Beyond the Divide of Teacher Research and Academic Research

Abstract

This paper explores ways to bridge the separation that currently exists between the worlds of teacher research and academic research. Currently, many teachers feel that educational research conducted by those in the academy is largely irrelevant to their lives in schools. On the other hand, many academics dismiss the knowledge produced through teacher research as trivial and inconsequential to their work. In this paper, it is argued that our vision of educational research should include both teacher produced knowledge and knowledge produced by those in the academy, and take the position that the processes of teacher development, school reform, and teacher education can greatly benefit from occasions when academic and teacher knowledge cross the divide that currently separates teacher knowledge from academics and academic knowledge from teachers. Two specific examples are discussed that illustrate instances where academic knowledge and teacher knowledge have improved teaching, together with the assumptions regarding voice, power, ownership and status which make them successful cases. One case deals with the teaching of mathematics in the elementary school and the other is concerned with the teaching of language minority students. Also discussed are several ways in which knowledge produced by teachers and others who work in schools can potentially benefit academic research and teacher education programs in colleges and universities.     

Opportunities for intra-university collaborations in the new research environment

ABSTRACT

New opportunities for research collaborations within universities are explored through reflection on a recent collaboration between an academic researcher, the library and the eResearch Centre at a regional Australian university. Such opportunities arise from significant changes to the research landscape, including increased emphasis on open access publication of research outputs and the growth of eResearch capabilities. The latter has resulted in increases in data size and complexity and provides opportunities for collaboration across research institutions. This article reflects on the dynamics and assesses the outcomes of a collaboration formed during an externally funded open research data project. This project and a precursor project are briefly described, together with the specific contribution of each collaborator. Collaboration dynamics and the reasons for project success are assessed, as are implications for future research practice. Outcomes from eResearch collaborations may provide broader benefits to universities, as well as rewards to academic researchers.     

The ongoing education of engineering practitioners: how do they perceive the usefulness of academic research?

This study explores the usefulness of academic research to engineering practitioners. Issues such as knowledge transfer, the research-practice gap and the changing social/political environment are discussed. An empirical survey of practitioners is analysed to better understand the engineering professions use of academic material, such as research journals, with the medical profession acting as the benchmark. The study also examines the future role for academia from the perspective of practitioners, with areas such as engagement, relevance, dissemination and education highlighted. While the study found there was a reasonable level of utilisation of academic material, there are still some significant gaps. The study brings to the fore the issue of relevance in applied research fields and highlights the need to evaluate the usefulness of our research to practitioners and the betterment of society.     

博士研究生学术研究方法教学模式探析——基于美国大学教学方法的启示

探讨适合中国博士研究生的学术研究方法教学模式。分析我国研究生学术论文写作中存在的问题;阐述美国大学研究方法教学的基本特征和实践模式。在美国大学教学模式的启发下,对教师的知识供给体系和学生科学研究能力推进模式进行深入解析。     

Necessary,But Not Sufficient: Critiquing the Role of Information and Communication Technology in Putting Knowledge into Use

Abstract

Purpose: This article reviews the experience of ICT applications as a tool for putting research derived knowledge into use for innovation in South Asia.

Design/methodology/approach: The article uses the contemporary understanding of communication and innovation in reviewing the experience of ICTs in putting new knowledge into use in South Asia.

Findings: The findings from this study suggest that ICTs in general have not contributed effectively to the challenge of putting new knowledge into use as they are mostly used to support traditional communication tasks — such as information dissemination and training. The article argues that this under-utilisation of the potential of ICTs could be due to: a lack of appreciation of the new communication-intermediation tasks required for innovation, underestimation of the roles of intermediaries and their capacities for innovation and lack of networks needed for communities to make use of the information provided through ICTs.

Practical implications: Although the understanding of communication, innovation and extension has changed substantially in the past two decades, there is still a big gap between theory and practice. This article contends that this gap needs to be bridged if ICTs are to effectively contribute to putting new knowledge into use.

