Mixed Research and Online Learning: Strategies for Improvement

As online education continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the nuances of online learning. However, to date, research on online learning has largely been characterized as being low quality. To increase the quality and promote rigor in online education research, researchers are beginning to argue for the importance of using mixed research. Yet, to date, very little mixed research has been conducted in the area of online learning. Further, the little “mixed” research that has been conducted suffers from a host of problems. Researchers need to be aware of the complexities of conducting mixed research and some of the issues that can be overlooked. This chapter focuses on some important steps and key considerations that researchers of online learning must make when conducting mixed research, in hopes to increase the rigor and quality of online learning research studies.