scholarly journals Reflections on the Australian Research Council–Special Research Initiative Science of Learning Research Centre: The promise of a new narrative and evidence base for education

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Annemaree Carroll ◽  
Annita Nugent ◽  
Stephanie MacMahon ◽  
John Hattie

The Science of Learning (SoL) is fundamental to the renaissance of learning, reinstating learning, and how to promote it as the core business of education. Emerging as a new endeavour of study at the beginning of the 21st century, SoL adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to increase our understanding of learning through the convergence of neuroscience, psychology, and education. While many question the potential for SoL to impact education, arguing the gap between neuroscience and the classroom is ‘a bridge too far’, we suggest a bridge already exists, taking on slightly different forms globally. Here in Australia, the bridge has strong foundations in both research and practice, the product of a collaborative undertaking between academics and educators, and supported by government policy. The triad of academia, education practice, and government policy has worked together to close the divide between research findings and implementation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 498
Author(s):  
Andrew Taylor ◽  
Peter I. Macreadie

In 2018, Australian oil and gas (O&G) operators committed funds to a collaborative approach to research to improve the evidence base for O&G decommissioning decisions. This followed an unsuccessful bid to establish a cooperative research centre for decommissioning. Modelled on the INSITE North Sea program, the National Decommissioning Research Initiative (NDRI) was established for an initial period of 3 years, until July 2022, with funding of $3.4 million. Research is focused on understanding the impact that full removal or in situ decommissioning may have on the marine environment. The program is supported by Woodside Energy, Santos Limited, BHP, Chevron Australia, ExxonMobil, Shell Australia and Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia and managed by National Energy Resources Australia. This study describes the establishment of the NDRI and expected future developments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Cross ◽  
James Woodall ◽  
Louise Warwick-Booth

Empowerment is core to health promotion; however, there is a lack of consensus in the wider literature as to how to define it and at what level it may occur. Definitional inconsistency inevitably leads to challenges in measuring empowerment; yet if it is as important as is claimed, this must be addressed. This paper discusses the complexities of measuring empowerment and puts forward a number of recommendations for researchers and policy makers as to how this can be achieved noting some of the tensions that may arise between theoretical considerations, research and practice. We argue that empowerment is a culturally and socially defined construct and that this should be taken into account in attempts to measure it. Finally we conclude that, in order to build up the evidence base for empowerment, there is a need for research clearly defining what it is and how it is being measured.


2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Salas ◽  
Mary P. Kosarzycki ◽  
C. Shawn Burke ◽  
Stephen M. Fiore ◽  
Dianna L. Stone

Author(s):  
Sona Ahuja

The quest for quality in education has been an avowed goal worldwide. The improvement of quality in school education depends largely on the research conducted in this field. The present study was conducted to know the extent of awareness of school teachers regarding researches conducted in school education and the problems faced by them in using the research results. The findings indicate that the teachers do not use research findings because they are not fully aware about the researches conducted, some of them do not understand the terminology used, while others find it difficult to access as these are printed in scattered form at different places. This study highlights some of the major factors accounting for the gaps that exist between the research and school practices and presents some strategic implementations to bridge this gap. The focus of the study is on getting research-based academic and non-academic practices into the hands of professionals for quality schooling.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim van Breukelen

The importance of context in research on organizational behavior The importance of context in research on organizational behavior This article emphasizes the need to pay more attention to the context in field studies of organizational behavior. The context refers to factors external to the individual, which include organizational characteristics and societal and cultural factors. The context may offer additional explanations for research findings and may improve insights in underlying processes. In addition, a focus on contextual factors in a study may increase the fit between research and practice. This article describes the potential effects of contextual factors and offers possible reasons for the lack of attention to context in many studies. Finally, several recommendations are presented in order to bring contextual factors back into the study of behavior in organizations.


2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 346-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Relton ◽  
Phil Thomas

The move from institutional to community care in the second half of the twentieth century arose in a climate in which civil rights became increasingly prominent, and out of which the modern survivor movement grew (Campbell, 1996). Government policy for mental health services, as set out in Standard Five of the National Service Framework (NSF; Department of Health, 1999), requires that care should be provided in hospital, or an alternative in the least restrictive environment, and as close to home as possible. At the same time, Government policy also attaches increasing importance to the involvement of service users and carers in the planning, delivery and evaluation of services. This paper examines alternatives to hospital care from a user perspective. The problem is that the evidence base for the NSF largely consists of quantitative studies designed to answer questions of concern to mental health professionals. This tells us little about the perspectives of the service user, which is the strength and value of user-led research (Faulkner & Thomas, 2002). Much of what follows is taken from this area, but in addition we describe briefly our own experience of home treatment, which the NSF sets out as one of the main alternatives to in-patient care.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Metherell ◽  
Sakshi Ghai ◽  
Ethan M. McCormick ◽  
Tamsin J. Ford ◽  
Amy Orben

