If you build it,will they come? Lessons learned in recruiting students for randomized controlled trials in postsecondary settings

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the most methodologically sound methods of conducting empirical research, but a successful RCT is contingent on the recruitment of subjects into the intervention and study. Few research articles and evaluations in education discuss recruitment, and even fewer discuss challenges in recruitment. This is worrisome, given that recruitment can jeopardize internal and external validity – the most valuable aspects of RCTs. This paper initiates a conversation about planning and carrying out a successful recruitment campaign, specifically in postsecondary settings where students are more autonomous, programmes are likely to be voluntary, the flow of information is disparate, and incentives are often misaligned for external evaluation. We also share our challenges and lessons learned in recruiting students for a student support programme and its evaluation. We also advocate that more researchers devote attention to, and sufficiently plan for the recruitment of subjects into RCTs.     

“Above must be above,and below must be below”: enactment of relational school leadership in Vietnam

Over the past 20 years, relational theories of leadership have gained increased traction in the global discourse in educational leadership. This is observable in the increased frequency with which scholars have begun to construct leadership within the sociocultural and institutional systems of different societies. This study addressed the question, “How is effective school leadership constructed in the multi-faceted education context of modern day Vietnam?” We employed a multi-site case study research design to collect qualitative data from several stakeholder groups in three Vietnamese schools. Analysis centered on describing and synthesizing how principal leadership was constructed in these settings. This study “contextualized school leadership” by describing how leadership themes of managing relationships, preserving harmony, and teacher empowerment were shaped by institutional, political and socio-cultural forces in Vietnamese society. The findings support the importance of contextualizing leadership in order to understand differences in how “effective school leadership” is constructed and understood across different societies.     

The transition to secondary school geometry: can there be a “chain of school mathematics”?

Students mainly perceive the transition to secondary school as an opportunity to start their school career anew. Reality often proves them wrong, especially in the case of mathematics. In our paper, we briefly discuss children’s transition to secondary school as both an opportunity and a problem, with reference to the Greek context. In discussions about the transition to secondary school and its effect on the teaching and learning of mathematics, primary and secondary school teachers in Greece often depict school mathematics as a “chain” of concepts and procedures. With this metaphor as our reference point, we discuss how ideologies about the teaching of mathematics are enacted in both school levels. We will base our discussion on the analysis of extracts taken from dialogues in primary and secondary school mathematics classrooms in Greece. In our analysis, we employ a Peircean view of semiotics in an attempt to conceptualize students’ rushed introduction to rigor in justifying mathematical statements in secondary school. These extracts are part of a longitudinal study that aimed, on the one hand, to pinpoint discontinuities and continuities in the teaching of geometry between primary and secondary schools and, on the other, to investigate whether a set of curriculum material that we designed could serve as a link in the teaching of geometry between the two school levels.     

The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: what can be done?

This article is about differences between, and the adequacy of, response rates to online and paper‐based course and teaching evaluation surveys. Its aim is to provide practical guidance on these matters. The first part of the article gives an overview of online surveying in general, a review of data relating to survey response rates and practical advice to help boost response rates. The second part of the article discusses when a response rate may be considered large enough for the survey data to provide adequate evidence for accountability and improvement purposes. The article ends with suggestions for improving the effectiveness of evaluation strategy. These suggestions are: to seek to obtain the highest response rates possible to all surveys; to take account of probable effects of survey design and methods on the feedback obtained when interpreting that feedback; and to enhance this action by making use of data derived from multiple methods of gathering feedback.     

Ecological education: what resources are there in Confucian ethics?

Given the fact that ecological issues are global and the fact that a large part of humanity is rooted in the Confucian tradition, it is pertinent to ask what lessons can be learnt from Confucianism, in terms of both ecological education and the current debate in environmental ethics. In this paper I argue that while Confucian ethics cannot, strictly speaking, be said to contain an environmental ethic, its main concepts and ideas do constitute a different level of thinking capable of being exploited as resources for ecological education, if not for solutions to the current environmental crisis. It also has the potential to resolve a dispute in the environmental debate in the West. In particular, I argue that Confucianism is committed to the idea that the environment has a value that, while in a sense connected with humans, is independent of humans. I show that Confucian virtues such as humanity, commitment to harmony, filial piety and so on have positive implications for ecological education.     

