Page 15 - The SpeakTeach method - Esther de Vrind

1.2 Objective of this thesis, main research question and methodological approach
The objective of this thesis, therefore, was to design and evaluate an approach for self- regulated learning of speaking skills that is adaptive for secondary school students and practical for teachers in their regular teaching practice. The main research question addressed in this thesis was: What are the design principles for an approach for self-regulated learning of speaking skills in a foreign language that is adaptive for students and practical for teachers?
This research targeted both development of solutions to a practical and complex educational problem that practitioners encounter and development and evaluation of theoretical knowledge in the form of design principles. Design principles are theoretically and empirically based principles that specify what to do to realize outcomes x in context z. Because an important feature of educational design research is to contribute to both educational practice and theory, it has been chosen as the method of research (McKenney, Nieveen & Van den Akker in Gravemeijer & Cobb, 2006: 110-143). Design studies often consist of two or more iterative cycles of design, implementation and evaluation. Based on theory development and practical knowledge, initial design guidelines are drawn up. These are translated into concrete teaching that is then put into practice. Interventions in classroom settings are tested using both quantitative and qualitative data. The evaluation of the new educational practice in turn provides theoretically and empirically grounded design principles for solving the identified complex educational problem. In educational design research the perception of practitioners is often used to determine whether the intervention leads to the intended results. Given the main research question, the students’ perception of the adaptivity and the teachers’ perception of the practicality of the approach to be developed were chosen as the crucial types of data in this dissertation. Since the perception of practitioners is important, design research is often participatory research. This also affects the role of the researcher. The role of the researcher is not one of observer, the researcher works closely with practitioners (in this case with the teachers) and designs new forms of education in order to solve problems in practice. The author of this thesis was not only the researcher but also the facilitator of the professional development trajectory who developed and shaped the learning process with the teachers.
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