Cultivating Teacher-Researchers: Embedding Qualitative Inquiry in Undergraduate Elementary Education
Location
Preston 2
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Undergraduate research is a high-impact educational practice that highlights the importance of providing research experiences to students in all disciplines. However, the past experience reveals that it has been most widely used in quantitative science disciplines as opposed to qualitative majors (LEAP). In attempt to connect key concepts of elementary education to our students’ interests and questions, we created a series of opportunities that involve our students in the first steps of developing their identity of teachers as researchers through planning, implementing, and presenting their qualitative research to a community of educators. As juniors, in PLC groups, students develop a research question that they investigate in their field placement schools, collect and analyze data, read and review related literature, and present their findings at professional conferences. We organize a mini-conference open to the GCSU College of Education community where students present their studies and receive feedback from their peers and professors. Having processed feedback, they move to presentations at the state and regional levels. As a result of the experiences, students gain understanding of importance of research for teaching practice; learn to collaborate, and develop a sense of excitement of becoming a part of the profession and an advocate for their interests.
Keywords
Undergraduate research, Qualitative research, Teacher education, Professional identity
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Osobov, Olha and Waller, Stacy, "Cultivating Teacher-Researchers: Embedding Qualitative Inquiry in Undergraduate Elementary Education" (2026). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 34.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2026/2026/34
Cultivating Teacher-Researchers: Embedding Qualitative Inquiry in Undergraduate Elementary Education
Preston 2
Undergraduate research is a high-impact educational practice that highlights the importance of providing research experiences to students in all disciplines. However, the past experience reveals that it has been most widely used in quantitative science disciplines as opposed to qualitative majors (LEAP). In attempt to connect key concepts of elementary education to our students’ interests and questions, we created a series of opportunities that involve our students in the first steps of developing their identity of teachers as researchers through planning, implementing, and presenting their qualitative research to a community of educators. As juniors, in PLC groups, students develop a research question that they investigate in their field placement schools, collect and analyze data, read and review related literature, and present their findings at professional conferences. We organize a mini-conference open to the GCSU College of Education community where students present their studies and receive feedback from their peers and professors. Having processed feedback, they move to presentations at the state and regional levels. As a result of the experiences, students gain understanding of importance of research for teaching practice; learn to collaborate, and develop a sense of excitement of becoming a part of the profession and an advocate for their interests.