The faster country in Economic Development must be an International Center of Economy

The purpose of this study was to research the effects of faster pace of economic development and the reason why international economic centers are rapidly changed. The study analyzes the historical facts and materials concerning economic development from ancient times to the present,and analyzes the reason why one country or area becomes an international economic center. Then it concludes that if one nation or area's economy develops faster than that of other areas or nations, this nation or area must become the international economic center in a certain time.     

The case of educational gerontology in Lebanon: a harbinger of empowerment,emancipation and social change?

Context: In Lebanon, older adults face socioeconomic challenges that are expected to worsen due to an increase in older adult population, chronic governmental neglect, institutionalised ageism and a lack of educational and social gerontologists. Consequently, local older adults are in dire need for social change, which can be initiated through later life learning. The University for Seniors (UfS) is a University for the Third Age providing learning opportunities for older people in Lebanon. While most older adult learning programmes are occupied with their learners’ self-fulfilment, Critical Educational Gerontology promotes emancipatory learning and social change. Study Objective and Design: A case discussion based on a variety of data sources is used to showcase and then challenge the practices of UfS from a critical educational gerontology perspective. To do that, we consider the semantic difference between emancipation and empowerment in their relation to power. Recommendations: We recommend programme-specific measures starting by revisiting the current philosophy of learning, targeting social change as an additional goal to later life learning, and advocacy for the establishment of educational degrees to prepare professionals and academicians in the field of social gerontology. We also recommend a more critical use of empowerment and emancipation within critical educational gerontology.     

Beyond authorship and accountability? The ethics of doctoral research dissemination in a changing world

Discussion of ethics in doctoral training courses usually focuses on the initial stages of planning and conducting field research. Shifting attention onto the responsibility of the researcher to share their findings throughout the research process, we set out to consider how doctoral students can conceptualise and engage ethically with research dissemination in the broader context of the globalised knowledge economy. A comparative analysis of the ethical guidelines produced by BERA (British Educational Research Association) and ASA (Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth) reveals that both are more concerned with the possible benefits or harm of dissemination to those directly involved in or affected by the research, and pay little attention to the ethical implications of multimodal and digital dissemination to unknown audiences. Drawing on the concept of research as a moral endeavour and the problematising of collaboration as an ethical issue within participatory and ethnographic research debates, we explore the implications for doctoral training courses. We argue that engaging students in discussion on dissemination can open a space to explore who benefits most from research undertaken.     

Measuring conceptual understanding in randomised controlled trials: Can comparative judgement help?

An impediment to conducting high-quality quantitative research studies in education is the paucity of valid measures of learning gains. Studies often seek to investigate students’ deep, conceptual understanding yet many measures assess only surface, procedural understanding. One reason is that the development of validated measures of conceptual understanding is resource intensive and time consuming, and success is not guaranteed. We evaluated a novel and efficient technique, based on comparative judgement, for assessing conceptual understanding. We applied the technique to a randomised controlled trial in which students were taught simple algebra based on either the Grid Algebra or the MiGen software package. The participants were Year 5 students (N = 188) drawn from four primary schools who had not encountered algebra previously. An instrument from the literature (Concepts in Secondary Mathematics and Science: Algebra Scale) and a novel comparative judgement assessment were administered following the intervention. Students in the Grid Algebra condition outperformed those in the MiGen condition on both post-test measures. The comparative judgement technique performed similarly to the standard instrument but was far more efficient to design and implement. The technique can, in principle, be quickly applied to any target concept of interest. We conclude that comparative judgement is a valid, reliable and practical tool that could help to increase both the quantity and quality of quantitative research in education.     

