Investigating learning in educational contexts: methodological challenges and potential solutions in the field of mind, brain and education

Mind, brain and education (MBE) is a transdisciplinary field aiming at better understanding learning and at providing a grounding of education in research. Some challenges persist, such as increased time commitments, training needs, ethical, and logistical considerations. Addressing these challenges is essential to avoid the threat of implementing new practices without a clear understanding of theory, or of educational contexts. This paper proposes five main solutions to these challenges, corresponding to Pedaste et al.'s (2015) five phases of inquiry-based learning: Orientation: Co-creating glossaries to share common vocabulary, knowledge and theory; Conceptualization: Co-defining research questions; Investigation: Building an institutional research culture, evaluating the project's ecological validity and context; Conclusion: Reviewing theories; Discussion: Sharing successes and challenges. Exploring methodological and epistemological assumptions is essential to work through these solutions. It is hoped that this paper will support the development of projects that have the potential to inform practice in naturalistic educational contexts.