Research quality assessment in education: Impossible science,possible art?

For better or for worse, the assessment of research quality is one of the primary drivers of the behaviour of the academic community with all sorts of potential for distorting that behaviour. So, if you are going to assess research quality, how do you do it? This article explores some of the problems and possibilities, with particular reference to the UK Research Assessment Exercise and discussion around the proposed new Research Excellence Framework and the ongoing work of the Framework 7 European Education Research Quality Indicators project (EERQI). It begins by asking whether there are any meaningful generic criteria of quality which can be applied to research, and tension between such criteria and the diverse and sometimes contradictory requirements of educational research. It then looks at attempts to identify measurable indicators of quality, including consideration of the location of the publication, citation and download counts, and approaches based semantic analysis of machine readable text—but finds all these quasi ‘scientific’ attempts at quality assessment wanting (hence the ‘impossible science’). This is all the more the case because of their attachment to extrinsic correlates of quality rather than intrinsic characteristics of quality and hence the probability that the measures will induce behaviours not conducive to quality enhancement. Instead the article turns to a different approach. This is better expressed perhaps as quality ‘appreciation’, ‘discernment’ or even ‘connoisseurship’ and is rooted in the arts and humanities rather than in (quasi) science. It considers whether this might offer a better approximation to the kind of judgement involved in quality assessment of a piece of research writing than the sort of metrics approaches favoured in current discussion.     

The art and science of education

This is the third of four essays discussing John Dewey's short essay, ‘Education as engineering’, placing the essay into its historical context while also hinting at contemporary connections. This essay aims to show that one must not take the term ‘engineering’ in a narrow, technical sense. Dewey was concerned with how the beliefs and values of unreflective, customary thinking about education not only controls and limits and serious educational reform, but also the patterns of educational research carryied out. Because all inquiry is theory and value‐laden, ‘objectivity’ in educational research depends on acknowledging the beliefs and values that are assumed in inquiry.     

科学与艺术的发展关系探析

科学是社会发展的第一推动力,科学的发展必然对艺术的发展起到一定的作用,本文从艺术社会学、艺术表现手法、艺术材料、艺术家族四个角度立足与艺术史的视野来探究科学与艺术发展的关系。     

Performance architecture: The art and science of improving organizations

Performance Architecture: The Art and Science of Improving Organizations is a hands‐on guide to real‐world techniques for improving performance within the workplace. This important book explores the Human Performance Technology Landscape model that was presented in the best‐selling book Handbook of Human Performance Technology (3rd ed.). Framed by the Landscape model and supported by other proven models and tools, the book provides effective structures for anyone who needs to develop their performance improvement skills and knowledge and achieve results. Performance Architecture: The Art and Science of Improving Organizations (ISBN: 978‐0‐470‐19568‐0) is published by John Wiley & Sons and the International Society for Performance Improvement.     

Education Policy, 1997-2000: The effects on top,bottom and middle England

This article links the divisive education policies of the early 1990s, pursued by New Labour after 1997, with the continued reproduction of a class structure relatively unchanged despite the economic, political and cultural transformation of post-industrial England. It briefly overviews New Labour's education policies, including a list of Acts, Reports and initiatives 1997-2000 in an Appendix. It notes the divisive effects on class structures of an emerging hierarchy of schools and the relationship of class to the economy. It describes the continued reproduction of upper and some middle class groups via private schooling, the strategies of other middle and aspirant groups in their jockeying for positional advantage in education, and reviews the prospects for the poor under a government that preached inclusion but pursued exclusionary policies. The article suggests that theories of social reproduction have to take into account the ruthless determination of privileged and aspirant social groups to maximise the reproduction of their own class advantages.     

美国科教兴农政策的历史嬗变及其启示

美国联邦政府对农业的高度重视是内战后美国农业快速持续发展的重要原因。1862年到1914年美国政府通过颁布《莫雷尔法案》、《哈奇法案》、《斯密斯—来沃法案》,奠定了现代美国高等农业教育、农业科学技术研究、农业科学技术推广体制建立的法律基础,为现代美国农业的高速发展提供了强有力的人才支持和智力保障,为美国农业的快速发展做出了重大的历史贡献。美国科教兴农政策的历史演变,对于加快我国农业现代化的进程具有重要的理论意义和重大的现实意义。     