Originality/value: The article manifests the necessity for ICT based initiatives to be embedded into the renewed understanding of communication and innovation and it moves ICT related debates from merely a success story to a pragmatic world of communication and innovation process.     

The Experience of Disseminating the Results of Doctoral Research

Postgraduate study is something of growth industry with, worldwide, a substantial increase in the number of courses offered and students enrolled (Kerlin, 1995). A substantial part of the requirements for the successful completion of a research degree is that the research conducted should be in some way original and also make a worthwhile contribution to knowledge. Given these requirements it would be expected that the dissemination of the results of the research should be a routine part of the process of postgraduate study and its aftermath. However, it would seem that this is not the case and that the progression from completed dissertation to publication is not the universal experience. Certainly, those publications which deal with 'how to' get a research degree rarely if ever specifically address the issue of dissemination at any length. One would assume that supervisors of postgraduate research would see advice about the matter as one of their duties but it is not at all obvious whether this is the case. This article reports the results of two international studies of the experience of 'doing the degree' conducted with samples of 139 and 53 doctoral holders. Specifically, it concentrates on the participants' experiences of disseminating, or otherwise, the results of their research.     

Do academic developers’ conceptions support an integrated academic practice? A comparative case study from Hong Kong and Singapore

ABSTRACT

Academic development (AD) is increasingly being oriented towards an integrated approach to academic practice (AP), given arguments for the importance of integrating research, learning, and teaching. Given the complex and evolving character of AD as a profession, it is important to understand the conceptions of AD held by academic developers, who can play a key role in supporting conditions for such integration. This comparative case study explores conceptions of AD and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) held by academic developers at two universities in Hong Kong and Singapore, and examines the extent to which these conceptions support an integrated AP. The findings show that not all conceptions recognise the importance of integration; moreover, though in both cases aspects of integration come to the fore, there are gaps that militate against a fuller understanding of integrating teaching and research. The study has implications for future AD practice and raises questions about using SoTL as a means of fostering teaching and research integration.     

Sponsored Research Versus Graduating Students? Intervening Variables and Unanticipated Findings in Public Research Universities

This article examines the relationship between sponsored research monies and the graduation of undergraduate students at 22 public research universities. Using institutional and student characteristics for 59,982 students at these universities, we conducted chi-square, cross-tabulation, correlation, and hierarchical nonlinear modeling (HNLM) analyses to determine the relationship between our principal independent and dependent variables, and among them and other individual and institutional variables, including SAT (individual and institutional mean), gender (individual and percentage), underrepresented minority (individual and percentage), and graduate academic program rating. In contrast to a basic premise of most policymakers and academic managers, our findings suggest that an institution's sponsored research expenditures are positively related to undergraduates' graduation. We also find that mean SAT has a powerful impact on student graduation, although at the individual level gender is a more powerful correlate of graduation than is SAT score.     

Creating an oasis: some insights into the practice and theory of a successful academic writing group

Academic writing groups are acknowledged as a successful approach to increasing research publication output and quality. However, the possible links between the formation and ongoing utilisation of writing groups and improvements in scholarly written research outputs remain relatively undertheorised. In this article, we draw on academic writing group literature, structuration theory and an analysis of the literature on characteristics of effective teams to explore the experiences of one successful academic writing group. By referring to these areas of literature and theory, we provide insights and tentative lessons that may be relevant to other academics in similar organisational contexts.     

Measuring the Impact of ICTs on Academic Performance: Evidence From Higher Education in Tunisia

Measuring the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is a contemporary question of interest. Despite the general acceptance that ICTs are changing ways of learning, empirical research conducted to date does not consistently verify the efficacy of such changes. Several studies supporting positive impacts of ICTs on achievement relate mainly to developed countries. Focusing on tertiary education in Tunisia, this article attempts to highlight the gap in knowledge about the effects of ICT on education in developing countries by providing evidence from this region. Using survey data involving 377 college students and teachers, a multilevel analysis was conducted to measure the impact of ICT access and use with other student, university, and teacher attributes that may affect academic performance. The results provided evidence for a distinctive, though negative, effect of ICT on performance. These findings raise questions about the effectiveness of educational policies in Tunisia. The findings suggest also that overall university support is essential in increasing ICT learning impacts.     

