Under this menu header we provide a variety of resources which relate to the planning and design phase of your research. Each of the following links will lead to a database which assembles information for that specific theme within this research phase. The explanation given for each theme is meant to guide your research but also help you locate the appropriate database for your contributing records. In addition, for each theme we have a comment area where you can leave a note pertaining to a particular resource recorded in the database.

For instructions on how to enter a record into one of the databases listed below please see this page.

Measuring learning – resources that discuss how to assess rich learning outcomes in terms of performance, affect, metacognition, short and long term retention of knowledge and how to track the trajectory of knowledge acquisition.

Design experiments – where other researchers' findings are collated and distilled into best practice design of TEL systems - an engineering approach to system design.

Controlled evaluation – more traditional kinds of evaluation study where, say, learning from TEL systems is compared to traditional modes of learning and instruction.

System/Ablated system comparison – related to controlled evaluation but where an intelligent version of a system e.g. with learner help turned 'on' is compared with an 'ablated' version of system (help 'off') as an approach to assessing the efficacy of the learner support.

Literature review – resources to help organise and structure bibliographies, includes meta-analysis resources.

Groupware – multi-user software to support project teams in communication, scheduling, organising meetings, sharing documents, collaborative system development, etc.

Research ethics – wide topic that includes resources that address issues of capacity for informed consent, children and social networking, ethics of assigning learners to control groups rather than intervention groups.

Participant sampling – issues regarding the selection of learners to participate in TEL studies and evaluations - includes methods in which groups of learners are compared or whose learning is tracked and assessed as well as single learner studies.