckley, C. and Nerantzi, C. (eds.)
(forthcoming). ‘Exploring visual
representation of concepts in
Learning and Teaching in Higher
Education’. Special issue
of International Journal of
Management and Applied
Research, https://doi.org/10.18646/20
56.54.cfp008

31. 31
Farrow, R. (ed.) et al. (2020). GO-GN
Research Review (Summer 2020).
Global OER Graduate Network.
http://go-
gn.net/gogn_outputs/research-
review-summer-2020/
• Marjon Baas (Leiden University,
Netherlands)
• Natasha Chtena (University of
California Los Angeles, USA)
• Glenda Cox (University of Cape
Town, South Africa)
• Michael Dabrowski (Athabasca
University, Canada)
• Helen De Waard (Lakehead
University, Canada)
• Kathy Essmiller (Oklahoma State
University, USA)
• Paco Iniesto (Open University, UK)
• Caroline Kuhn (Bath Spa University,
UK)
• Rebecca Pitt (Open University, UK)
• Hélène Pulker (Open University, UK)
• Martin Weller (Open University, UK)

32. Acknowledgments
Thanks to contributors!

33. 33
THANKS FOR CONTRIBUTING!
RESEARCH METHODS HANDBOOK
Samia Almousa (Leeds University, UK)
Marjon Baas (Leiden University, Netherlands, Saxion University of Applied Sciences,
Netherlands)
Penny Bentley (University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
Aras Bozkurt (Anadolu University, Turkey)
Walter Butler (Queensland University of Technology, Australia via the San Jose State
University (USA) Gateway Program)
Paula Cardoso (Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
Natascha Chtena (UCLA, USA)
Ada Czerwonogora (Universidad de la República, Uruguay)
Johanna Funk (Charles Darwin University, Australia)
Jenni Hayman (Arizona State University, USA)
Sarah C. Hutton (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)
Olawale Iyikolakan (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
Katy Jordan (The Open University, UK)

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Caroline Kuhn (Bath Spa University, UK)
Sarah Lambert (Deakin University, Australia)
Chrissi Nerantzi (Edinburgh Napier University)
Jessica O'Reilly (Athabasca University, Canada)
Michael Paskevicius (The University of Victoria, Canada)
Judith Pete (The Open Universiteit of the Netherlands)
Virginia Power (The University of the West of England, UK)
Hélène Pulker (The Open University, UK)
Verena Roberts (The University of Calgary, Canada)
Virginia Rodés (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Universidad de la República,
Uruguay)
Viviane Vladimirschi (Athabasca University, Canada)
THANKS FOR CONTRIBUTING!
RESEARCH METHODS HANDBOOK

35. THANK YOU
rob.farrow@open.ac.uk
@philosopher1978
go-gn.net
oerhub.net