Education research as a broad discipline has historically represented many subdisciplines seeking to answer various important questions, such as "how do people learn," "how do we create effective learning experiences for students," "how do we design effective schools and universities," and "how do we train effective teachers?" This book provides an overview of 50 years of education research (1970-2019) as well as future trajectories (2020) by providing decade-level snapshots of the most impactful research studies that were conducted in each subdiscipline across these years. Utilizing both quantitative bibliometric data and qualitative synthetic analysis, this book provides readers with an understanding of how education research has evolved over time and an understanding of how these trends may influence the ongoing work of education professionals.

Our purpose in this book is twofold. First, we introduce the basic skill set and knowledge base used by practicing instructional designers. We do this through chapters contributed by experts in the field who have either academic, research-based backgrounds, or practical, on-the-job experience (or both). Our goal is that students in introductory instructional design courses will be able to use this book as a guide for completing a basic instructional design project. We also hope the book is useful as a ready resource for more advanced students or others seeking to develop their instructional design knowledge and skills.

Advanced Writing focuses on the higher-level writing skills college students will use in their fields of study and future careers. Its authors employ a personable writing style and engaging instructional design to share their expertise. Unit 1 introduces discourse communities, the rhetorical situation, available writing tools, mindful writing, and the writing process. Students will master good grammar and mechanics and a more sophisticated, audience-oriented style including visual design and tables and figures. Unit 2 focuses on writing for academic audiences including finding and evaluating sources and discussing and citing sources. Students will define literature reviews and learn the steps of composing a literature review: taking notes, synthesizing, organizing, drafting, and revising. They will also learn how to create compelling proposals. In Unit 3, students will focus on writing for general audiences including applying for jobs and graduate schools and writing public texts such as emails, memos, social media posts, blogs, infographics, and opinion editorials. In the final chapter, they’ll learn how to create engaging oral and poster presentations.

Written by students for students, this book is a continually-evolving class project for students of educational technology, learning, and instructional design.

Writing in the Social Sciences is an advanced writing textbook that focuses on skills specific to careers in the social sciences. Its authors employ a personable writing style and engaging instructional design to share their expertise. Unit 1 introduces discourse communities, the rhetorical situation, available writing tools, mindful writing, and the writing process. Students will master good grammar and mechanics and a more sophisticated, audience-oriented style including visual design and tables and figures. Unit 2 focuses on writing for academic audiences including finding and evaluating sources and discussing and citing sources. Students will define literature reviews and learn the steps of composing a literature review: taking notes, synthesizing, organizing, drafting, and revising. They will also learn how to create compelling proposals. In Unit 3, students will focus on writing for general audiences including applying for jobs and graduate schools and writing public texts such as emails, memos, social media posts, blogs, infographics, and opinion editorials. In the final chapter, they’ll learn how to create engaging oral and poster presentations.

This book provides guidance on how to use the EdTech Books authoring platform.