Introduction
Educational research refers to a systematic attempt to gain a better understanding of the educational process, generally with a view in improving its efficiency. It is an application of scientific method to the study of educational problems. It is a more formal, focused and an intensive process of carrying out a scientific method of analysis. The main purpose of educational research is focused upon scientific investigation and provides solutions to the problems in the field of education. Research in education represents an activity, directed towards the development of an organized body of scientific knowledge about the events with which educators are concerned.
Educational research is the part of behavioural sciences, in which, emphasis has been put upon understanding, explaining, predicting and to some degree controlling human behaviour. Research in education is use of the methods of scientific analysis to produce information, needed to make improvements in educational planning, decision making, teaching and learning, curriculum development, understanding of children and youth, use of instructional media, school organization and education management. Research purifies the workings and the lives of the individuals. It primarily focuses upon improving quality and is a search for knowledge. It shows how to make provision of solutions to problems in a scientific and methodical manner. It is a systematic effort to acquire new knowledge in all disciplines. Educational research is termed as providing solutions to any educational problem.
Need and importance
Educational research is directed towards the solution of a problem in the field of education. It may attempt to answer a question or to determine the relation between two or more variables. It involves getting new data from primary or first-hand sources or using existing data for a new purpose. It involves the quest for answers to unsolved problems. Pushing back the frontiers of ignorance is its goal and originality is frequently the quality of a good research project. It has a great field. Educational psychology, educational philosophy, methodology, class organization and management, child development and other subjects are the fields of research in education. It can reveal some of the issues that were not known earlier and can raise new questions and lead to new investigations. It can help teachers to understand what works and why, what are the short and long term implications, provide a justification and rationale for decisions and actions, help to build a repertoire to help deal with the unexpected, identify problems, inform improvement and so forth.
It is the activity that is directed towards the development of a science of behavior in educational situations. The ultimate aim of such a science is to provide knowledge that will permit the educator to achieve his goals through the most effective methods. The primary purpose of educational research is to expand the existing body of knowledge by providing solutions to different problems in pedagogy while improving teaching and learning practices. Educational researchers also seek answers to questions bothering on learner motivation, development, and classroom management. It helps to find solutions to particular problems arising in the classroom or school.
The adoption and implementation of research based education in primary and high schools, colleges, technical educational institutions like engineering, polytechnics and in medical education institutions will bring in lot of changes in the current curriculum, enhancing the thinking process leading to learn and visualize the facts in a different dimensions that focuses on leading the educational program towards attaining the required success, innovation, quality enhancement, truth finding, opportunity for growth, satisfy stakeholder’s needs, eliminate flaws, continuous improvement, leading to international recognition. The research based education leads to innovation in education system. Overall it can be concluded that the implementation of the research based teaching learning will benefit both student community and society at large
Studies reveal that research helps restore and protect memory and enhances mathematic and problem-solving skills. Therefore, it prepares the mind for a better understanding of concepts and theories. When students research any topic, they get to know detailed information about that topic. The more the knowledge of the topic, the more successful is the research. So, in order to get good output, the student needs to do maximum research. The research helps in clarifying the complicated facts and figures. If the student has any doubt on the subject, the student must research and study it in detail so as to remove all sorts of confusion and get a proper understanding of the content. The importance of research in education is very vital because it gives a systematic analysis of the topic, assists in leading to greater observations, come up with valid predictions, theories, and great results through the observations, hypothesis and research queries. It Improves practices, develops new understanding related to the learning and teaching process, helps in decision making, brings consistency in the work.
The main purpose of educational research is focused upon scientific investigation and provides solutions to the problems in the field of education. Research in education has enabled substantial progress to be made in curriculum development and reform, educating slow learners, understanding the psychological traits of the physically challenged individuals and in adapting methods of instructions to the needs of individual learners. The study concludes that action research is a valuable tool for teachers to improve teaching and learning process, to increase pedagogical and instructional knowledge, and positively impact students’ learning. the major issues and challenges of teachers in the conduct of action research, which are additional workload and burden in the part of the teacher, writing anxiety, lack of time, and inadequate knowledge in the conduct of action research.
The current education system needs a transformation and drastic changes to be incorporated in this context to sensitize the issue of the importance of the research in every sector of the education system. The implementation of research in education will open up various avenues to carry out analysis, helps find new things, new information, improve existing things and information, will prepare to meet modern demands and learning abilities.
“Train yourselves. Don’t wait to be fed knowledge out of a book. Get out and seek it. Make explorations. Do your own research work. Train your hands and your mind. Become curious. Invent your own problems and solve them. You can see things going on all about you. Inquire into them. Seek out answers to your own questions.” – Irving Langmuir
(M Ahmad is a regular writer for this newspaper and can be reached at [email protected])
