Astronomy Education Research is a powerful tool in evaluating the quality of your current instruction, as well as in guiding your curriculum reform efforts. Research tools not only can offer insights into your students' opinions, but they can provide information on what your students have actually learned. The purpose of Astronomy Education Research is to introduce several research techniques (some borrowed from the physics education research community) that can help answer the questions you have about your course. The research also explores assessment and research topics generated by the tutorial participants.