"Thank you, Donna, for your thoughtful feedback. By the phrase "explicit topics at hand" I mean the curriculum specific to the course itself. In other words, if it is a digital photography course, then the topic at hand is photography -independent of the methods used to teach photography and independent of whether or not the course is open or closed. I also appreciate your observation about the varied research questions. I'll need to think this through further, but I can certainly see the value in limiting the focus of the study. Again, thanks for your feedback." - Darren Draper