How can students’ academic performance in statistics be improved? Testing the influence of social and temporal-self comparison feedback in a web-based training environment

The aim of this study was to examine how social or temporal-self comparison feedback, delivered in real-time in a web-based training environment, could influence the academic performance of students in a statistics examination. First-year psychology students were given the opportunity to train for a statistics examination during a semester by doing online exercises in a web-based training environment. Once connected, students received in real-time either social comparison feedback (their score was compared to the mean score of all first-year students) or temporal-self comparison feedback (their score was compared, week by week, with their own previous score). The fact that students were free to connect to the web-based training environment heightened self-regulation differences such as academic procrastination, which was considered as a moderating variable in this study. Because academic performance was measured, the students’ background in mathematics and statistics was also controlled. Irrespective of the students’ background, the results reveal a positive influence of social comparison feedback on statistics exam performance, but only among students who did not delay doing exercises in the web-based training environment. By contrast, temporal-self comparison feedback did not have any effect on performance. Some recommendations for optimizing the efficacy of web-based training environments can be proposed, taking into account both social comparison feedback and academic procrastination.     

Children's social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: related spheres of influence?

Evidence from two studies conducted with kindergarten samples (N = 200, M age = 5.58 years; N = 199, M age = 5.47 years) supported a series of interrelated hypotheses derived from a child x environment model of early school adjustment. The findings obtained were consistent with the following inferences: (1) Entry factors, such as children's cognitive maturity and family backgrounds, directly as well as indirectly influence children's behavior, participation, and achievement in kindergarten; (2) as children enter school, their initial behavioral orientations influence the types of relationships they form with peers and teachers; (3) stressful aspects of children's peer and teacher relationships in the school environment adversely impact classroom participation and achievement; and (4) classroom participation is an important prerequisite for achievement during kindergarten. Collectively, these findings illustrate the need to revise prevailing theories of school adjustment, and the research agendas that evolve from these perspectives, so as to incorporate interpersonal risk factors that operate within the school environment.     

The professional stance of ethics and religious culture teachers in Québec

In September 2008, a new Ethics and Religious Culture programme was implemented in Québec’s elementary and secondary schools. One of the main pedagogical challenges of this new course has been the requirement that teachers adopt a professional stance of impartiality. Teachers must refrain from sharing their points of view, so as not to influence students as they develop their own positions. This paper deals with the requirements related to this new professional stance, namely that teachers maintain a critical distance from their own convictions and values, respect the student’s freedom of conscience and religion to avoid any indoctrination, and play the role of a cultural mediator. This new requirement has not gone over without question. For instance, some educators believe that, in the name of authenticity, it is preferable for teachers to freely express their own beliefs, thus ensuring a transparent relationship with students. For others, as teachers are in position of authority in the classroom, it is very important that students feel free to develop their own personal viewpoint on ethical and religious questions without being unduly influenced. This article examines these different issues.     

MOOC instructor designs and challenges: what can be learned from existing MOOCs in Indonesia and Malaysia?

The purpose of this study was to explore Indonesian and Malaysian instructors’ perceptions of massive open online course (MOOC) design and how they deal with the design challenges. Surveys, email interviews, and course reviews are the main data-collection methods employed in this sequential mixed methods study. Forty-six instructors participated in the survey, and nine of them voluntarily participated in an email interview. The findings revealed that half of the courses were delivered using a hybrid/blended type of MOOC. Personal motives, institutional encouragement, and altruism were among the main reasons for instructors to offer MOOCs. Preparation, attraction, participation, and assessment were the categories used to explain the design strategies used by these instructors in designing their courses. The survey also revealed that collaboration encouragement, participant engagement, video development, and time constraints were the primary design challenges that the instructors experienced during the design process. Furthermore, most instructors sought advice from other MOOC instructors, MOOC providers, their institutions, video tutorials, and open educational resources (OERs) to surmount their design challenges.

     

Expanding education through user charges: What can be achieved in Malawi and other LDCs?

