Motivating Individuals: Growing research from a “fragile base”

Faculty around the world are experiencing changes in their academic work. While “traditional” universities are responding to demands for greater accountability and increased and timely outputs from research, faculty within new higher education institutions (HEIs) are undergoing a paradigm shift within three concentric circles of change. Not only do they have to alter their own academic practice, but their HEI is also undergoing a revolution at a time when higher education is itself being transformed. The article documents these changes, challenging the assumption that there is a homogeneous or “single academic profession” with a common experience of academic change, and suggests a more complex picture for faculty in new HEIs. There are three sections: (1) overview of the literature on academic work, (2) how faculty in new HEIs are learning to play the research game, and (3) strategies and policies being introduced to encourage and facilitate research.     

Introduction to “reflections”: An attempt to make our research reporting more personal

This study evaluated the effectiveness of students' self-recording of their teachers' daily expectancies, as measured by percentage of expectancies met. Two male and two female middle school students participated in the study, three of whom had learning disabilities. The fourth student received services for behavioral disorders. Students were given a schedule with headings for three of their general education classes, one special education class, and designated locker times. Listed under each heading were the expected behaviors for that class or locker visit, which were derived via consultation with the teachers. A multiple baseline across participants design was utilized to evaluate the effects of (a) carrying schedules without self-recording, and (b) self-recording whether the expectancies were or were not met. Self-recording was effective across students in increasing the percentage of teachers' expectancies exhibited, whereas carrying the schedule without self-recording had no discernable effect. Maintenance was evidenced across students. Subsequent exploratory mani- pulations were made, including an abbreviated schedule on which key words replaced each expectancy. The results of the study are discussed with respect to their applied implications, reactivity, stimulus control, and generalization. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Responsiveness-To-Intervention: A “Systems” Approach to Instructional Adaptation

Classroom research on adaptive teaching indicates few teachers modify instruction for at-risk students in a manner that benefits them. Responsiveness-To-Intervention, with its tiers of increasingly intensive instruction, represents an alternative approach to adaptive instruction that may prove more workable in today's schools.     

The development of research supervision: “Turning the light on a private space”

Educational development for research supervisors is still a recent phenomenon. Early optional sessions on research supervision have now been replaced, particularly in the UK, continental Europe, and Australasia, by comprehensive and, in some cases, mandatory programs. Yet some of these programs focus solely on the administrative roles and responsibilities of supervisors, attempting to provide technical “fixes” that deny the genuine difficulties and complexities involved in supervision relationships. Some research supervisors resent the intrusion of educational developers into what many of them have regarded as a private pedagogical space. They interpret such programs as further instances of the quality assurance agendas of governments and university administrators, and are justifiably suspicious of what some describe as the colonial underpinnings of educational development. These reactions create tensions for educational developers. This article explores why educational development can be problematic for research supervisors. It then charts some current supervision educational development programs that seek to go beyond administrative interpretations of supervision. Finally, it examines whether the “Compassionate Rigour” supervision program, developed to address these difficulties, manages to respond respectfully and sensitively to supervisors’ educational development needs.

Le développement pédagogique des superviseurs de recherches demeure un phénomène récent. Les séances optionnelles portant sur la supervision de recherches de jadis ont été remplacées, particulièrement au Royaume‐Uni et en Australasie, par des programmes approfondis et, parfois, obligatoires. Pourtant, certains de ces programmes se concentrent seulement sur les rôles et les responsabilité des superviseurs au plan administratif, cherchant de la sorte à fournir des ‘trucs’ qui ne tiennent pas compte des difficultés et complexités réelles sous‐jacentes aux relations de supervision. Certains superviseurs de recherches n’apprécient guère l’intrusion des conseillers pédagogiques au sein de ce que d’aucuns considèrent être un espace pédagogique privé. Ils interprètent de tels programmes comme des composantes additionnelles des programmes de maintien de la qualité mis en place par les gouvernements et les administrations universitaires. Ces superviseurs redoutent, à juste titre, ce que d’aucuns décrivent comme les bases coloniales du développement pédagogique. De telles réactions instaurent créent des tensions pour les conseillers pédagogiques. Cet article explore pourquoi le développement pédagogique peut apparaître problématique aux yeux des superviseurs de recherches. Ensuite, il décrit certains programmes actuels de développement pédagogique reliés à la supervision qui cherchent à dépasser les interprétations strictement administratives de la supervision. Finalement, il examine le programme de supervision ‘Compassionate Rigour’, développé dans le but de palier à ces difficultés, pour voir si celui‐ci répond à la fois respectueusement et sensiblement aux besoins des superviseurs en matière de développement pédagogique.     

