The Role of Research and Inquiry in Undergraduate Teacher 
Education

Ted Booth, Neil Hall and Wilma Vialle
University of Wollongong

A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the AARE, Newcastle, 
29 November 1994


The Problem
For some time, the University of Wollongong's Faculty of 
Education has offered compulsory subjects in research and inquiry 
during the fourth year of the undergraduate Bachelor of Education 
program. Student evaluations in 1993, however, indicated that 
many students felt ill-prepared to undertake their Honours thesis 
or school-based inquiry studies because of their late exposure to 
formal studies in research and inquiry. Subsequently, a working 
party was established to examine the logistics of the teaching of 
research methods earlier in the undergraduate program. The 
questions that faced us were whether research methods should be 
taught as a separate subject or whether they should be integrated 
through all subject offerings throughout the four-year program, 
and if a separate subject were to be offered, in which year would 
the subject best be located. 

In order to address these questions, an extensive survey of 
student and staff perceptions was initiated by the working party 
along with a thorough examination of the research literature. In 
this paper, we present our findings from the survey and the 
research literature in order to argue that the teaching of a 
compulsory subject in research and inquiry is a crucial part of 
any undergraduate teacher education program. It is particularly 
critical in the current educational climate when there are 
increasing calls for the professionalisation of teachers and for 
greater accountability in schooling generally.

Literature Review
There is a paucity of literature that specifically addresses the 
issue of the teaching of research methods in undergraduate 
teacher education programs. Over the last decade, however, a 
number of governmental reports have indicated the importance of 
teachers' skills in research methods as an agent of change. For 
example,  The Joint Review of Teacher Education (Commonwealth 
Schools Commission, 1986) recommended that the core of teacher 
education courses include studies in "methods of inquiry and 
research". A more recent report noted the need for novice 
teachers to reflect critically on their practice, to have 
knowledge of current educational issues, to regularly update 
their knowledge of research, and to initiate, contribute to and 
facilitate research (NSW Ministerial Advisory Council, 1994).  
Other reports provide similar suggestions (The Holmes Group, 
1986; Vonk & Van Helden, 1992). In general these reports argue 
for the need to change the teacher from being merely a delivery 
agent to one who is an active participant in stretching the 
boundaries and enhancing the profession (Schools and Curriculum 
Policy Branch, 1991, p. 9)


Such reports are supported by the growing body of literature in 
school restructuring and professional development. The recurring 
themes in this literature are the professionalisation and 

empowerment of teachers. Inherent in the rhetoric of empowerment 
and professionalisation is the role of reflection on and inquiry 
into the teacher's own practice.  A partial solution to the 
problem of teacher professionalisation, therefore, lies in making 
teachers researchers of their own practice.  Lieberman and Miller 
(1990), while noting that the notion of teacher as researcher is 
not new, argue for the importance of teachers developing the 
skills and confidence to carry out their own systematic 
investigations, so they are able to understand and improve their 
classroom practices.  Similarly, Elliott (1983) argues that an 
action research model is the way to create a "reconstructed 
interpretative paradigm" (p. 12) for the study of educational 
issues.  There is widespread support for the use of action 
research in restructuring of schools (Holly & Southworth, 1990; 
Jacullo-Noto, 1992; Lieberman, 1988; Oja & Smulyan, 1989; Sagor, 
1992).  Additionally, action research has been advocated as a 
model to support the professional development of teachers.

The picture that emerges from the literature, then, is that 
school improvement at the macro level will be largely 
accomplished by the development of professional, empowered 
teachers.  It is our contention that the latter may best be 
accomplished through the development of reflective teaching, 
critical inquiry, self-evaluation, and professional dialogue with 
the teacher acting as both consumer and producer of research 
(Neubert & Binko, 1986).

