Action research in a collective organisation:Developing an education programme in a pressure group

The aim of this project was to develop the education work of an environmental pressure group. The research devised and implemented a project to produce multi-media teaching packs on the urban environment. Whilst this involved understanding environmental education it was necessary to research beyond this to include the various structural and dynamic constraints on change in the field. This presented a number of methodological difficulties; from the resolution of which a model of the research process involved in this project has been developed. It is argued that research oriented towards practical change requires the insights of an experienced practitioner to be combined with the rigours of controlled systematic enquiry. Together these function as a model-building process encompassing intuition, induction and deduction. Model testing is carried out through repeated intervention in the field; thus an interplay between researcher and client ensues such that the project develops in a mutually acceptable direction. In practice, this development will be both unpredictable and erratic. Although the conclusions reached here are based on a single case study they address general methodological issues likely to be encountered in different field settings concerned with different practical problems.

Software and Services − Research and Education in Bulgaria

Доклад по покана, поместен в сборника на Националната конференция "Образованието в информационното общество", Пловдив, май, 2010 г.

Kérdőjelek a közgazdaságtanban és oktatásában = Challenges in economic research and education

Ez az esszé a teljesség igénye nélkül kísérli meg áttekinteni azt, hogy mire vezetett a közgazdaságtan világméretekben megindult és a 2008-2009. évi válság lezáratlansága miatt vélhetően évtizedes szinten zajló önvizsgálata. A tudományszak egészét egyszerre jellemzi egyfajta tartalmi kiüresedés és a társtudományokkal való erőteljesebb kapcsolatkeresés, a módszertanok és az iskolák egymás mellett élése - ami egyáltalán nem békés -, valamint a gyakorlat által felvetett kérdések elméleti általánosításának igénye. A magyar közgazdaságtan hagyományos követő szerepe megmaradt, viszont a képzésben szerzett negyedszázados tapasztalatok és az új globális kihívások lényegi átalakításokat indokolnának a mai, túlságosan egységesített képzésben. _____ This essay joins the soul-searching that has developed globally among economists since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, whose still open-ended outcomes make it likely that such self-critical reassessments will continue in the years to come. Economics is marked by the parallel existence of substantive hollowing and in-creased reliance on interfaces with neighbouring disciplines. So the plurality and none-too-peaceful coexistence of schools and methodologies is likely to persist. Similarly abundant are the attempts to theorize and generalize new phenomena in policy and business practices. Hungarian economics continues to be a follower - a trend-taker rather than trend-setter - as it was in the inter-war period. Experience has been accumulating for over 25 years in introducing Western-style higher education in economics. The increase of student numbers and steep decrease in public funding thereof call for major restructuring in curricula, institutions and teaching methods and styles alike.

What is research in statistics education?

The history and current nature of research in statistics education are outlined and some suggestions for its future direction are made. It is claimed that research in statistics education is a research discipline in its own right.

Memorandum of Understanding between Universidad de Cuenca and Chair of Hydroinformatics of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education Delft, The Netherlands on Collaboration in Education and Research

English

Research, STEM Education, & Native American Programs in Montana

Oscillating electroosmotic flows in microchannels can be used as a separating mechanism for biological species. This MEMS related work specifically studies the separation of different sized DNA on the microscale as a pre-cursor to lab on a chip systems. In addition to this research, Dr. Thomas will present programs and activities that enable Native American students to obtain their STEM degrees. This involves working with middle school through graduate students at the 4 year institutions, Tribal colleges, and K-12 schools in Montana.

The use of digital educational resources : the contribution of research in the supervised teaching practice in basic education

This article aims to reflect on the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the educational context, focusing on the potential contributions of the use of Digital Educational Resources (RED) in the process of teaching and learning. For this purpose, the results of the use of the RED will be presented:. Digital Classroom - The World's 1st Year Carochinha The study was accomplished in a class of the 1st grade of the 1st CEB, composed of 27 students, aged 6-7 years in Castelo Branco City Schools Group within the Supervised Teaching Practice. The results obtained after the analysis and processing of the data showed that when using this RED students show they have acquired the content covered by the fact that they enhanced levels of greater interest, commitment, motivation, commitment and initiative in the course of activities proposals. But, perhaps because they are students of 1st year of the 1st CEB, do not neglect the presence and monitoring of the teacher and the use of paper-based resources. This means that there should be a complementarity that reconciles the human factor (teacher), with the use of digital media resources and paper support resources (Manual).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ARTS IN EDUCATION RESEARCH PROJECT

Since 1999, the South Carolina Arts Commission, the South Carolina Department of Education, and later the Arts in Basic Curriculum Project (ABC) have co-sponsored the Arts Education Research Project to track the progress and effects of arts education reform efforts in various ABC schools across the state. This report addresses the specific purposes of the Arts Education Research Project which were to (a) document the arts instruction in place prior to reform implementation, (b) determine the effects of increased, modified, or integrated arts instruction, and (c) identify potential influences that promote, inhibit, or sustain changes in schools that implemented arts reform.