Understanding gaps in research networks: using “spatial reasoning” as a window into the importance of networked educational research

This paper finds its origins in a multidisciplinary research group’s efforts to assemble a review of research in order to better appreciate how “spatial reasoning” is understood and investigated across academic disciplines. We first collaborated to create a historical map of the development of spatial reasoning across key disciplines over the last century. The map informed the structure of our citation search and oriented an examination of connection across disciplines. Next, we undertook a network analysis that was based on highly cited articles in a broad range of domains. Several connection gaps—that is, apparent blockages, one-way flows, and other limitations on communications among disciplines—were identified in our network analysis, and it was apparent that these connection gaps may be frustrating efforts to understand the conceptual complexity and the educational significance of spatial reasoning. While these gaps occur between the academic disciplines that we evaluated, we selected a few examples for closer analysis. To illustrate how this lack of flow can limit development of the field of mathematics education, we selected cases where it is evident that researchers in mathematics education are not incorporating the important work of mathematicians, psychologists, and neuroscientists—and vice versa. Ultimately, we argue, a more pronounced emphasis on transdisciplinary (versus multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary) research might be timely, and perhaps even necessary, in the evolution of educational research.     

Transforming university curriculum policies in a global knowledge era: mapping a “global case study” research agenda

Radical curriculum policy transformations are emerging as a key strategy of universities across different countries as they move to strengthen their competitive position in a global knowledge era. This paper puts forward a “global case study” research agenda in the under-researched area of university curriculum policy. The particular curriculum policies to be investigated point to potentially new forms of liberal education, and they resonate in varying degrees with contemporary patterns in Europe as well as longer standing patterns in the United States. This research agenda stands to make a unique contribution with its “whole curriculum” approach to: the examination of the relationship between curriculum content, pedagogy and assessment; the tracking of curriculum policy borrowing across different jurisdictions extending between global and local levels; and the investigation of historical antecedents of contemporary curriculum policy patterns. In particular, the proposed agenda features a rare combination of spatial and temporal dimensions of university curriculum policy flows. This research agenda will provide a strong empirical evidence base for extending theory building about university curriculum policy development, as well as policy “learning” for policy makers, practitioners and scholars – globally.     

Trends in research on project-based science and technology teaching and learning at K–12 levels: a systematic review

Project-based teaching is nothing new; it originates from the work of authors like Dewey and Kilpatrick. Recent decades have seen renewed interest in this approach. In many countries, it is currently considered to be an innovative approach to science and technology (S&;T) teaching. In this article, we present a systematic review of what recent scientific publications teach us about this approach: How is this approach identified in these publications? How is the use of this approach in school S&;T justified? What are the main research questions covered by studies in the field? What do these studies on this approach teach us? To answer these questions, we have selected and analysed articles published, between 2000 and 2014, in journals that are specialised in school science and technology education and that are indexed in ERIC database. In the synthesis based on this analysis, we present: (a) the theoretical constructs used by the authors to refer to this approach and the features identified to define it; (b) the justifications for this approach; (c) the research questions covered by studies in the field; (d) the data collection and analysis methods used in these studies; and (e) the main findings. In addition to presenting a synthesis of current research in this field, we offer a critical discussion thereof with a focus on two aspects, namely the way PBSTL is conceptualised and the rigour of the research methods used to ensure the validity of findings.     

Indigenous Métissage: a decolonizing research sensibility

This paper is a report on the theoretical origins of a decolonizing research sensibility called Indigenous Métissage. This research praxis emerged parallel to personal and ongoing inquiries into historic and current relations connecting Aboriginal peoples and Canadians in the place now called Canada. I frame the colonial frontier origins of these relations – and the logics that tend to inform them – as conceptual problems that require rethinking on more ethically relational terms. Although a postcolonial cultural theory called métissage offers helpful insights towards this challenge, I argue that the postcolonial emphasis on hybridity fails to acknowledge Indigenous subjectivity in ethical ways. Instead, I present an indigenized form of métissage focused on rereading and reframing Aboriginal and Canadian relations and informed by Indigenous notions of place. Doing Indigenous Métissage requires hermeneutic imagination directed towards the telling of a story that belies colonial frontier logics and fosters decolonizing.     