It has been widely reported that teachers are wary of research, 
questioning its relevance and its contradictory findings among 
other perceived shortcomings (see Green & Kvidahl, 1989, 1990; 
Elliott, 1983; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1990). But teachers who 
have had some training in research methods, either at an 
undergraduate or graduate level are far more likely to use 
research in their classrooms. Green and Kvidahl's (1989) research 
with 441 teachers in the USA, for example, demonstrated that 
teachers were more likely to read, use, conduct, and present 
research findings if they had experienced some training in 
research methods.  In fact, 77% of the teachers in their survey 
believed that training in the reading of research should be 
included at the undergraduate level, while 66% thought training 
in conducting research should be included in all initial teacher-
education courses.

The exposure of student teachers to research methods is endorsed 
by Smagorinsky and Jordahl (1991) who, based on their findings 
from a collaborative research study between themselves as student 
teacher and co-operating teacher, posit that such exposure could 
serve to inculcate habits and attitudes that will enable the 
aspiring teachers to continue to grow in their professional 
lives. Kleinfeld's (1991) study of her university students, 
demonstrated that students taught by the case method, as opposed 
to traditional lecture/tutorial presentation, developed superior 
abilities to identify a range of issues in educational problems, 
to analyse these issues in a more sophisticated manner, and to 
identify many more potential solutions to educational problems.  
The students taught in this way also regarded the teacher as an 
autonomous professional rather than a practitioner.

Regardless of the logistics of the design and delivery of 
research methods courses, there is clearly a strong case in the 
literature to support the existence of explicit education in 
research methods at the undergraduate level.  The studies cited 

above demonstrate a strong link between the student teacher's 
exposure to principles of research and their later professional 
orientation toward reading and applying research, and to 
conducting reflective inquiry on their own teaching practice and 
broader educational issues.

The Wollongong Context

In order to determine the need for, location and nature of a 
subject in research and inquiry at the undergraduate level, a 
working party was established. The subsequent investigation 
entailed the audit and assessment of the current teaching of 
research methods in the Faculty of Education's undergraduate 
programs. This was undertaken by: (1) a review of the subject 
outlines of all research subjects taught in 1993; (2) the 
development of an Inquiry/Research Skills Inventory  [Appendix 
A]; and, (3) an evaluation of student and staff perception of the 
coverage of the inquiry skills and research knowledge that had 
been developed in their respective research subject(s). 

The Inquiry/Research Skills Inventory was developed initially 
from an analysis of the 1993 research subjects' outlines and 
subsequently validated by "expert" input from the research 
subject coordinators and the working party personnel. The final 
Inventory included 54 individual skill or knowledge components 
[eg referencing via the electronic indexes and CD Roms: ERIC  or 
ethics in inquiry ] which were grouped under the following eight 
subsections:
defining the problem;
information location and library skills;
knowledge about aspects of research;
data gathering skills;
data organisation and analysis;
writing process;
presentation and communication of findings; and,
group work skills in joint inquiry.


The Inquiry/Research Skills Inventory was then used to review the 
subject outlines of the five research and project/thesis subjects 
available in 1993 by the respective subject coordinators. It was 
also used as the basis of a student evaluation instrument of 
third year PE/Health and final year BEd primary students in late 
November, 1993. Response rates from the mail-out survey were: 
PE/Health 8/16 - 50%, Research and Inquiry Methods for B.Ed. Pr 
21/60 - 35%, Inschool 7/18 - 39%, Honours group 8/17 - 47%.

Additionally, all new 1994 fourth year primary students' 
perceptions of the coverage of research and inquiry skills in 
their first three years were surveyed using the Inquiry/Research 
Skills Inventory. They were asked  how adequate do you feel the 
subjects were in  your first three years in developing your 
research methodology skills ?  The survey was undertaken in their 
first class in 1994 and attained a response rate of 81%. In 
November, 1994, a follow-up survey was undertaken with these 
students and 62% responded. The students were asked to assess 
their confidence in their research skills and knowledge [using 
the Inventory] and to estimate on a four point scale the "... 
extent you have used the knowledge and skills covered in research 
methods and other areas of your work at university this year." In 
addition, the students were asked to indicate the value and 
timing of the research and inquiry methods subject in the four-

year program.

