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What is Quality Educational
Research?
In
recent years there has been much debate in education research circles
about the definition of quality research. In the end, the
research question must drive the methods. The
following is a good list of the attributes of solid educational
research put forth by Shavelson and Towne. Scientific
research in education should:
- Pose significant questions that can be
investigated empirically
- Link research to relelvant theory
- Use methods that permit direct
investigation of the question
- Provide a coherent, explicit chain of
reasoning to rule out counter-interpretations
- Replicate and generalize findings across
studies
- Disclose research to encourage
professional scrutiny and critique.
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BLOG:
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Summary
of and commentary on education and psychological research.
 Read
now
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SERVICES
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Connections
Learning &
Education Research offers a suite
of
research services within the education sphere. The
research provides educators and decision makers with an in-depth
understanding of
answers to their education-related questions. Following this work,
clients
are able to use data to make
decisions about student and teacher
programs, technology tools, curricula or other education-related
topics.
Connections
has experience designinging, conducting, and communicating
research with stakeholders who may not be familiar with or
trusting of methods and findings. Research is conducted in such a way as to be
smoothly integrated into the educational environment. Results
draw on and connect relevant areas of
academic
research, local school environments, and business expertise. Services,
whether large or small,
are customized
for client needs.
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Larger-scale Research Solutions
- Effectiveness
of learning interventions
- Investigations
of student learning
- Evaluation
of teacher
professional development
- Educational
technology
research and evaluation
- Curriculum
analysis
- Analysis
and Interpretation
of large-scale assessment results to inform curriculum and
instruction
Smaller-scale Support Functions
- Statistical
support
- Development
of instruments
for data gathering (e.g., surveys, interview guides, and focus group
discussion guides)
- Management
of data-gathering
- Benchmarking
services
Consultative and Training Opportunities
- Instructional Methodologies to Make
Technology More Effective
- Using Instructional Data in the
Classroom
- Teachers as Resources
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SAMPLE PROJECTS
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Do students really learn
more with technology and under what conditions?
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There is a large influx of
technology into today's classrooms. Evaluations of this technology
often suffer from three problems: 1) evaluating before the "wow"-factor
has worn off, 2) not measuring student learning, and 3) not examining
why the technology works or does not work. For example, if a school
wants to know if smart boards are worthwhile, the evaulation should: be conducted
after they have been in use for a period of time, assess student learning (not
just satisfaction), and include investigation of the instructional methodologies that work and do not work with the boards.
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How do we know if
professional development really changes practices?
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Teacher
professional
development has the ultimate goal of influencing student achievement,
but before it can do that, it has to change the practices or behavior
of teachers. Research into the effectiveness of professional learning
programs cannot stop at asking participants if they liked it, or even
an immediate assessment of learning. Rather, data must be gathered when
participants return to the classroom to see if the learning is applied
to
practice.
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