Education research in Australia: where is it conducted?

Research assessment exercises aim to identify research quantity and quality and provide insights into research capacity building strategies for the future. Yet with limited knowledge of the ecology of Australian educational research, there is little chance of understanding what research audits might contribute towards a capacity building agenda for such a complex field. This paper draws on secondary data analysis of research outputs submitted by 13 Australian higher education institutions to the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2010 and 2012 national research assessment exercises, to show where Australian educational research is conducted. Findings offer a profile of education researchers by location in academic organisational units within universities. By analyzing data not accessible through reported ERA data we were also able to present information about appointment profiles, specifically levels and type of appointment within universities, as well as data on institutional and geographic region, and patterns associated with type of outputs (books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers and other outputs) and field of research. Analysis of the data reveals definitive shifts in the nature of the published outputs and in employment profiles of researchers and their location across university and regional groupings. Research audits are administrative processes that reshape institutional and disciplinary governance structures, policies, individual outputs, work practices and careers, but they are not the sum total of the field per se.     

Stretching the academic harness: knowledge construction in the process of academic mobility in Chile

In this article, we analyse the impact of academic mobility on the construction of knowledge for Chilean scholars who have studied abroad. We conducted 41 semi-structured interviews with Chilean-born scholars in the social sciences and humanities, who accepted jobs at national research universities in Chile after receiving their doctorates abroad. Findings show that international academic mobility allowed these participants to question legitimised ways of doing knowledge, where they can stretch the academic harness that increasingly rules their knowledge construction. Our main argument is that knowledge construction process is neither linear nor unidimensional and it occurs as a rhizomatic process in a multidimensional space.     

The interaction of academic and industrial supervisors in graduate education

In this study we explore the work and the cooperation of academic and industrial supervisors concerning single graduate students in so called industrial research schools, which are financially supported by a national research foundation and involve universities and industrial enterprises. Academic and industrial supervisors of totally eleven graduate students have been interviewed with focus on their cooperation. This cooperation entails negotiating the contract and monitoring the progress of the research project and the student. When students have problems this cooperation is particularly important. The places new demands on both the academic and industrial supervisors. In our study these demands were dealt with differently by different academic supervisors, depending whether their main orientation was towards industrial projects or traditional academic research. The way the industrial supervisors dealt with the new demands depended on their previous acquaintance with academic research, basically whether they had a doctoral degree or not. Another important finding was that academic knowledge had a strong position while the supervisors from the industry accepted a minor role. The main findings of the study are that industrial graduate students often require joint engagement in a way that differs from other forms of knowledge transfer between the academy and the industry. To explain the features of this type of knowledge transfer, we use the analytical concepts boundary subject and phronesis.     

我国高校科研成果转化的现状、问题和对策分析

统计数据和调查资料表明,我国高校的研究人员队伍、科研成果产出、可转化科研成果产出和可转化科研成果转化产出都已具有相当规模,但可转化科研成果转化的产出率较低,而且15年来呈现越来越低的发展趋势。针对这些问题,今后需要从3个方面加以改革：完善促进高校科研成果转化的一系列具体措施;实现以高校科研导向的应用研究为中心的战略转变;创新科研模式,让科研成果转化内置于企业生产和高校科研过程之中。     

两次学术革命与研究型大学的发展

科学研究被引入大学的第一次学术革命 ,造就了研究型大学。此后科学研究这一大学(主要是研究型大学 )的社会职能逐步走向职业化和专业化 ,从“小科学”步入“大科学” ,研究型大学也由此在今天成为新知识与新经济的策源地 ,以致人们提出大学正经历着把经济发展也引为学术使命的第二次学术革命。     

