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Jan 28

Intelligent scholars work to improve other educational systems but not their own

I rarely talk to any researcher who doesn’t want to have an impact at the classroom level. Those same researchers express frustration at how the current system in academia restricts them from having that impact. But rare is a researcher who expresses the belief that they have the power to change the system, and it’s a cruel irony how intelligent scholars can spend a career discovering ways to improve educational systems other than the one they work in.
Raymond Johnson via http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=12592#comment-381362

Filed under  //  highered   higheredtech   research   social media  

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Jun 22

The media isn't so good with data and math

the media isn't so good with data, with actual mathematics. Our stock-in-trade is the anecdote. Despite a complete lack of solid evidence, we've been telling people their cell phones will give them cancer. Our society ping pongs between eating and not eating carbs, drinking too much coffee and not enough water, getting more Omega-3s -- all on the basis of epidemiological research that is far, far, far from definitive. Most reporters do not know how to evaluate research studies, and so they report the authors' conclusions without any critical evaluation -- and studies need critical evaluation.
via http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/06/the-necessity-of-data-journalism-in-the-new-digital-community173.html

Filed under  //  journalism   media   research  

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May 27

Education reporters don't read peer-reviewed research

education reporters rarely, if ever, consult peer-reviewed journals.

 For example, my dissertation research examines educational research in print and online-only media outlets. Though I have so far sorted through nearly forty thousand articles in hundreds of publications, I have yet to come across a single mention of any of the six peer-reviewed education journals published by the American Educational Research Association, the world’s largest academic organization devoted to the study of education.

via http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2011/MJ/Feat/Yett.htm

Filed under  //  highered   research  

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May 1

Literature reviews inhibit rapid change

As pace of change increases, the heritage-preserving aspect of literature reviews becomes a liability. Of necessity, a review is a backward-facing, historical-contextualizing activity. What happens when the very thing we are trying to change (i.e. the higher education system) serves as the foundation for enacting change? Obviously, we don’t get very far as the pull of the past and existing mindsets is instantiated in any attempt at a new vision.
George Siemens via http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2011/05/01/the-problem-with-literature-reviews

Filed under  //  highered   higheredtech   leadership   research  

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Sep 9

Diminishing returns from higher education's research?

America’s commitment to research is one of the glories of its higher-education system. But for how long? The supply of papers that apply gender theory to literary criticism remains ample. But there is evidence of diminishing returns in an area perhaps more vital to the country’s economic dynamism: science and technology.
via http://www.economist.com/node/16941775?story_id=16941775

Filed under  //  academia   highered   research  

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Jul 31

School districts should randomly assign students

school districts should start randomly assigning some of their students to teachers and gathering lots of information about them as a matter of course, on the theory that we very likely can’t predict what the most salient public policy issues will be at the future point when long-term impacts can be estimated. The few randomized control trials that exist continue to be enormously influential
Kevin Carey via http://www.quickanded.com/2010/07/the-case-for-routine-randomization.html

Filed under  //  education   policy   research  

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Jun 7

Despite errors on 80 different pages, the APA insists that the 6th edition of its style manual is just fine

Do not buy the first printing of the APA manual, 6th edition under any circumstances. There are errors on eighty (80) of its pages. How outrageous for a manual on writing style! As of 10/20/09, APA refuses to exchange their error full copies with corrected second printings. Despite the fact that the list of errors goes on for 7 pages, the Editorial Director of APA books stated "there are no errors that impede using the manual with full confidence.
via http://www.amazon.com/review/RVPZWUXD5FGR/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Filed under  //  APA   research  

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Nov 6

We should expect to find nothing interesting in these kinds of studies?

Hundreds of “horse race” studies comparing alternate modes of education delivery show us that nothing interesting happens in these studies. Indeed, careful forethought will demonstrate that we should expect to find nothing interesting in these kinds of studies. And yet eager graduate students and younger faculty continue to conduct them.
via opencontent.org

Filed under  //  education   higher ed   research  

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