“Hello, goodbye”: Exploring the phenomenon of leaving teaching early

High teacher attrition rates hinder schools in their ability to provide quality instruction. This study seeks to understand why teachers leave early in their careers (within the first 5 years) using a mixed methods approach that combined 50 in-depth interviews with 15 public and 10 Catholic school teachers in the United States who left early with statistical analyses of public and Catholic school early leavers’ responses in the national Schools and Staffing and Teacher Follow-up surveys. This study argues that to understand why teachers leave early requires examining teachers’ entire experiences throughout their short time in the profession. A framework informed by sociocultural and commitment theories was developed through systematic analysis of the interview and survey data providing a complex approach for examining the phenomenon of early leaving. Findings suggest that teachers’ career decisions were influenced by the unique public and Catholic school cultures, as well as their commitment to teaching, their teaching experiences, and their beliefs and values. Differences between public and Catholic early leaver experiences are discussed.     

Understanding student engagement with research: a study of pre-service teachers’ research perceptions,research experience,and motivation

This study reports on findings from a research project that investigated the extent to which pre-service teachers at a major metropolitan Australian university engage with research, and the factors that influence their level of engagement or disengagement. Results from survey responses (n = 235) and focus group interviews suggest that attitudes towards research are more positive among pre-service teachers who possess research experience and those who are intrinsically motivated with respect to their university studies. The article discusses the implications of these results for the effective organisation and promotion of research activities for pre-service teachers.     

A “research” into international student-related research: (Re)Visualising our stand?

This paper uses Tight (High Educ Res Dev 23(4):395–411, 2004; High Educ Res Dev 31(5):723–740, 2012; High Educ Res Dev 32(1):136–151, 2013)’s journal analysis and review framework to review a sample of 497 journal articles on researches concerning international students over the past 30 years. It was found that a majority of the articles focus on the students’ in-campus, academic and social experience. Even with different conceptualisation of the terms “international student” and “international student mobility”, international students undergo similar challenges throughout their sojourn duration, and much of the responsibilities in managing international students fall on universities and respective faculty members within the institutions. It might seem as if we are going in circles in terms of the issues and concerns in managing international students, but the silver lining out of this observation is the increased ethnical awareness among countries and higher education institutions in hosting and safeguarding the students throughout their international higher education experience, albeit rather slowly. The analysis brings to attention how much have we achieved in internationalisation of higher education in general and international student-related research in particular, and the potential for greater expansion and focus on managing the student population within a comprehensive “life cycle” approach.     

Exploring halaqah as research method: a tentative approach to developing Islamic research principles within a critical ‘indigenous’ framework

This paper explores a traditional Islamic pedagogy known as halaqah as a potentially useful authentic research method and contributes to discourses about critical and indigenous research methodologies through an analysis of Islamization of Knowledge and other ‘critical indigenous’ movements amongst Muslims. Islamic research principles are tentatively proposed and then used to assess the effectiveness of halaqah as an authentic Islamic research method through analysis of a small qualitative study. The study involved Muslim mother-teachers participating in halaqah to collaboratively reflect on their work as holistic Islamic educators who are developing a ‘critical indigenous’ education to meet the needs of Muslim children in contemporary Britain. This paper argues that halaqah is a more authentic research method in this study than a group interview or focus group as it enabled participants to articulate themselves within their own epistemological and ontological context and engage in critical reflection within an Islamic paradigm.     

Becoming a researcher: forms of capital associated with “research capacity” trajectories of young British social anthropologists

The paper privileges the voices of British social anthropologists examining their perceptions of how their research expertise was acquired. Reference is made to the case of education research in Britain, which, by comparison with social anthropology, reveals limited capacity as measured through performance audits of scientific research quality. The paper endeavours to facilitate knowledge transfer by uncovering and theoretically classifying the origins of research capacity. Life history interviews provide the data which illuminate the grounded nature of symbolic capital. The intellectual formation of the sample is characterised through Pierre Bourdieu’s theorisation of symbolic capital. The results indicate that research capacity can be characterised in terms of a transmission of symbolic capital, including that gained in the field through institutional affiliations whose reputational assets enhance the power of academics to play the game.     

不可轻视的“the more...,the more...”结构

在全日制普通高级中学教科书(必修)《英语》第三册(人教版)中多次出现"the more...,the more..."结构。例如:     

点击“数量词+more”结构

more不只是many和much的比较级,而且可以表示additional(另外的,附加的)的意思。例如:He studied the maps a few more minutes.他把地图又研究了几分钟。There are twenty more trees to be planted.还有二十棵树要栽。