Teachers’ use of research evidence in practice: a pilot study of feedback to enhance learning

Background: There is worldwide interest in improving the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. This paper considers two strands of that interest. It revisits the impact of using enhanced feedback from teachers to pupils as a way of improving attainment, and it looks at the feasibility of teachers using research evidence to create their own interventions. Current evidence on the causal impact of effective feedback on learning is unclear: many studies have mixed results, are small in scale, lack randomisation or are not conducted in real classroom conditions. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of schools as they engage with research evidence to support their own enquiry into the effectiveness of feedback in the classroom. Research design: This study took place over one academic year, involving nine treatment schools in one local authority. The study involved teachers themselves using research findings to create an intervention, which took, as its focus, enhanced feedback in the classroom. Test results from these schools were compared to the results in 5 participating comparator schools, to the 49 other schools in the borough and to all state-funded primary schools in England. Results: Although teachers showed that they could engage with research evidence, the study indicated that the process was complex in practice. In addition, the independent impact evaluation suggested that enhanced feedback in itself does not necessarily lead to improved pupil test performance. Discussion and conclusions: The paper considers some of the challenges faced by teachers as they attempted to use research evidence, and discusses implications for schools wishing to use research evidence in practice. The findings of the study suggest that it may be feasible for practitioners to use research evidence to inform their own practice. However, to do it well would require clearer guidance, professional development and modelling of any strategies suggested. These findings have implications for policy on teacher development, and for the research community to make research outputs more comprehensible and accessible to research users.     

Developing a knowledge network for applied education research to mobilise evidence in and for educational practice

Abstract

Background: The importance of ‘evidence-informed practice’ has risen dramatically in education and in other public policy areas. This article focuses on the importance of knowledge mobilisation strategies, processes and outputs. It is concerned with how these can support the adaptation and implementation of evidence from research and professional knowledge to inform changes in educational practices. It presents a case study of the Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER), a tripartite initiative in Canada involving the Ontario Ministry of Education, University of Toronto and Western University and 44 KNAER-funded projects.

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to analyse the developing approach towards supporting knowledge mobilisation by the KNAER provincial partners through the governing body of the Planning and Implementation Committee and strategic and operational work of the university teams, and also the knowledge mobilisation strategies, challenges and successes of 44 KNAER projects.

Design and methods: We utilised a qualitative case study approach to investigate the Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research’s (KNAER) approaches to developing knowledge mobilisation over four years (2010–2014).To explore the work of the KNAER provincial partners, we analysed 17 meeting notes from the Planning and Implementation Committee and 9 notes from the university KNAER partners’ meetings. To explore the knowledge mobilisation strategies, challenges and successes of KNAER-funded projects, we analysed the 44 knowledge mobilisation plans, 141 interim reports and 43 final reports submitted by projects. To further investigate the experiences of KNAER projects during their implementation, we analysed responses from 21 people from 19 KNAER projects who participated in a facilitated discussion about their experiences.

Results: The Planning and Implementation Committee’s role involved three core responsibilities: (1) Approving knowledge mobilisation proposals submitted to the KNAER; (2) Ensuring that collaborative partnerships were developed at the local, provincial, national and international levels; and (3) Approving the KNAER operational and strategic plan. The university partners have taken on the roles of operational management, strategic leadership, and research and knowledge mobilisation expertise. KNAER projects varied in their knowledge mobilisation strategies, challenges and successes. ‘Exploiting Research’ projects focused on establishing connections and engaging communities of practice with people relevant to the project’s focus, creating an analysis of needs, designing or producing a relevant knowledge mobilisation product with the purpose of improving practice, monitoring the results or impact of the new product and sharing the dissemination process and results with others. ‘Building or Extending Networks’ projects engaged in creating or extending existing networks, developing a needs-based or gap assessment and producing appropriate products and dissemination processes based on the results gathered. ‘Strengthening Research Brokering’ projects organised steering committees to guide their work and gathered information via a literature review or by collecting information from stakeholders and then served as research brokers by collecting and mobilising relevant knowledge to inform practice. ‘Visiting World Experts’ projects developed knowledge mobilisation plans for host experts’ visits, involving establishing partnerships with networks, including universities and schools, and utilising social media and communication processes for knowledge mobilisation products.

