Sometimes the most difficult aspect of academic research is coming up with a topic. Most instructors at the graduate level will set the initial range for your research topics, but you decide the specific focus of your research.

Here are a few general tips to help you develop a topic:

1) Look at the course lecture notes - is there anything that interests you and that you can relate back to a situation or trend in your classroom, library, or school?

2) Look at your textbook - examine the chapter headings and subheadings in the table of contents. Does anything catch you eye?

3)This website http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/intro/introknw.html may give you some ideas for topics. Try a Google search using "educational psychology" or "educational psychology topics" to search for other useful sites.

4) Does your school subscribe to any educational psychology journals? If so browse the table of contents. You can also use Journal Finder (see Unit 3) to browse online journals.

5) Is your class using the discussion board in BlackBoard? If so, browse through the postings and see if anything sparks your interest.