An Introduction to Educational Research: Connecting Methods to Practice

Chad Lochmiller is currently an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2010 with a specialization in leadership, policy, and organizations. His research currently focuses on issues related to K-12 educational leadership. Broadly, his research explores how leaders develop capacity to effect positive changes in teaching and learning. His research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and in edited volumes. Furthermore, his teaching supports certification, masters, and doctoral students in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Jessica Lester is a Professor of Inquiry Methodology in the School of Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. Having been trained in cultural studies and qualitative research methodology, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to her scholarship, including both the methodological and substantive foci of her research program. In her methodological work, Lester focuses on the study of language-based methods, digital tools in qualitative research, and disability in qualitative inquiry. Her substantive research has focused on examining interactional practices in clinical and educational contexts that involve children and youth. Lester has received numerous awards for her scholarship, among them the 2014 AERA Division D Early Career Award in Measurement and Research Methodology, the 2018 APA Distinguished Early Career Contributions in Qualitative Inquiry Award, and the 2022 American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Book Award. At Indiana University, Lester teaches qualitative methods courses and was recently recognized by the 2022 Gorman Distinguished Teaching Award.