Finally, all subject coordinators of the core subjects in the 
first three years of the Primary and Health/Physical Education 
programs were requested to complete the Inquiry/Research Skills 
Inventory and indicate: (1) the extent that the skills are 
currently covered in their subjects; and, (2) the extent to which 
they could be covered if an across-the-curriculum approach to 
research methods were taken. Despite follow-up reminders, the 
response rate was low with only nine staff responding with data 
from 15 of approximately 90 subjects available in the program. 

Interpretation of Survey Data
The majority of third year PE/Health and final year BEd primary 
students, commenting on their experiences of research methods, 
indicated that they had only experienced an introductory level of 
knowledge on the 54 items on the Inventory. The student 
perception was generally matched by the perceptions of the 
coordinators of the research subjects, with only eight of the 54 
items being rated slightly higher by the staff. The items rated 
higher by the staff than students included: Problem Definition; 
Range of Inquiry Paradigms; Qualitative Research; Action 
Research; Ethics in Inquiry; Overview of Instruments and 
Instrumentation; Ethnographic and Participant Observation; and, 
Classroom Teacher as Participant Observer. Each of these items is 
drawn from the first three components of the Inventory. Total 
accord was attained on the other five components of the 
Inventory. Thus, staff and students were generally in accord 
regarding the level of coverage of the various components of the 
research methods subjects. Two other results from the data are of 
interest. Third-year PE/Health students generally rated their 
level of coverage more highly than the fourth-year Primary 
students. It must be noted, however, that the PE/Health students 
undertake the subject as an elective and have high levels of 
motivation in gaining understanding from the subject for their 
thesis projects in the following year. Nevertheless, the 
PE/Health sequence was used by the Working Party as an 
alternative model of delivery. Primary students rated the level 
of coverage in their practical experiences (either in the In-
school Project or the Honours Thesis) more highly than the 
subject ratings.

Analysis of the 1994 cohort's perceptions of the coverage of 
research methods in the subjects from their first three years 
indicates a similar pattern of response with the majority of 
items receiving the rating of introductory coverage only. Again, 
the responses of the staff endorse the student perceptions with 
the majority of staff rating the 54 items in their core subjects 
as introductory level only. More importantly, though, these staff 
members strongly indicated a lack of willingness to change the 
emphasis in their subjects in future years.

The follow-up survey conducted with the 1994 cohort asked them to 
indicate whether or not the subject in Research and Inquiry 
should be compulsory and if so, in which year of their program it 
should be located. They were also asked to comment on how useful 
they thought the subject would be in their future teaching 
careers. Sixty students responded to the survey. With regard to 
the issue of compulsion, 87% of the students indicated that they 
felt the subject should be compulsory while only 3% indicated 
that it should not be compulsory. Although the majority of 
students (87%) selected the third year of the program as the 

preferred location for the subject, there was some support for 
even earlier location-viz 63% in favour of and 13% against second 
year location; and, 42% in favour of and 32% against the subject 
being conducted in the first year. It is clear that while there 
is strong support for earlier study of research methods, a 
sizeable group believes that the first year is too early.

Finally, the follow-up data from the 1994 cohort demonstrated a 
high level of perceived usefulness of the research and inquiry 
subject. Seventy-eight percent of the students indicated that 
they thought the subject would enable them to be more reflective 
practitioners as well as more informed consumers of research. 
Additionally, 65% indicated that the subject would enable them to 
experiment more in their own teaching approaches. These data 
support the close relationship between the study of research 
methods and reflective teaching practice that we have derived 
from the research literature.