浅析科学技术对艺术发展的影响

随着科学技术的快速发展,我们的生活也已经发生了很大的变化,可以说科学技术在很大程度上影响到了我们的生活方式。同样对于艺术的发展来说,科学技术也在不断发展的过程中提高了前者的生命表现力,从而促进了艺术的发展。本文就科学技术对艺术发展的影响进行研究,希望能够为艺术更好地发展做出贡献,同时为相关工作者的研究提供借鉴。     

Whatever Next? Education Policy and New Labour: The first four years, 1997‐2001

Book reviewed in this article: New Labour's Policies for Schools: Raising the Standard? Jim Docking (Ed.) Taking Education Really Seriously Michael Fielding (Ed.) Schools Achieving Success (White Paper) Department for Education And Skills The Learning Country (Paving Document) National Assembly For Wales     

论艺术与科技专业模块化教学创新设计

艺术与科技专业作为国家教育部2011年的新增专业(专业原名会展艺术与技术),迎合了我国会展产业的高速发展,近年来在国内各大高校逐步建立起来。笔者所在单位作为安徽省内第一批开设此专业的本科高校之一,近年来在教学一线进行了初步探索。本文以艺术与科技专业模块化教学创新设计为内容展开研究。     

The art and science of constructivist research in teacher thinking

There have been a number of studies on teacher thinking that have used Personal Construct Psychology theory and method. Many of these accounts have not fully articulated the procedures used. In this article we indicate a number of decisions that need to be addressed when using Repertory Grid techniques. We will argue that there is both an art and a science in the use of such techniques. Research on teacher thinking within a constructivist framework can be enhanced by the use of multi-method approaches. In this article we illustrate the use of Repertory Grid, “snake”, and the self-characterisation sketch as three methods we have used to help student teachers consider their views on teacher effectiveness.     

超国家层面的欧盟教育政策：影响及其限度

经过几十年的努力,欧盟逐渐建立起了较为完整的、超国家层面的教育政策体系。在欧洲一体化建设不断向前推进的背景下,欧盟的教育政策已经对成员国产生了潜移默化的影响,甚至一定程度上引发了教育政策的趋同。但同时存在不能超出欧盟现有制度框架的限度问题。     

The Effectiveness of the Title I Compensatory Education Program: 1965-1997

We examine the nature and quality of some of the most prominent evaluations of Title I over the past 3 decades. The early assessments conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s were plagued by a host of inadequacies of both programmatic implementation and evaluation designs and procedures. These flawed assessments suggested that Title I was not meeting its fundamental mandate of eliminating the large achievement gaps between high-poverty students and their less-disadvantaged peers. Beginning in the mid- 1970s and continuing periodically to the present, a series of large-scale, national evaluations of the program has been conducted. The earliest of these studies revealed that Title I was modestly enhancing the math and reading achievement of moderately disadvantaged students hut was failing to improve the relative performance of the most needy segment of the Title I population. Further, such effects typically "faded out" as students progressed through school. Finally, the evidence indicates that the program was not cost effective in that no relation existed between programmatic costs and achievement gains. However, in the past decade, evaluation studies, conducted at both the national and local levels, indicate that a variety of local programs, especially comprehensive, school-wide models, have evolved that provide convincing evidence of at least limited effectiveness of Title I. The hallmarks of such models are clear goals; methods and materials linked to the goals; continuous assessment of student progress; well-specified programmatic components, materials, and professional development procedures; and dissemination of results by organizations that focus on quality of implementation.     

理解教育政策的意义-质性取向在政策研究中的定位

量化研究在教育政策研究的主导地位,在过去三十年受到质性研究的挑战;其中最重要的挑战就是,无论在教育政策制定、实施还是评鉴过程中,政策参与者特别是政策受众,对有关政策所赋予的主观意义对政策的成败至为重要。本文正是以教育政策研究中量化与质性研究取向的争论作起点,整理质性研究中三个方法学取向(现象学、语言学、诠释学)之间的关联,并尝试建构出一个整合的质性研究的指导架构,以作为质性研究在教育政策研究定位的参考。     

把科学性与艺术性相统一的英语小剧教学

“生本英语教学具有科学性和艺术性相统一的特征,而小剧教学可以把两者统一起来。课本剧教学活动过程体现着科学性、艺术性和情感性特征。科学求真、艺术求美、情感求善。当我们在努力地体现这些特征时、教学的积极作用便充分地发挥出来。