Annotated Table of Contents: Professional Research

Teaching English, How To.... by Raymond Stopper

Part One: Teaching English

Chapter 3: Professional Research: How can teachers use professional research? The value of professional research depends on what readers want to do with it. If they want definite answers to their questions about teaching, I'm afraid professional research in education won't help much. In my experience, most educational research is essentially inconclusive, with findings expressed as "indicates" and "suggests." Therefore, educational research used as a political device to support certain points of view must be read critically. However, if teachers are looking for ideas that help to answer questions about teaching, published research is a treasure trove. And conducting research in the classroom can help to answer questions about the effectiveness of teaching methods.