Two features mark the education sector in many LDCs today: first, education is publicly provided; and second, governments are faced with severe financial constraints. As a result, enrollments are confined to low levels, and there is excess demand. To mitigate these adverse outcomes, we consider user charges as a means to mobilize additional resources for education. Under the circumstances that characterize mosts LDCs, we show that (i) families are willing to pay for education: (ii) the resources collected through user charges could finance a sizable expansion of education: and (iii) scholarships can offset the equity effects of user charges.     

Teachers’ experiences of engagement with and in educational research: what can be learned from teachers’ views?

In this paper, we explore what is known about teachers’ engagement in and with educational research with a special emphasis on teachers’ voice evoking their experience of participating in research. This will draw upon international contexts in order to suggest ways of utilising the benefits of research in practice. Our review is framed around five key themes between which there are interesting links. The first theme is purpose and consequence, which highlights the dimensions of teachers’ control and autonomy. This is related to the second theme—teachers’ learning and affective response. The third theme, agency, addresses the contextual factors influencing teachers’ experience of research, which opens up the fourth theme concerning the degree of trust and collaboration that is experienced by teacher researchers. The final theme is contradiction. This phenomenon is understood in the context of socio-cultural theory in that the teacher researcher is evolving practice and questioning the focus on aggregate examination results/targets and its associated technology. While the available evidence of teachers’ experience of research is overwhelmingly positive, providing an acceleration of professional understanding and new perspectives, which re-invigorates those teachers who do engage, it is not always experienced as such. Overall, we underline the importance of dialogic approaches and ecological agency, which relate to teachers’ multi-dimensional perceptions of and participation in research.     

Intercultural practices and inclusive education in Europe: can migration be a resource for individual and societal development?

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This is an introductory paper to the special section “Multilingual learning and social inclusion of children: The development of educational...     

The role of research ethics committees: Friend or foe in educational research? An exploratory study

Ethics committees have an important role to play in ensuring ethical standards (e.g. BERA, ESRC, RCUK recommendations) are met by educational researchers. Balancing obligations to participants, society, institutions and the researchers themselves is not, however, easy. Researchers often experience the ethics committee as unsympathetic to their research endeavour, whilst ethics committees find some research approaches do not make ethical implications sufficiently explicit. This potential for misunderstanding is evident in the literature, but studies investigating how participants perceive this relationship are missing. This research comprises a novel empirical study which explores researcher perceptions of research ethics committees. Fifty-five participants in higher education departments of education responded to an online survey. Open and closed-ended questions were used to collect data on roles, methodological stance, experiences of the research ethics committee, perceived tensions and examples of good practice. The results indicated that contemporary educational researchers regard research ethics committees as friends when researcher and reviewer are transparently engaged in a shared endeavour. When this shared endeavour breaks down, for a variety of reasons—including apparently unreasonable demands or mutual misunderstanding—the research ethics committees can become foes. The difference between foe and friend lies in the quality of communication, clear systems and a culture of respectful mutual learning. The contributions of this study have practical implications for the ways that education researchers and research ethics committees relate to one another within university settings, both to alleviate areas of tension and to arrive at a shared understanding which will enable best ethical research practice.     

Conflict resolution and children’s behaviour: observing and understanding social and cooperative play in early years educational settings

This paper draws from continuing research into the growth of sociability and cooperation in young children. It began in the mid‐1980s and has continued periodically in a range of early years educational settings across the 3–6 age range. The research has underpinned the development of an observational tool. This tool – the Social Play Continuum or SPC – has been used in personal and paired data collection by the author and jointly with early years educators. This paper draws from play observations of nursery children (aged 3–4 years) and reception class children (aged 4–5 years) in one school. The focus here is on conflict in play and its interpretation. The paper considers a relationship with stress in children’s lives and its potential impact on playful learning needs. The author advocates increases in playful learning and pedagogies rather than engagements with conflict resolution programmes. Three data‐based vignettes contextualise children’s play to illustrate the need to deepen understanding through observation about the nature of conflicts – with peers and with adults – and the wider implications for playful pedagogies.     