Recommendations
Analysis of these survey data support the literature in making a 
strong case for the teaching of a compulsory subject in research 
and inquiry in the early stages of teacher training. There is a 
strong case for the inclusion of research methods at an earlier 
stage in undergraduate teacher education and it is clear from the 
survey that an across-the-curriculum approach is unlikely to 
attain the desired outcome. The current offering of a subject in 
fourth year, similarly, is not meeting the needs of the students, 
coming at a time when many are trying to conduct research 
studies. Thus, we have argued that a subject earlier in the 
training sequence allows the introduction of the range of issues 
and skills in research and inquiry that may be consolidated 
through subsequent practical research activities and other 
subject offerings. To this end, the following recommendations 
were made by the Wollongong working party.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning about Inquiry.

At the Faculty level, the Working Party recommends that staff:

1. Identify a variety of research subskills and knowledge for 
systematic integration/infusion across the curriculum and 
throughout the subjects in the pre-service teacher education 
courses.

2. Initiate Faculty discussion of the most appropriate 
teaching/learning processes to foster the development of an 
inquiry oriented, reflective teacher and to enhance a culture of 
critical inquiry within the Faculty.

3. Devise presentation and assessment strategies to ensure the 
implementation of inquiry oriented teaching/learning approaches 
within the curriculum. 

4. Establish evaluation criteria and develop processes to assess 
the outcomes (knowledge, skills and attitudes) of the 
implementation of inquiry oriented teaching/learning approaches.

Course Structure

5.  That inquiry approaches be covered as a sequence of two 
subjects for Primary students, the first to be taught in the 
Autumn session of the student's third year, and the second for 

Honours students to be taught in Autumn Session of the fourth 
year.

6. Discussions be undertaken with subject coordinators to 
integrate the teaching of introductory research methods across 
the Primary and PE/Health programs with a specialist lobe based 
subject. The curriculum of the subject to take account of 
specialist inquiry needs of the different program groups within 
the program.

7. Identify potential Honours students by both self 
identification and Faculty invitation by the beginning of Autumn 
Session in third year.

8. Involve potential Honours students in a number of research 
oriented seminars during Spring Session of their third year.

9. Honours supervisors be given the opportunity to teach in the 
advanced research methods subject.

Future Developments

Although the investigation described above was occasioned by 
student perceptions of their readiness to undertake research-
based thesis studies, it has highlighted a critical issue in the 
preparation of teachers generally. Our investigations have 
underscored the need for practising teachers to be reflective 
practitioners who are not only cognisant of current research but 
also able to undertake research in their own classrooms. It 
becomes essential, then, for teacher education institutions to 
respond by equipping all graduates with the skills of critical 
inquiry. The decision to offer a compulsory subject in research 
and inquiry in the third year of the undergraduate program is 
seen as an initial step toward such an outcome. As we monitor the 
developments in our programs in the future, we anticipate that 
the compulsory subject may be offered in either the first or 
second year and that it would be more systematically consolidated 
through research-based components in other subjects in the 
program.

References
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1990). Research on teaching 
and teacher research: The issues that divide. Educational 
Researcher, 19(2), 2-10.
Commonwealth Schools Commission and Commonwealth Tertiary 
Education Commission (1986). Improving teacher education: Report 
of the joint review of teacher education. Canberra: Schools 
Commission and CTEC.
Elliott, J. (1983). Paradigms of Educational Research and 
Theories of Schooling. Paper presented at the Sociology of 
Education Conference, Birmingham.
Green, K. & Kvidahl, R. (1989).Teachers as researchers: Training, 
attitudes, and performance. Paper presented at the annual meeting 
of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.
Green, K. & Kvidahl, R. (1990). Research methods courses and 
post-Bachelor's education: Effects on teachers' research use and 
opinions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American 
Educational Research Association, Boston.
Holly, P. & Southworth, G. (1990). The developing school. London: 
The Falmer Press.
Holmes Group. (1986). Tomorrow's schools. East Lansing, MI: 
Author.