Competencies Required in Education Research and Teaching Systematization according to Students from the Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education Programs of the University of Costa Rica

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of two online forums carried out with the participation of 42 students of the Licenciaturas  in Preschool Education, Primary Education and Secondary Education of the University of Costa Rica. The main purpose of the forums was to determine the insights of the participant students about the competencies they have achieved in the field of education research, and which have been the essential tools for them to systematize their own teaching practices. The discussion forums were part of the course FD5091 Métodos de Investigación Educativa [Education Research Methods] of the School of Teacher Education, delivered from March-April 2010.  Of the sample, 60 percent were students of the Preschool teaching program, 35 percent were from the Primary Education teaching program and 5 percent were from the Secondary Education teaching program in the fields of Science, Mathematics and Social Studies. According to the insights and beliefs showed by the participants –both, the future teachers and the profession practitioners–, there are no opportunities for research or systematization of their own teaching mediation, in the current work situation.(1) Translator’s Note: In Costa Rica, the “Licenciatura” is a one-year post-Bachelor study program, usually including thesis. “Primary Education” refers to students from the 1st to 6th grades, and “Secondary Education” refers to students from the 7th to 11th grades.

Annual Review : practice and research in career counseling and development – 2008

The career development literature published in 2008 is summarized and presented thematically: (a) professional issues, (b) career assessment, (c) career development, (d) career theory and concepts, (e) career interventions, (f) advances in technology, (g) employment, (h) international perspectives, and (i) research design and methodology. Traditional and emerging theories and practices are robust and vibrant.

Assessment and curriculum reform in China : the college English test and tertiary English as a foreign language education.

Educational assessment was a worldwide commonplace practice in the last century. With the theoretical underpinnings of education shifting from behaviourism and social efficiency to constructivism and cognitive theories in the past two decades, the assessment theories and practices show a widespread changing movement. The emergent assessment paradigm, with a futurist perspective, indicates a deviation away from the prevailing large scale high-stakes standardised testing and an inclination towards classroom-based formative assessment. Innovations and reforms initiated in attempts to achieve better education outcomes for a sustainable future via more developed learning and assessment theories have included the 2007 College English Reform Program (CERP) in Chinese higher education context. This paper focuses on the College English Test (CET) - the national English as a Foreign Language (EFL) testing system for non-English majors at tertiary level in China. It seeks to explore the roles that the CET played in the past two College English curriculum reforms, and the new role that testing and assessment assumed in the newly launched reform. The paper holds that the CET was operationalised to uplift the standards. However, the extended use of this standardised testing system brings constraints as well as negative washback effects on the tertiary EFL education. Therefore in the newly launched reform -CERP, a new assessment model which combines summative and formative assessment approaches is proposed. The testing and assessment, assumed a new role - to engender desirable education outcomes. The question asked is: will the mixed approach to formative and summative assessment provide the intended cure to the agony that tertiary EFL education in China has long been suffering - spending much time, yet achieving little effects? The paper reports the progresses and challenges as informed by the available research literature, yet asserts a lot needs to be explored on the potential of the assessment mix in this examination tradition deep-rooted and examination-obsessed society.

Assessment in education : principles, policy and practice

The English examination system provides a market in which a limited number of providers are accredited to offer curriculum-based examinations in many subject areas and at several levels. The most significant are the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and the General Certificate of Education, Advanced (A level). Because these examinations are used for high-stakes purposes, including higher education and employment selection for individuals and programme evaluation for institutions, it is desired that scores from various exams be ‘comparable’ in several respects: across syllabuses and examination boards within a subject area, across years, and even across subject areas. Just how to accomplish this goal has been a topic of continual research and debate for over 50 years, through many changes of examination and institutional structures. But ever year, tens of thousands of scores must be reported, and every year, users expect them to ‘be comparable’ and use them as if they are.

Creating cultural change in education : A proposal for a continuum for evaluating the effectiveness of sustainable schools implementation strategies in Australia

Networks are increasingly recognised as advantageous when creating and embedding cultural change within organisations. This paper explores andproblematises ideas around networks for education for sustainability (EfS), Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI), a national, whole-school approach to EfS. In three Australian states - New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland – AuSSI has been implemented in different ways. In examining the use of products, facilitators and networks to embed initiatives such as AuSSI in Australian schools, we propose a “continuum of cultural change strategies” as a framework for thinking about each of these approaches to creating organisational and cultural change for sustainability. We anticipate that such a framework may assist where choices need to be made in relation to the kinds of capacity building processes that might best achieve “deep and wide” change within schools hoping to engender significant cultural change.