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Choosing a Dissertation Topic on Education

Choosing your dissertation topic is a critical part of the project process. You must choose effectively using a number of important qualifiers to determine the feasibility of completing a strong piece using each potential topic.

In Education, it is extremely important that you choose a topic that will speak to you overall career goals – and specifically relates to you as an educator.

As you decide, consider the list below to help you narrow your options.

Choosing an Education Dissertation Topic

  • Consider Interest: Above all, your topic MUST interest you. For such a large project – one that will possibly take over a year – you must have a focus that will keep you engaged. If you are going to lose interest within a few days of research, it is best to scrap that topic and pick another.
  • Tip: Some students try to pick “easy” topics that have many, many resources available. This is counterintuitive for such a large project. These common topics are often harder – especially if they are so tired that they will bore the reader and researcher alike.
  • Consider sources: Much like picking “easy” topics is inadvisable, it is also important you don’t choose something too obscure. If there is no information available, it will be really hard to complete the research necessary to balance your own data. Pick another topic instead.
  • Consider usefulness: Is the topic going to provide useful information to the field of education? If so, can you use it in your own career as an educator? While it isn’t necessary that you use it in your career, that can be a good idea to enhance both your education and your professional career. And it is important that there be a need for the information you are providing. If it isn’t useful, your audience will get lost fast.
  • Review: If you’re unsure about your topic, consider discussing your options with others. Peers are a good group to bounce ideas off of – as are former graduates. For more confirmation, you can also schedule a meeting with a professor you trust or an academic advisor from your department. With history advising students on the best options for their dissertations, contacts at the school are a good place to start.

Regardless of how you come to decide which topic is the best one for your dissertation, it is important that you find the right one for your needs. If you choose a compelling, interesting subject, it will be that much easier to get your points across – and apply it in your own career as a talking point and issue for further study.

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