Jacullo-Noto, J. (1992, April). Action research and school 
restructuring: The lessons learned. Paper presented at the annual 
meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San 
Francisco.
Kleinfeld, J. (1991). Changes in problem solving abilities of 
students taught through case methods. Paper presented at the 
annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, 
Chicago.
Lieberman, A. (Ed.). (1988). Building a professional culture in 
schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
Lieberman, A. & Miller, L. (1990). Teacher development in 
professional practice schools. Teachers College Record, 92(1), 
105-122.
Neubert, G. & Binko, J. (1986). Teach-Probe-Revise: A Model for 
Initiating Classroom Research. Teacher Educator, 22 (1), 9-17.
NSW Ministerial Advisory Council (1994). Desirable attributes of 
beginning teachers. Sydney: NSW Ministry of Education, Training 
and Youth Affairs.
Oja, S. N. & Smulyan, L. (1989). Collaborative action research: A 
developmental approach. Philadelphia: The Falmer Press.
Sagor, R. D. (1992, April). Collaborative action research: A 
cultural mechanism for school development and professional 
restructuring. Paper presented at the College and University 
Faculty Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies 
Annual Meeting, New York.
Schools and Curriculum Policy Branch, Commonwealth Department of 
Employment, Education and Training (1991). The views of teachers 
on the profession and professional development. Canberra: AGPS.
Smagorinsky, P. & Jordahl, A. (1991). The student 
teacher/cooperating teacher collaborative study: A new source of 
knowledge. English Education, 23 (1), 54-59.
Vonk, H.C. & Van Helden, H.J. (Eds.) (1992). New prospects for 
teacher education in Europe: A symposium report. Amsterdam-
Brussels: Association for teacher education in Europe.


Appendix A: Inquiry/Research Inventory 

INQUIRY / RESEARCH SKILL
1. DEFINING THE PROBLEMa. Problem Definitionb. Negotiation of the 
research question(s)c. Inquiry into the nature of the major 
varieties of research and then application

2. INFORMATION LOCATION 
& LIBRARY SKILLSa. Developing library research skillsb. 
Understanding & accessing research literaturec.  Referencing via 
the electronic indexes/CD Roms:
     ERIC, AEI & CARL (UNCOVER)

3. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT:a.   Range of inquiry paradigmsb.   Designing 
Researchc.   Ideology & Types of Researchd.  Qualitative 
Researche.  Quantitative Researchf.   Action Researchg.  
Designing & Planning a Project h.  Planning a Research Timelinei.   
Ethics in inquiryj.   Validity and Reliabilityk.  Ethics 
Committee expectations

4. DATA GATHERING SKILLSa.   Overview of Instruments and 
Instrumentationb.   Developing research Questionsc.   Hypothesis 
Testingc.   Identifying & Labelling Variablesd.   Sampling and 
Samplese  . Defining, manipulating & controlling variablesf.   
Ethnographic & Participant Observationg.   Interviewingh.  Survey 
/questionnaire designi.   Data gathering with Video & Audioj.   
Structured Observationk.  Archives & Work Samplesl.   Classroom 
Teacher as Participant Observerm. Journal & Diary Writing



5. DATA ORGANISATION  & ANALYSISa.  Data organisationb.  Data 
classificationc.  Categorisationd.  Choosing applicable 
statistical analysis to     determine statistical validitye.  
Correctional design & analysisf.  Statsview & Spread Sheetg.  
Interpreting Statisticsh.  Graph Makingi.   Analysing Interview & 
Survey Dataj.   Evaluating The Analysis

6. THE WRITING PROCESSa.  Writing Stylesb.  Drafting and editing 
- bibliographic skillsc.  Word-processing and editingd.  
Integrating data into written reportse.  Report Writingf.  
Writing Research Proposals

7. PRESENTATION & COMMUNICATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGSa.  
Negotiation Skillsb.  Speaking & listeningc.  Seminar 
Presentationsd.  Critical Analysis & reflection - research 
seminar

8. GROUP WORK SKILLS IN JOINT INQUIRYa.  Articulating personal 
position (value of inquiry)b.  Collaborating in inquiry 
activitiesc.  Developing a commitment to Inquiry for teachers