Q Identifying a Research Problem Identify and reflect on a performance problem, an education or training issue, or an instructional design question in your workplace or a context with which you are familiar that you would like to study more deeply. The issue can be related to something you have observed in your practice, something you have read about in the news or in a professional journal, or anything you feel is of importance to the instructional design field as a whole. The issue should be manageable enough that, with a deeper look into the research literature, you will be able to identify the stakeholders that would be interested in the issue and propose a research-based solution to address the issue, as you would to these stakeholders. Review pages 6–11 in Conducting Research Literature Reviews for examples of the types of issues that can be addressed by reviewing the research literature. Note: Because you will build on this assignment throughout this course, you should select a topic that interests you and is related to an education, training, or human performance technology issue. For the Discussion, you will describe this issue and engage in a dialogue about it. To begin, think about how you would define the problem for your colleagues. How did you become interested in it? Why is it significant? With these thoughts in mind: By Day 3 Post a brief description of the issue or problem. Include a brief explanation of the background context of the situation. Based on what you have learned about the research process thus far, explain your rationale for why a solution to the problem might be found by reviewing the research literature. By Day 7 Read a selection of your colleagues' postings. Evaluate whether your colleagues' proposed research problems meet the following criteria: • Could the problem be investigated empirically? • Is the scope of the problem restricted enough? • Is the problem statement related to an instructional design (training, education, or human performance technology) context? Respond to two or more of your colleagues' postings. Offer any suggestions or feedback for clarifying your colleagues' research problems. Return to the Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Reflect on what you learned and/or any insights you gained, and how these insights will help you develop your problem statement. Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.