What is a research agenda?

Purpose. As part of the EdD program you will write an independent dissertation during the third year of the program. Creating a research agenda should be a major goal for all graduate students—regardless of theoretical interests, methodological preferences, or career aspirations. A research agenda helps you orient yourself toward both short- and long-term goals.

What is a research agenda? It’s a plan and a focus on issues and ideas in a subset of your field. You cannot study everything in your field during your time in graduate school, so decide what to focus on now, and what to defer until another day.

Research agendas are not set in concrete; they naturally change over time as your knowledge grows and as new research questions emerge.

Don’t be intimidated. Many students may start a graduate program with only a few ideas of areas they would like to study, or perhaps a few general research questions. Graduate courses, conversations with faculty and fellow students, and time spent reading the literature in the field can help you start to form a research agenda out of those ideas or research questions.

The purpose of this assignment is to develop a semester-long plan for fall 2020 to get you started developing your research agenda.

How to get started

Talk with faculty members and students about your general interests.
Read a great deal, even in the early weeks of your graduate work. Be open to reading research outside your immediate areas of interests and seeing how they link to your own areas.
Ask faculty to help identify resources. Such resources help you familiarize yourself with the research already done in areas that interest you. Be sure to follow up on citations that are interesting or intriguing.
Identify key authors relevant to your interests. Read their scholarship and understand the work that has informed their research.
Tasks and Submission Format. In order to get started you will follow the following steps.

Step 1. Describe what you want to accomplish during this semester in terms of your own research interests, topic development, and course assignments. Career Technical Education type of sectors retention graduation rate in Automotive technology and STEM degrees in LA Community colleges

Step 2. Write a one to two page narrative that includes the following sections:

1. Research Goals
2. Research Topic(s )of Interest
3. What I Know about the Topic(s)
4. Interesting Research Questions
5. Research Study Plan
6. Includes 2 journal articles to topic
Step 3: Please submit your assignment by uploading a Microsoft Word Document (.doc or docx).

Grade Rubic Questions
Research Goals
Student states at least one research goal for the semester. 4.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Research Topics of Interest
Student includes at least one research topic they are interested in studying. 4.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome What I Know About the Topic
Describe any background knowledge, research you have read, or practical applications you know about the topic. 4.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Interesting Research Questions
List any research questions you are interested in answering 4.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome
Research Study Plan 4.0
Describe how you will organize your time for study, including specific time for class assignments, reading about your topic, and any other activities you plan (like study groups or writing groups) (like study groups or writing groups).