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Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in STEM
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in STEM

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3.1 Aim of the inquiry

You will need a single aim that is the intended outcome of your inquiry and one or more research questions that will help towards achieving the aim.

The term ‘research aim’ expresses what you are trying to achieve in the context of the inquiry. The aim identifies the intended outcome of your inquiry and is strictly aligned to what you are trying to achieve in the context of your inquiry. Aims are most likely to be described in terms such as (The Open University, 2021):

  • proposing a method to improve the process of …
  • proposing a solution to the problem of …
  • producing recommendations for the implementation of …
  • formulating a plan for the introduction of …
  • identifying the constraints in …

You should be wary of proposing an aim that is either vague or has no tangible outcome, such as:

  • exploring the proposition that …
  • investigating the occurrence of …
  • challenging the paradigm of …
  • finding out all there is to know about …

Once you have formulated the aim, it is time to think of the question(s) that will help achieve the aim.