AbstractBackgroundSocial isolation is strongly associated with poor mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing social restrictions disrupted young people’s social interactions and resulted in several periods during which school closures necessitated online learning. We hypothesise that digitally excluded young people would demonstrate greater deterioration in their mental health than their digitally connected peers during this time.MethodsWe analysed representative mental health data from a sample of UK 10–15-year-olds (N = 1387); Understanding Society collected the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in 2017-19 and thrice during the pandemic (July 2020, November 2020 and March 2021). We employed cross-sectional methods and longitudinal latent growth curve modelling to describe trajectories of adolescent mental health for participants with and without access to a computer or a good internet connection for schoolwork.OutcomesAdolescent mental health had a quadratic trajectory during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest mean Total Difficulties score around December 2020. The worsening and recovery of mental health during the pandemic was greatly pronounced among those without access to a computer, although we did not find evidence for a similar effect among those without a good internet connection.InterpretationDigital exclusion, as indicated by lack of access to a computer, is a tractable risk factor that likely compounds other adversities facing children and young people during periods of social isolation.FundingBritish Psychological Society; School of the Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge; NIHR Applied Research Centre; Medical Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; and Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 220-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Andriukaitienė ◽  
Valentyna Voronkova ◽  
Olga Kyvliuk ◽  
Marina Maksimenyuk ◽  
Aita Sakun

The relevance of the topic is defined through the idea that appropriate leadership competencies and their application in certain activities enabling the followers can ensure the prospects of organizational development and individual career opportunities. To review and summarize the aspects of research findings of leadership science in expression of competencies in managerial processes, highlighting the leadership competencies in the context of general competencies. Methods. In order to formulate analytical findings describing the concept of leadership, generalizing the stages of development of theories, expression of leadership competencies and impact, there were used the methods of scientific literature analysis and synthesis as well as simulation. Results. According to the scientists insights, the article deals with leadership concept analysis, leadership research overview according to development stages. Scientific novelty. The analyzed theme has a scientific novelty, because recently there has been more and more discussion about the importance of leadership, but it is important to analyze the core leadership competencies that would predetermine both the findings of decisions of organizations’ managerial processes and positive changes of individual career in the integration in the activities of organizations. Practical significance. The need in leadership competencies is related to the issues of good leadership in organizations. Aiming to implement ideas of modern leadership in organisations, the leader has to have certain characteristics of leadership expressions, such as ability to communicate effectively, respond to the needs of others, and influence the behavior of the followers directing them towards the achieving of the set goals and implementation of the leader’s vision.


Author(s):  
Vicky Ward ◽  
Tricia Tooman ◽  
Benet Reid ◽  
Huw Davies ◽  
Breid O’ Brien ◽  
...  

Background: Embedded research involves co-locating researchers within non-academic organisations to better link research and practice. Embedded research initiatives are often complex and emergent with a range of underlying intents, structures and processes. This can create tensions within initiatives and contributes to ongoing uncertainty about the most suitable designs and the effectiveness of different approaches.Aims and objectives: We aimed to devise a practical framework to support those designing and cultivating embedded research by operationalising findings from an extensive study of existing initiatives.Key conclusions: The underpinning research on embedded initiatives – a literature review and scoping exercise of initiatives in health settings across the UK – showed that such initiatives share ten common sets of concerns in relation to their intent, structure and processes. We used these insights during a co-production workshop with embedded researchers and their managers that made use of a range of creative activities.The workshop resulted in a practical framework (and associated web-based tools) that draw on the metaphor of a garden to represent the growing, emergent nature of embedded research initiatives and the active work which individuals and organisations need to put into planning and maintaining such initiatives. Each of the aspects is represented as a separate area within the garden using relevant visual metaphors. Building on this, we also present a series of reflective questions designed to facilitate discussion and debate about design features, and we link these to the wider literature, thereby helping those involved to articulate and discuss their preferences and expectations.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Embedded research initiatives are becoming increasingly popular across public sector organisations;</li><br /><li>There are many choices to be made when designing an embedded research initiative, and fresh challenges and tensions emerge as initiatives unfold;</li><br /><li>We present a structured, multilayered framework to support those designing, analysing and managing embedded research initiatives;</li><br /><li>The framework can support transparency, dialogue, agreement of expectations and ongoing learning within and between initiatives.</li></ul>


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