The role of ICT in bridge‐building and social inclusion: theory,policy and practice issues

This paper reports on the evaluation of a major programme which is using telecommunications to link teachers and pupils both across the political boundary between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and across the boundaries of ‘mainstream’ schooling and those children in ‘special schools’. The paper examines the ‘contact hypothesis’ as a theoretical model for educational work supported by ICT and considers the impact of the programme on both teachers and students. It concludes that contact based on sustained curricular and social interaction has an effect on children's perceptions of each other. This effect is most marked when contact is between two schools, one on each side of the border. The author suggests that the management of the programme, based on a bi–lateral agreement between two government departments and a partnership between two universities with other key stakeholders, provides a model of international cooperation.

Cette communication fait état de l'apport d'un programme majeur qui utilise la télécommunication pour lier enseignants et élèves aussi bien à travers la frontière entre l'Irlande du Nord et la République d'Irlande qu'à travers les frontières tout aussi réelles entre l'enseignement ‘normal’ et celui des enfants scolarisés dans des ‘établissements spéciaux’. La communication se propose d'examiner ‘l'hypothèse de contact’ comme modèle théorique pour les activités pédagogiques soutenues par l'ICT et considère l'impact du programme sur professeurs et élèves. Elle en conclut qu'un contact basé sur une interaction soutenue tant en ce qui concerne le programme scolaire que les activités sociales se répercute sur les perceptions mutuelles des enfants. Cet effet se remarque le plus lorsque le contact a lieu entre deux établissements situés dans les deux juridictions différentes. L'auteur suggère que la gestion du programme, basée sur un accord bilatéral entre deux agences gouvernementales et un partenariat entre deux universités et divers groupes d'intéressés, fournit un modèle de coopération internationale propre à être imitée.

Der Vortrag beschäftigt sich mit der Evaluation eines grenzübergreifenden Experiments im Rahmen dessen durch Verwendung von Kommunikationstechnik (wie z.B. Internet, Email, Videokonferenzen etc.) Lehrer und Schüler in Nordirland und der Irischen Republik miteinander verbunden wurden. Ebenfalls wurde in diesem Zusammenhang ein Kontakt zwischen Schülern von Spezialschulen und Schülern herkömmlicher Schulen etabliert.Der Vortrag basiert auf der sogenannten Kontakthypothese ‘als erziehungs‐theoretischem Model ICT‐unterstützten Lernens’. Es wird der Einfluss des Programms auf Schüler und Lehrer erläutert, sowie die Schlussfolgerung gezogen, dass die Aufrechterhaltung curricularer und sozialer Interaktion die gegenseitige Wahrnehmung der Kinder untereinander fördert. Dieser Effekt wird besonders dann deutlich, wenn zwei Schulen jenseits der Grenze miteinander verbunden sind. Der Autor argumentiert, dass das auf einem bilateralen Abkommen zwischen den beiden Regierungen und dem Zusammenschluss zweier Universitäten basierende Programm, ein Model für internationale Kooperation darstellt.

Este trabajo informa sobre la evaluación de un importante proyecto que utiliza la tecnología de las telecomunicaciones para conectar a profesores y estudiantes situados en sendos lados de la frontera política entre Irlanda del Norte y la República de Irlanda y, asimismo, conectar a los que están separados por las barreras que existen entre el área de la escolarización ‘convencional’ y la de aquellos alumnos que están en ‘escuelas especiales’. El trabajo examina la ‘hipótesis del contacto’ como un modelo teórico para el trabajo educativo apoyado por la informática y considera el impacto del proyecto tanto en profesores como en estudiantes. Su conclusón es que el contacto basado en una interacción curricular y social sostenida tiene un efecto en las opiniones que los chicos tienen unos de otros. Este efecto está más marcado cuando el contacto se efectúa entre dos escuelas, una a cada lado de la frontera. Según el autor la gestión del proyecto, basado en el acuerdo bilateral entre dos departamentos gubernamentales y la colaboración entre dos universidades con otros socios clave, proporciona un modelo de cooperación internacional.