A Method for Transforming a Broad Topic to a Focused Topic for Developing Research Questions

In this research-to-practice full paper, the results of an approach for transforming topic ideas into questions for developing research questions are presented. The first step in developing research questions is identifying an interesting topic. Once a topic is identified, the next challenge is to narrow the focus by formulating and asking questions that, when answered, will provide more depth to the topic. For the novice researcher, articulating what needs to be learned about a topic and what the reader should understand about the topic can be challenging. The purpose of this study is to assess students' perception of a method that is designed to challenge students to ask critical questions of their research topics to better understand what they know about the topic; what remains to be known and what their target audience should understand about the topic as a result of the research. An activity worksheet was designed to facilitate critical thinking about the process of questioning and posing questions as part of the developing research questions process. Students were asked to complete the worksheet then provide feedback on the usability of the activity worksheet. This work aims to answer the following research question, "How do students perceive the usability of the activity worksheet method for developing and evaluating questions about topic ideas?" The activity worksheet was completed by a 43 students across two sections of an undergraduate data visualization course in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University. After completing the worksheet students were asked to provide feedback on the usability of the worksheet, using a 5-point Likert scale: "1 - Strongly disagree," "2 - Disagree," "3 - Neutral," "4 - Agree," and "5 - Strongly Agree." Students' overall perception of the worksheet approach was favorable/positive. The implications of this work will help students build skills in questioning and posing questions. This research is significant because it helps students answer critical questions about their topic, and further clarify the significance of a topic beyond their own interests. The contribution of this work is in helping students pose questions and ask questions that will strengthen their critical thinking skills in the practice of engineering and computer science.