Planning and managing your research project
It is useful to have a plan for your project from the outset. Using a month by month planning calendar can help manage the research and ensure all the deadlines and targets are met. The schools that took part in the NFER study used calendars to plan their research projects, listing key milestones and the activities that they needed to carry out in order to meet their goals.
When teachers get involved in research within their school, they do so alongside their teaching duties. During the course of a research project it can be hard to keep track of all the questions, ideas and thoughts that occur to you outside the research meetings. Keeping a reflective research journal can be great way of recording these. For example, this could include entries in the form of notes from interesting articles or books you have read, notes from conferences you have attended, diagrams, questions that arise during meetings with colleagues and your thoughts after conducting interviews with research participants.
- Have you planned a timeline for your research?
- What are the key milestones for your project?
- How will you manage the research process?
- How will you keep note of the ideas and decisions that occur?
- What support do you think you will need?
