This is the first of two courses in research methods aimed at providing opportunities for students to improve their research skills. The course will expose students to the theories that underpin the quantitative research paradigm. It aims at the development of the knowledge and skills of students to enable them conduct a variety of quantitative studies aimed at improving teaching and learning of science in schools and other educational settings. It is expected that at the end of the course students will write a research proposal for a study that could be the focus of their thesis. Topics to be covered include: Realism, subjectivism and the ‘paradigm wars’; Post-positivism, experiential realism and pragmatism; Sampling techniques; Various quantitative research designs, development of instruments, reliability and validity of instruments; Internal and external validity; Parametric statistics such as the t-test, one-way and two-way ANOVA, the F-distribution, correlation and simple regression analysis, used for hypothesis testing, will be applied in the course; Non parametric statistical tests such as, chi-square and the Mann-Whitney U-test will also be applied. The rationale for using these various statistics and the assumptions underlying their use will be a critical focus of this course.