Avoiding Bias in Randomised Controlled Trials in Educational Research

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are often seen as the 'gold standard' of evaluative research. However, whilst randomisation will ensure comparable groups, trials are still vulnerable to a range of biases that can undermine their internal validity. In this paper we describe a number of common threats to the internal validity of RCTs and methods of countering them. We highlight a number of examples from randomised trials in education and health care where problems of execution and analysis of the RCT has undermined their internal validity. However, awareness of these potential biases can lead to careful planning to avoid or reduce their occurrence. If good quality randomised trials are to inform policy and practice in education then rigorous trials need to be designed that are the least susceptible to threats to their validity.     

The Design and Conduct of Randomised Controlled Trials in Education: Lessons from health care

There are increasing calls within the educational research community to undertake more randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Whilst educational researchers turned away from using the RCT in the last 30 years, health care researchers have adopted the method with vigour. However, there have been many methodological innovations of the RCT, developed by health services researchers, in recent years. Many of these innovations are directly applicable to educational research. In this paper we describe some of the important aspects of trial methodology that educational researchers ought to consider when they design and undertake trials. Specifically, we describe the importance of systematic reviews, the need for a trial protocol, sample size requirements, outcome measures, concealment of the randomisation process from the investigators, intention to treat analysis, and the metric--numbers needed to teach (NNT). Addition ally, we argue that there are considerable similarities between health and education allowing the use of RCT methodological innovations to be directly utilised in educational research.     

教育政策研究范式及其方法论探析

研究教育政策的研究范式具有重要意义。教育政策研究范式是具体的研究要素即研究主体、研究内容、研究过程及研究方法与研究方法论的有机结合。研究方法论包括直接方法论和间接方法论:直接方法论包括如何收集资料和如何分析资料两方面,它对教育政策研究范式起着直接的支撑作用。间接方法论是间接支撑教育政策研究范式研究的方法论,主要指的是西方传统的方法论即经验论、先验论和实践论,以及现象学、解释主义、批判理论、建构主义和符号互动等五个西方范式方法论。新范式方法论也为教育政策研究范式提供了间接方法论基础。     

The Need for Science Versus Passion in Educational Computing

No abstract available for this article.     

教育研究中的常人方法学取向

常人方法学是在对传统社会学作彻底批判的基础上产生的 ,正是在其批判的过程中揭示了研究的“常人”取向与“现象”取向。常人方法学为教育研究对教育现象的回归指明了醒悟之路     

Do Volunteers in Schools Help Children Learn to Read? A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials

The aim of unpaid volunteer classroom assistants is to give extra support to children learning to read. The impact of using volunteers to improve children's acquisition of reading skills is unknown. To assess whether volunteers are effective in improving children's reading, we undertook a systematic review of all relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs). An exhaustive search of all the main electronic databases was carried out (i.e. BEI, PsycInfo, ASSIA, PAIS, SSCI, ERIC, SPECTR, SIGLE). We identified eight experimental studies, of which seven were RCTs. One of the RCTs was excluded because it did not meet the inclusion criteria. One RCT randomised intact classes and the other six studies randomised individual children and could therefore be included in a meta-analysis. All of the trials were fairly small, with the largest including 99 pupils. Four of the trials showed a positive outcome, while three showed a negative effect and the remaining study was equivocal. We pooled the four most homogeneous trials. The pooled data indicated an effect size of 0.19, which was not statistically significant ( p = 0.54, 95% confidence interval = -0.31 to 0.68). Overall, volunteering appeared to have a small effect on reading outcomes. However, the confidence intervals were wide, which could conceal a potentially large benefit or a harmful effect. Thus, more good quality RCTs are required in order to provide more conclusive evidence.     

青岛市基础教育阶段实验类学校教育实验状况研究

实验学校是教育实验的基地,应该依靠扎实的实验,成为教育改革先行者、示范者。通过调研发现,大多实验学校或缺乏实验的内在动力,或开展得不规范。实验学校要名副其实,成为真正实施素质教育,办优质学校的领头羊、排头兵,需要教育行政管理制度的创新,需要社会教育资源的智力支持,更需要学校、教师成为实验的主体。     

For whom does “what works” work? The political economy of evidence-based education

ABSTRACT

What role does scientific evidence play in educational practice? Supporters of evidence-based education (EBE) see it as a powerful way of improving the quality of public services which is readily applicable to the education sector. Academic scholarship, however, points out important limits to this applicability. I offer an account inspired by Tullock’s theory of bureaucracy that helps explain EBE’s influence despite these limits. Recent configurations of EBE are an imperfect solution to 2 imperatives where policymakers are at an informational disadvantage: (a) guiding professionals working in the field and (b) evaluating evidence from academic researchers. EBE, especially in the form of RCTs and systematic reviews, offers a way of filtering a complex range of research to produce a determinate result that is transparent to policymakers. However, this impression of research transparency is misleading as it omits theoretical background that is critical for successfully interpreting the results of particular interventions. This comes at a cost of relevance to the frontline professionals whom this research evidence is supposed to inform and help.     

后现代主义与我国的教育研究

后现代主义以研究语境、研究文本、研究方法三种形式呈现在我国的教育研究中,这种景观的存在既与教育理论的尴尬处境相连,也与我国呈现的一些后现代征象相关。在后现代主义视野下,我国教育理论研究的标准、对象、方法等都被置换到一个新的参照系框架下。后现代主义理论在我国缺少生成的土壤。教育理论界应采取辩证唯物主义态度对我国教育研究中的后现代主义持谨慎态度。     

目的意图原则在法庭互动话语中的体现

法庭互动话语属于语用学研究范畴。那么，语用原则按照钱冠连先生的解释就是为了使交际不致失败而遵循的一套原则；而语用策略则是为了使交际顺利而使用的一系列措施和手段。廖美珍教授揭示了法庭审判中问与答的机制与特色提出了目的原则。笔者在此基础上，初探以目的意图原则为导向下的法庭互动问答中的语用策略。     

教育软件的交互性研究

信息技术与课堂教学整合过程中,教育软件的交互性受到了广大教师的关注。本文论述了教育软件交互性的内涵、交互的分类和设计以及交互性的课堂教学功用等方面的内容。     

医学教育研究中的随机化对照试验

本文介绍了随机化对照试验（RCT）在医学教育研究中的应用,评论表明RCT已被用于少数教育研究项目。在医学教育领域,有人认为RCT不应当使用,因为学生无权选择自己的学习方法。但是,为了评估多种教学方法的效果,医学教育家建议必须广泛地采用RCT,并指出不对教学方法作RCT是不符合伦理准则的。     

变阻器在控制电路中的应用

以电路控制实验为例,说明变阻器在实验中控制电路电流和电压的改变,并通过特性曲线、调节范围、细调程度来表征控制电路的性能和特点。     

New Empirical Evidence for the Design of Group Randomized Trials in Education

Abstract

This article provides practical guidance for researchers who are designing studies that randomize groups to measure the impacts of educational interventions. The article (a) provides new empirical information about the values of parameters that influence the precision of impact estimates (intraclass correlations and R ² values) and includes outcomes other than standardized test scores and data with a three-level structure rather than a two-level structure, and (b) discusses the error (both generalizability and estimation error) that exists in estimates of key design parameters and the implications this error has for design decisions. Data for the paper come primarily from two studies: the Chicago Literacy Initiative: Making Better Early Readers Study (CLIMBERS) and the School Breakfast Pilot Project (SBPP). The analysis sample from CLIMBERS comprised 430 four-year-old children from 47 preschool classrooms in 23 Chicago public schools. The analysis sample from the SBPP study comprised 1,151 third graders from 233 classrooms in 111 schools from 6 school districts. Student achievement data from the Reading First Impact Study is also used to supplement the discussion.     

关于教育研究方法论的探讨

本文从分析方法论、教育研究方法论的基本涵义人手,对当前教育研究方法论探讨所涉及的几个基本问题作了具体分析。笔者认为,当前我国教育研究方法论主要应该探讨如何运用马克思主义哲学作指导的问题,并通过比较研究和元教育学研究,探询国外教育学理论发展的方法论背景,同时,对当前人们使用的教育研究方法要具体分析,并主张从教育哲学的高度来认识方法论探讨的意义。     

浅析我国实行三审终审制度的必要性

审级制度是一国司法制度的重要组成部分,它的设置科学、合理与否,直接关系到司法基本价值目标的实现。由于政治、经济、人才等各种因素的制约,现行审级制度未能发挥其预设的理想功能。二审终审制自适用以来,无论是从理论或是从实践中均出了一些难以解决的问题,从客观上讲,需要以三审终审制取而代之。