Research Topics on Education: Four Child-Centered Examples

One of the common concerns of graduate students is finding topics relevant to their field of specialization. If you are a graduate student of education, here are examples of research topics on education that you might want to focus on as your research topic.

I prepared this list based on my observations and experience. Also, I wrote these research topics on education issues in response to graduate students taking up my advanced statistics class who need my guidance on what questions to ask. Now I have a published list that I can refer to them to jumpstart their research venture.

As a well-founded institution that drives the economy, the educational sector keeps evolving through the years as society changes with advanced technology and innovations. Together with these advancements arise new opportunities as well as challenges that confront educators and educational administrators.

Research as a Tool for Solving Problems

It is widely recognized among administrators that research is invaluable in developing solutions to issues and problems that confront their schools. Using the systematic and rigorous investigation approach, new themes, ideas, and perspectives emerge that shape educational institutions’ management.

Given this scenario, what are some of the issues and concerns confronting the educational sector? Despite technological advances, there appear to be still unaddressed problems that affect children. Child-centered education brings into focus research topics in education that you, as a graduate student taking up advanced education courses, or perhaps as a school administrator, can focus on.

Here are four examples of research topics on education that you may explore. The list focuses on children as vulnerable members of society.

Four Child-Centered Research Topics on Education

1. How children react to loss of parental care

There are many instances in which children have to cope with the loss of parental care due to their mothers’ death, separation of parents, and a parent’s assignment to distant places. This situation means that the child no longer receives affection as an expression of love by a parent, especially a mother. Love shapes a baby’s brain (Gerhardt, 2006). This feeling of loss is generalized as grief.

Although it is easy for adults to adjust to such circumstances, questions arise about whether children can cope. What questions can be asked to find out answers to this concern?

I list some of the research questions on this topic below.

Example Research Questions:

• What are the causes of grief among children?
• How do babies express their grief?
• How does grief affect children in various developmental stages?
• How do children cope up with the loss of a loved one?
• Is there a difference in the behavior of children who lost their mothers compared to those who did not?
• Is there a difference between the loss of a mother or a father?

2. Early childhood development

Nowadays, there are so many stresses and changes in the environment that could threaten or influence children’s normal development. Mothers, while undergoing pregnancy, get subjected to stresses around them. A polluted environment, stressful work, and unhealthy food may pose undue harm to the developing offspring.

New mothers are particularly very much concerned about the development of their children. As children grow and deviate a little from the average growth and development pattern of children, questions arise in their heads whether their children need special care.

What are the questions mothers ask regarding childhood development? I list the following questions on child development that research could help shed light on.

Example Research Questions

• What are the early warning signs of abnormality among toddlers?
• Which intervention works best in addressing a specific type of abnormal behavior among small children (e.g., inability to speak, inability to crawl, losing eye contact, failure to respond to sound)
• Is there a relationship between frequency and duration of parent contact and child development?
• How do mothers respond to signs of abnormality in their children?

3. Classroom and learning

The environment where learning takes place facilitates brain development (Jackson and Tester, 2008).

Intelligence cannot be attributed only to genes but also the surrounding environment. In educating children, the learning environment can play a significant role in shaping growing children’s minds. Classroom design is one such concern.

Research topics on education that focus on classroom design generate questions like the ones I enumerate below.

Example Research Questions

• General Question: Does classroom design affect children behavior?
• What are the development needs of children that can be addressed by classroom design?
• How can classroom designs be made more stimulating to children?
• Is there a relationship between classroom design and the number of uneasy children?
• How do placements of play structures influence children behavior?

4. Socialization among children

With the internet preponderance nowadays, children become more engrossed in their laptops or desktop computers as part of their socialization activities. They now have more friends on the internet than in real life. Teenagers, in particular, are beset by this problem. Since they spend most of their time in front of computer screens, they were referred to as the “screenagers.”

There have been increased concerns about children being unable to socialize effectively with real persons due to too much “socialization” online. This condition also exposes them to grave abuse as a result of their online ventures.

Example Research Questions

• Is there a relationship between the frequency and duration of online activity among children and study time?
• Is there relationship between age and the type of online material visited by children?
• How do children respond to strangers requesting details about them?
• Is there a relationship between children’s irritability and intensity of computer use?
• What factors influence the time devoted by children to online activity?

These research topics on education issues will enable you to get started on your research endeavor along the field of education. If you want to explore other research topics on child-centered education, you might want to try other means, such as brainstorming. 

I hope you find the list helpful in your quest for a better life for children you mentor. Undoubtedly, the parents will be glad that their children were well taken cared of.

Reference:

Gerhardt, S. (2006). Why love matters: How affection shapes a baby’s brain. Infant Observation, 9(3), 305-309.

Jackson, R. J., & Tester, J. (2008). Environment shapes health, including children’s mental health. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(2), 129-131.

© 2013 July 30 P. A. Regoniel
Updated: 1 November 2020

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