Research Topics & Ideas: Education

170+ Research Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

If you’re just starting out exploring education-related topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research topic ideation process by providing a hearty list of research topics and ideas, including examples from actual dissertations and theses..

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point. To develop a suitable education-related research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap, and a viable plan of action to fill that gap.

If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service.

Education-Related Research Topics & Ideas

Below you’ll find a list of education-related research topics and idea kickstarters. These are fairly broad and flexible to various contexts, so keep in mind that you will need to refine them a little. Nevertheless, they should inspire some ideas for your project.

1. The impact of school funding on student achievement
2. The effects of social and emotional learning on student well-being
3. The effects of parental involvement on student behaviour
4. The impact of teacher training on student learning
5. The impact of classroom design on student learning
6. The impact of poverty on education
7. The use of student data to inform instruction
8. The role of parental involvement in education
9. The effects of mindfulness practices in the classroom
10. The use of technology in the classroom
11. The role of critical thinking in education
12. The use of formative and summative assessments in the classroom
13. The use of differentiated instruction in the classroom
14. The use of gamification in education
15. The effects of teacher burnout on student learning
16. The impact of school leadership on student achievement
17. The effects of teacher diversity on student outcomes
18. The role of teacher collaboration in improving student outcomes
19. The implementation of blended and online learning
20. The effects of teacher accountability on student achievement
21. The effects of teacher burnout on student learning
22. The use of technology in the classroom
23. The effects of standardized testing on student learning
24. The use of formative and summative assessments in the classroom
25. The effects of classroom management on student behaviour
26. The effects of standardized testing on student learning
27. The impact of poverty on education
28. The effects of school culture on student achievement
29. The use of student-centred learning in the classroom
30. The effects of teacher diversity on student outcomes
31. The impact of teacher-student relationships on student outcomes
32. The achievement gap in minority and low-income students
33. The use of culturally responsive teaching in the classroom
34. The impact of teacher professional development on student learning
35. The role of parental involvement in education
36. The impact of school funding on student achievement
37. The use of project-based learning in the classroom
38. The effects of teacher expectations on student achievement
39. The use of adaptive learning technology in the classroom
40. The impact of teacher turnover on student learning
41. The effects of teacher recruitment and retention on student learning
42. The impact of early childhood education on later academic success
43. The achievement gap in minority and low-income students
44. The impact of parental involvement on student engagement
45. The implementation of blended and online learning
46. The use of positive reinforcement in education
47. The impact of school climate on student engagement
48. The role of STEM education in preparing students for the workforce
49. The effects of school choice on student achievement
50. The use of technology in the form of online tutoring

Level-Specific Research Topics

Looking for research topics for a specific level of education? We’ve got you covered. Below you can find research topic ideas for primary, secondary and tertiary-level education contexts. Click the relevant level to view the respective list.

Education-Related Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic in education, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses in the education space to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of education-related research projects to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• From Rural to Urban: Education Conditions of Migrant Children in China (Wang, 2019)
• Energy Renovation While Learning English: A Guidebook for Elementary ESL Teachers (Yang, 2019)
• A Reanalyses of Intercorrelational Matrices of Visual and Verbal Learners’ Abilities, Cognitive Styles, and Learning Preferences (Fox, 2020)
• A study of the elementary math program utilized by a mid-Missouri school district (Barabas, 2020)
• Instructor formative assessment practices in virtual learning environments : a posthumanist sociomaterial perspective (Burcks, 2019)
• Higher education students services: a qualitative study of two mid-size universities’ direct exchange programs (Kinde, 2020)
• Exploring editorial leadership : a qualitative study of scholastic journalism advisers teaching leadership in Missouri secondary schools (Lewis, 2020)
• Selling the virtual university: a multimodal discourse analysis of marketing for online learning (Ludwig, 2020)
• Advocacy and accountability in school counselling: assessing the use of data as related to professional self-efficacy (Matthews, 2020)
• The use of an application screening assessment as a predictor of teaching retention at a midwestern, K-12, public school district (Scarbrough, 2020)
• Core values driving sustained elite performance cultures (Beiner, 2020)
• Educative features of upper elementary Eureka math curriculum (Dwiggins, 2020)
• How female principals nurture adult learning opportunities in successful high schools with challenging student demographics (Woodward, 2020)
• The disproportionality of Black Males in Special Education: A Case Study Analysis of Educator Perceptions in a Southeastern Urban High School (McCrae, 2021)

As you can see, these research topics are a lot more focused than the generic topic ideas we presented earlier. So, in order for you to develop a high-quality research topic, you’ll need to get specific and laser-focused on a specific context with specific variables of interest.  In the video below, we explore some other important things you’ll need to consider when crafting your research topic.

Still stuck?

If you’re still unsure about how to find a quality research topic within education, check out our 1-on-1 coaching services, where we hold your hand through the topic ideation and refinement process, step by step.