Conclusions: KNAER included aspects of linear, relationships and systems models for connecting evidence and practice. Looking forward, KNAER is seeking to further advance a systemic approach. A systems model is in preference to linear models – which focus on evidence production only without attention to mobilisation or uptake of research, and/or relationships models – which may develop networks, but do not attend to capacity and resource barriers that need to be addressed for systemic and sustainable knowledge mobilisation.     

Trends and transitions in the institutional environment for public and private science

The last quarter-century bore witness to a sea change in academic involvement with commerce. Widespread university-based efforts to identify, manage, and market intellectual property (IP) have accompanied broad shifts in the relationship between academic and proprietary approaches to the dissemination and use of science and engineering research. Such transformations are indicators of institutional changes at work in the environment faced by universities. This paper draws upon a fifteen-year panel (1981–1995) of university-level data for 87 research-intensive US campuses in order to document trends and transitions in relationships among multiple indicators of academic and commercial engagement. The institutional environment for public and private science is volatile, shifting in fits and starts from a situation conducive to organizational learning through high volume patenting to a more challenging arrangement that links indiscriminate pursuit of IP with declines in both the volume and impact of academic science. The pattern and timing of these transitions may support an enduring system of stratification that offers increasing returns to first-movers while limiting the opportunities available to universities that are later entrants to the commercial realm. Unpacking the systematic effects of university research commercialization requires focused attention on the sources and trajectories of profound institutional change.     

Participation in the ICT era: Implementation without humiliation, misconception and false consciousness

The national language of Tanzania is Kiswahili. However, Tanzania has two official languages: English, introduced in colonial times, and Kiswahili, the actual lingua franca spoken by 99 per cent of the population. Kiswahili websites and internet content are gradually increasing, and equipment is becoming more affordable. The research reported on here shows that especially academic staff with good knowledge in information and communication technology (ICT) are using Kiswahili more than others. This gives hope for the future. The language of instruction in Tanzania??s higher education is however English only, resulting in students having to attend lectures and produce their coursework in a language they are not proficient in. Investigating whether University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) staff and students regard themselves as participants and contributors in a knowledge society, the author??s findings suggest two simultaneous processes: (1) There are still remnants from the colonial system in terms of education and language; (2) At the same time ICT-competent staff and students already do participate in the ICT era in Kiswahili and tend to use Kiswahili in their work and studies. A high number of respondents say they use Kiswahili in most of their ICT communication. There is reason to ask: is the notion of English being the only ICT language possibly decreasing? This article builds on fieldwork conducted at UDSM in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011, in connection with the research project ??ICT and Language in Tanzanian Higher Education??.     

高校教师学术创业对科研产出的影响——基于倾向值匹配的反事实估计

高校教师学术创业对科研产出的影响一直是国内外争论的焦点。通过收集我国四所“双一流”大学教师学术创业的数据,运用倾向值匹配法探究高校教师学术创业与科研产出之间的因果关系。研究得出如下结论：高校教师参与学术创业后,科研产出数量不会发生变化,但科研产出质量会有所下降;不同学科教师学术创业对科研产出的影响效应存在异质性,工科类教师学术创业对科研产出数量和质量均无显著影响,而理科类教师学术创业对科研产出质量存在显著的负向影响。基于此,为了减少冲突,实现“研创”共生,建议建立“支撑保障”与“边界限制”并行的学术创业管理体制,并根据不同学科的特点进行分类管理。