For Dissertation Blog Post 4 please post your potential research design on your blog; please make sure your purpose and research questions are visible from your previous post (or please repost them). Please discuss briefly why you feel this design is most appropriate. Don't forget to include a link to your Dissertation Blog on the discussion board and let us know that you have posted your research design. Please also include whether this is a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods design.

A quasi-experimental explanatory sequential mixed methods design will be used, and it will involve collecting quantitative data first and then explaining the quantitative results with in-depth qualitative data. In the first, quantitative phase of the study, the School Engagement Scale will be collected from the third-graders at a Title I elementary school in metropolitan Atlanta to test the engagement theory to assess the effects of participation in BreakoutEDU activities on student engagement. Students will be given a post-test assessment for the 4 Cs of learning as well. The second, qualitative phase will be conducted as a follow-up to the quantitative collection to help explain the quantitative results. In this explanatory follow-up, the tentative plan is to explain the engagement triggers that lead to the acquisition of the 4 Cs of learning with third-grade students at a Title I elementary school in metropolitan Atlanta. A purposive selected focus group of students that participated in the breakout activities and showed high engagement on the School Engagement Scale will be used for the qualitative follow up.

I think this method gives depth to the quantitative results of engagement. Engagement can have a confounding variable of motivation but possibly through the focus group interview the triggers for engagement will give a greater understanding of how students stay engaged to acquire the 4Cs. 

Purpose Statement and Research Questions
The purpose of this mixed methods study is threefold: to (a) determine what effect participation in Breakout EDU activities has on student engagement and the acquisition of the 4Cs of learning, (i.e., creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking), (b) understand the engagement triggers students experience during the Breakout EDU activities, and (c) to determine how the engagement triggers help explain their acquisition of the 4Cs for third-grade students in a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta.

Research Questions
1. What is the effect of participation in Breakout EDU activities on student engagement, as measured on the School Engagement Scale, for third-grade students in a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta ?
2. What is the effect of participation in Breakout EDU activities on the acquisition of the 4Cs of learning for third-grade students in a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta?
3. What are the engagement triggers from Breakout EDU activities for third-grade students at a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta?
4. How do third-grade engagement triggers from Breakout EDU activities help explain the acquisition of the 4Cs?

My plan is to conduct a mixed methods research study so the questions hopefully reflect both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Purpose Statement:
The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of participation in BreakoutEDU activities on student motivation and the acquisition of the 4Cs of learning, (creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking) and to understand what about the activities motivates the students. The 4Cs of learning are considered a part of the twenty-first century learning skills that are needed for students to be successful for the workforce of the 21st century. 

Research Questions:
1. How does participation in BreakoutEDU activities relate to student motivation for first and third grade students in a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta?
2. How does participation in BreakoutEDU activities relate to student engagement for first and third grade students in a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta?
3. How does participation in BreakoutEDU activities relate to the acquisition of the 4Cs of learning for first and third grade students in a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta?
4. What is the motivational trigger from BreakoutEDU activities for first and third grade students at a Title I elementary school in metro Atlanta?