You are required to choose two different pieces of research that address a common topic (e.g., teachers’
questioning techniques, using technology in the L2 classroom, etc.), and prepare a comparative essay that
includes these main components:
• For background/context, critically consider the main professional, public, and scholarly debates on
the topic you have chosen.
• Succintly summarise the different arguments presented in your two research articles, and critically
examine their main points of disagreement and agreement.
• Discuss the criteria you employ to evaluate research, and explain how these are informed by the
educational research methodology literature.
• Compare and critically evaluate the two different research approaches used in the articles with
respect to their main argument, conclusions, and knowledge claims.
• Ensure language is clear, cohesive, and appropriately referenced using APA conventions.
To help you prepare for this assignment, we offer the following questions to guide your reading and
evaluating:
• What are some of the main points of debate about the chosen topic?
• How do we judge contrasting research approaches and competing arguments?
• How do we ‘make sense’ of and evaluate the different claims made about topical and controversial
issues?
• What constitutes evidence in evidence-based educational research?
• Is it appropriate to acknowledge standpoints and contexts of different ‘stakeholders’ (e.g., parents,
academics, teachers, policy makers, young people, managers…) and how might we best do so?
• What are the different criteria by which we might judge and evaluate research approaches,
research quality and claims and arguments?
Word count
(3000 words).
Criteria
Note: Sub-weightings below are indicators of relative importance against each aspect of the overall task
taken as a whole – they do not result in an individual quantitative score components.
A critical summary of key professional, public, and
scholarly debates on the chosen topic – 15%
A critical examination of key points of agreement and
disagreement between arguments in the research
articles from on the chosen topic – 25%
A discussion of your criteria for evaluating
educational research – 25%
A comparative evaluation of research approaches
used within the folio research articles with respect to their
argument and knowledge claims – 25%
Language/expression, including academic referencing
