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2025-2026 / ZENS0084-1

Introduction to research in education and teaching methodology

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Master of education, Section 4: Chemistry5 crédits 

Lecturer

Marie Housen, Mickaël Idrac, Doriane Jaegers, Pierre Lerusse, Vincent Natalis, Grégory Voz, Christophe Winkin

Coordinator

Vincent Natalis

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Teaching is not limited to imparting knowledge: it also involves questioning one's practices, drawing on research findings and, in some cases, contributing to research in order to develop more contextualised responses to certain educational challenges. In an ever-changing school environment, this ability to draw on research is an essential part of a teacher's professional identity. As Bressoux (2017) points out, this link must be established from the outset of initial training (and continued throughout the career) in order to give teachers the means to critically examine studies and research findings and assess their relevance to their own practices.

It is in this context that the decree of 7 February 2019 on initial teacher training was issued. This decree reinforced the place of educational research in the curriculum. It specifies that training must enable students to 'develop a reflective attitude' and to 'draw on research to analyse and develop their practices' (Art. 5) . It also provides for a specific focus on 'research in education and teaching' (Art. 19).

Within this framework, this course serves as an introduction to the culture of research in education and subject-specific teaching. It has four objectives:

  • To identify the essential elements of the scientific research process.
  • To introduce students to documentary research.
  • To read scientific articles in the field of education and teaching critically.
  • To identify and articulate the components of scientific research (research question, data collection, corpus construction, analytical framework, methods, data analysis).
Research is therefore not approached as an external activity or one reserved for specialists, but as a component of teaching practice that provides a better understanding of what is at stake in educational situations. It helps to foster a reflective and critical stance by distancing oneself from certain professional assumptions (Kahn et al., 2018). By drawing on a variety of approaches, both qualitative and quantitative (Creswell & Guetterman, 2025; Fortin & Gagnon, 2022; Hascoët et al., 2024), research thus constitutes a lever for learning and professional development for future teachers.
In concrete terms, the course offers a progressive and experiential approach that leads to:

  • Introduce the student to the key concepts of a research approach (research issues, questions and hypotheses);
  • Familiarize the student with the writings, methodological approaches and objects of research in education and disciplinary or general didactics;
  • Accompany the student in documentary research, critical reading and understanding of scientific texts;
  • Present the various methods of data collection or choice of corpora, their scientific and practical advantages and disadvantages;
  • Introduce students to the fundamentals of data analysis, both quantitative and qualitative;
  • To introduce students to the research methods and questions specific to their disciplinary didactics;
  • Equip students with scientific writing.
This course is thus part of the perspective, supported by the scientific literature and by the RFIE decree, according to which the professional identity of teachers is built and strengthened when it integrates a reflective and research posture. It aims to enable each student to become not only a critical reader of scientific results, but also a reflective practitioner capable of actively contributing to a learning organization.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Read, analyse and relate the scientific literature in education and/or disciplinary didactics with one's professional practice;
  • Formulate a relevant research question from the scientific literature, articulate it with an appropriate theoretical framework and methodology, and relate these elements to data to be analyzed.
These achievements aim at the gradual entry into a research culture: the challenge is for each student to discover the value of research as a lever for professionalization and to begin a path that will continue in the realization of the dissertation.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

There are no administrative requirements to take this course. However, it is recommended that you have acquired:

  • skills in reading and comprehension of scientific texts in French, and openness to reading in English;
  • writing and written argumentation skills;
  • intellectual curiosity and a disposition to reflect on one's professional practice.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

  • Lectures.
  • Readings of scientific articles.
  • Training.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

Face-to-face, with the integration of digital tools (eCampus platform) for the provision of resources, the submission of work and the support of individual productions.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
- MyULiège


Further information:

  • Course notes available on eCampus.
  • Scientific articles in education and didactics.
  • Reference works in educational research methodology.

Written work / report


Further information:

* Individual work : dissertation project including:

  • a contextualized problem and a precisely formulated research question,
  • an initial theoretical framework articulated to the question,
  • a justified methodological proposal,
  • a scientific bibliography.
More precise instructions will be posted on eCampus.

* Participation in all seminars: a necessary condition for the award of the grade ("green light") (details will be provided on this subject during the course).

Work placement(s)

Not applicable.

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Course co-organized by pedagogues, sociologists and didacticians

Contacts

Coordinator

Vincent Natalis : vincent.natalis@uliege.be 

Teachers

Pierre Lerusse : Pierre.Lerusse@uliege.be

Grégory Voz : G.Voz@uliege.be

Christophe Winkin : Christophe.Winkin@uliege.be

Doriane Jaegers : djaegers@uliege.be 

Marie Housen : marie.housen@uliege.be 

Mickaël Idrac : midrac@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs