Introduction to the special issue on online teaching and learning

For the fourth consecutive year, the American Educational Research Association’s Online Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group has been given the opportunity to publish an issue of the INTHIG dedicated to the work of its members. Unlike prior years, this issue is expanded to include work from members of other groups within the AERA dedicated to working in online learning environments. The articles included in this issue represent cutting-edge research from some of the most renowned authors in the field.     

Broadening the horizons of research on discovery-based learning

In reviewing the six articles within this Instructional Science special issue, we are reminded of Schoenfeld’s (Educ Res 45(2):105–111, 2016) review of American Educational Research Association president-authored papers for the centennial celebration of AERA. There, he succinctly unveiled the content focus of AERA research in the first half of the twentieth century: “there is content to be mastered; it is the schools’ job to help students master it” (p. 106). Yet, like Schoenfeld says, “A century later, we hear the echoes of this functionality in the calls for ‘21st-century skills,’” (p. 106), and the “skills” of the twentieth and twenty-first century would hardly know each other. Twentieth century skills, as represented in the accounts from past AERA presidents, were product-oriented, like accurate copying and precise handwriting. Twenty-first century skills are focused on creativity, ingenuity, critical thinking, and the like. In our primary research space, mathematics education, problem solving, sense making, and conceptual understanding dominates in the twenty-first century, whereas procedures dominated teaching and learning mathematics in the twentieth century.     

促进实践与政策创新的教育研究力量——美国2014AERA年会述评

2014年美国教育研究协会（AmericanEducationResearchAssociation,简称AERA）年会在美国费城召开．“促进实践与政策创新的教育研究力量”是本届AERA年会的主题。研究本届年会上教育科学领域共同关注的两个主题,可以全面了解本届AERA年会上前沿的教育研究动态。教育技术领域的研究者可以从教育技术的视角．围绕“学习技术”这一核心要点,从学习过程和学习资源的设计、开发、运用与管理以及评价四个方面．对年会上涉及的教育技术相关内容进行全面解读,为教育技术自身专业的发展及其与其他学科的交叉发展提供一定的借鉴和指导方向。     

The role of perceived support and local culture in undergraduate research mentoring by underrepresented minority faculty members: findings from a multi-institutional research collaboration

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate research is value-added experiential learning that cultivates creative and intentional learners in and out of the classroom. However, only recently have researchers begun investigating the mechanisms related to mentoring undergraduate researchers, with scant attention being paid to the experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty members. Using unique data collected from an online survey of faculty members (overall N = 215, URM n = 25), we find departmental and institutional support to be the key factors correlated with mentoring undergraduate research students. Reported support is more influential for URM faculty than white faculty, providing evidence of the importance of institutional policy as a mechanism to facilitate URM faculty participation in the high impact practice of mentoring undergraduate researchers. The findings are discussed in the context of institutional initiatives designed to support student and faculty success in the 21st century.     

Factors Contributing to the Level of Acceptance of Technology in Affluent Private Schools

Abstract

This research was conducted to explore factors that influence the technology acceptance of teachers who are employed at a school where there is wide access to different types of technology. While previous research identified perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as variables in technology acceptance, not many studies give details about the determining factors of teachers who are given extensive access to a wide variety of educational technology. The researcher therefore aimed to identify distinct aspects that deter the use of the available technology, while also establishing the motivating factors in the target school. Semistructured interviews were conducted with five divergent volunteers. The transcribed interviews were analyzed qualitatively using Atlas.ti to assist in identifying emerging patterns. Through the analyses it became evident that although teachers are presented with technology and recognize the usefulness thereof, flaws in support from the institution are increasingly deterring even teachers with a high technology acceptance from using available technology. It is the researchers’ recommendation that members of management set clear implementation goals to staff members, while dedicating themselves to prioritizing issues such as infrastructure, maintenance of hardware, and effective training opportunities. (Keywords: technology acceptance model, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness)     

Designing a Model for Integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the Iranian Agricultural Research System

Abstract

Capacity Development is needed in the Iranian Agricultural System. Integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the agricultural research system is an appropriate capacity development mechanism. The appropriate application of ICTs and information such as a National Agricultural Information System requires a systemically developed strategic plan, based on identifying and recognizing system-wide organizational implications. In this regard, this paper focuses on the implications of integrating ICTs in the Iranian agricultural research system. To this aim, the authors conducted a survey research study using qualitative analysis of interview data from a select sample of agricultural researchers and agricultural faculty members. After designing an interview protocol and doing interviews with the select sample of agricultural researchers and faculty members (n = 29), a qualitative procedure was used to analyze the data, based on conceptual extraction and thematic categorization of statements. Categories included guidelines, expected outcomes, challenges and barriers of appropriate ICTs integration in the Iranian agricultural research system. In addition, different phases of the ICTs integration process were identified in the form of a pathway diagram. Finally, based on related Iranian lessons learned, which are explained in this research, some appropriate mechanisms for integrating ICTs in national agricultural research system were indicated.     

Engaging to transform: Hearing black women's voices

Denzin & Lincoln (1994) define five historical moments in qualitative research and present ideas for future moments that focus on dialogue and storytelling of lived experiences in locally situated communities. Our learning community (teacher and students) in an introductory graduate qualitative research course listened to each others' talk on black feminist writings. I used students' reflections to begin to define a powerful moment for the future of qualitative research, the "crisis of de-communitization." This crisis reveals that globalization, environmental degradation, and economic exploitation are eroding the framework for care and nurture in our local communities. Therefore, it invites qualitative researchers to become engaged pedagogues within our communities to create spaces for "honest talk" that opens our hearts and minds to the pains and joys of social diversity. In this moment, qualitative researchers are challenged to write through the lens of difference by committing to four major components that define ways to move out of the crisis: eros, morality, empowerment, and transformation.     

Rhetoric or reality?

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a one-year research project carried out by researchers from the University of Strathclyde in one Scottish region and involving 12 comprehensive secondary schools. The main focus of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of support systems for young people who displayed challenging behaviour. The researchers examined the systems in place from the perspective of all stakeholders including teachers, pupils, parents and key personnel in other agencies including social work, community education and psychological services. The focus is upon the inter-agency dimension and in particular the barriers to inter-agency partnership, which impact upon effectiveness of support systems. The overall aim is to provide food for thought and suggest possible ways forward.     

Commentary: Taking a Social Justice Perspective on Research Supporting LGBTQ Students: Same Team,Different Positions

ABSTRACT

This article is a commentary on a theme issue of Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation entitled “Consultation to Increase Educational Access and Improve Conditions for LGBTQ Youth.” Writing from the perspective of researchers who have focused on social justice, the authors both provide a critique of the theme issue articles and describe potential areas of overlap between social justice research broadly and research specifically focused on supporting LBGTQ youth. Suggested next steps for research are offered.     

Five Years After; the Impact of a Participatory Technology Development Programme as Perceived by Smallholder Farmers in Benin and Ghana

Abstract

Purpose: The article reports effects on livelihoods of a participatory technology development effort in Benin and Ghana (2001–2006), five years after it ended.

Design: The study uses data from all smallholders who participated in seven experimental groups, each facilitated by a PhD researcher. Baseline data and controls were not available. In their dissertations the researchers had each made claims about the impact of their work on the livelihoods of those involved. These claims guided the study in each group, and referred to both impacts based on the superiority of the technology developed, and increased knowledge or capacity that participants claimed to have gained. Two local social scientists interviewed 187 farmers.

Findings: The study found considerable evidence of continued beneficial use of technologies developed with farmers. The most important reason for no longer using a technology or institutional innovation was that smallholders had not been able to sustain the conditions for use. Lasting non-technological effects included more mutual understanding among community members, emancipation vis-à-vis researchers and colleagues, and an experimental attitude and research skills. Such effects were recorded for nearly all groups.

Practical implications: Smallholders face small windows of opportunity. Technologies and institutional changes that depend on artificially created conditions are likely to be discontinued once those conditions are withdrawn (for example, access to Neem seeds or agreements about land use between landlords and tenants). The findings draw attention to the conditions that enable smallholders to innovate.

Originality/value: The study represents a rare attempt to study impact five years later and compares seven independent cases.     

Voluntary responsible bodies in English adult Education

Abstract

The paper examines the future prospects for educational research as conducted in UK universities and colleges of higher education in the light of current general changes in the organisation, funding and culture of higher education, and in respect of specific changes in the initial and in service training of teachers. It includes a critical examination of the claim made by some educational researchers that their research constitutes a special case, differentiated from other social science and humanities disciplines, both by the routes into educational research and the concerns of those who practise it. It is suggested that the special case argument for the alleged distinctiveness of educational research is largely unjustified, and does not contribute positively to the future prospects of that research or kelp to ease the relative isolation of educational researchers. Alliances between educational researchers, and those researching in the social sciences are advocated as one strategy which will help both partners. It is also suggested that educational researchers should try to ensure that novel and existing modes of training new researchers such as doctoral programmes, make connections with the training of other beginning researchers, rather than dividing would‐be educational researchers from their counterparts in other disciplinary or interdisciplinary areas.     

Research capacity for local innovation: the case of conservation agriculture in Ethiopia,Malawi and Mozambique

Purpose: The limited uptake of improved agricultural practices in Africa raise questions on the functionality of current agricultural research systems. Our purpose is to explore the capacity for local innovation within the research systems of Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique.

Design/methodology/approach: Using Conservation Agriculture (CA) as a case study, we qualitatively explore with 26 locally based agricultural researchers the context of CA research and promotion, including their perceptions on persistent research gaps and issues in closing them.

Findings: Respondents identified that CA was not yet a finished product, with concerns regarding the benefit, feasibility and relevance of CA implementation. They asserted that while further adaptation was required, they were unable to do this due to institutional constraints within their research, extension and policy contexts.

Practical implications: We find that CA continues to be considered a donor-driven intervention in its current form and requires substantial further adaptation to local contexts before researchers will deem it ready for farmer uptake. The five research gaps identified by respondents highlight practical areas where further adaptations must occur.

Theoretical implications: Our findings suggest a lack of participatory research and extension most likely reflects limited financial, human and social capital to implement more participatory approaches. Without addressing these capacities, widespread adoption of complex farming systems change appears unlikely.

Originality/Value: Whilst many studies have identified a need for local innovation to enable CA utilisation, few have qualitatively explored directly with local researchers the capacity of such systems to do so. We address this gap in the literature.     

Indigenous voice,community, and epistemic violence: The ethnographer's "interests" and what "interests" the ethnographer

This article visits the Menchú controversy, extending its critique to anthropologists who act as ventriloquists for Native communities. Anthropology, investing in the "power of culture," too often ignores the "culture of power." The "truth" of Native communities is viewed when the "interests" of anthropologists, along with the discipline's fixation on the subaltern, are dismantled. A more self-reflective ethnography has mutual benefit for both researchers and Indigenous communities.     

The promise and the promises: Partnerships from a university perspective

Abstract

This study describes issues related to the genesis of two university and middle‐school partnerships as experienced and related by the university faculty members who have participated in the process.

Benefits and tensions have surfaced from these partnerships. Some of the benefits included a broader community of professional colleagues, opportunities to collaborate on research, and firsthand experiences with school reform. The tensions involved conflicts with the university's reward system, the length of time it takes to build trust, the difficulties in establishing collaborative research agendas and balancing two worlds, and feelings of detachment from university colleagues and activities.

Although promises have been made that the university's reward system will change to give priority to work in schools, this is a major concern for non‐tenured faculty. In spite of this, there is great potential in these partnerships to affect change in teacher education.     

Environmental education research in Brazil: some highlights from theses and dissertations

Abstract

This article discusses an analysis of abstracts of Brazilian theses and dissertations on environmental education from a database organised and maintained by a group of researchers in the EArt Project (www.earte.net). In presenting extracts of key trends in this dataset, our aim is to provide a snapshot of the many possible approaches to, and histories of, Brazilian environmental education research. The data also allow us to raise some questions that explore possible ‘blank spots’, ‘blind spots’ and ‘bald spots’ in Brazilian research on environmental education. Given the temporal development of the research field since the 1980s, we illustrate these ‘spots’ by exploring data related to epistemological and methodological diversity, from the viewpoint of knowledge areas as well as the graduate programmes that have been developing research on environmental education. Finally, we draw a picture of the methodological trends that have been privileged by Brazilian researchers, and pose questions as to what is needed in shaping an agenda for research on environmental education in Brazil into the future.     

Breaking through boundaries with PAR – or not? A research project on the facilitation of participatory governance through participatory action research (PAR)

ABSTRACT

In this paper, two researchers reflect on the institutional space for participatory governance in a participatory action research (PAR) process that was initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (ECS) in the Netherlands. It was implemented in two schools by researchers contracted by the ministry. The project’s aim was to explore possibilities for involving schools in policy processes using PAR. We conclude that PAR sheds light on the communication strategies, power and authority balances, and meaning of participation among the participants. The attempt to break through traditional hierarchies generated new insights into the institutional space at both the participating schools and the government institutions that can be used to create participatory approaches to governance. The researchers were the bridging actors between the schools and the government institutions. While previous research showed that a bridging actor can play a positive role as an objective party who is able to deliberate between the participants, we found that it impeded the creation of a participatory governance space.     

Collaborative team ethnography and the paradoxes of interpretation

In this article, the authors examine the paradoxical process of interpretation in collaborative team ethnography. They use examples from their work on a collaborative team evaluation of the North Carolina A+ Schools Program. The differing perspectives and experiences of the researchers entangled their ability to form an "interpretive zone." This reflexive examination addresses conflicting epistemological assumptions, research paradigms, races, genders, class backgrounds, and research interests. The authors address three paradoxes: interpretive differences on the research team, representation of diverse voices in the research process, and the conflicting roles as evaluators and critical researchers. The multiple layers of collaboration led to greater understanding through multiple meanings but, paradoxically, greater fragmentation and uncertainty.     

The Handmaid’s Tale: Using Literature and Online Journaling to Facilitate a Self-Study of Feminist Identity in an International Research Collective

ABSTRACT

This article explores how five international colleagues from the USA, Canada, China, and Japan use self-study methodologies and online journaling to systematically examine the tensions surrounding the lived experiences of feminist academics in diverse global contexts. It draws from the theoretical foundations of critical qualitative inquiry, self-study, feminist epistemologies, and fiction as research. The main research questions guiding the study are: what is the role of self-study and journaling in an international research collective?, how can contemporary literature inform a self-study about the intersection of gender and career?, and in what ways does journaling with international partners support personal and professional development of multicultural teacher educators?. For 6 months, the authors explored these questions with one another in an interactive online journal. Collaborative analysis of the journal entries produced three major themes: fiction as self-study, scholarship as hope, and scholarship as freedom. The article concludes with the authors’ personal views on the importance of online journaling and self-study among educational researchers who are interested in finding tools and structures for navigating the contemporary women’s movement within academia.