Translating research into action
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•1,367 views
This document discusses translating research into practice in education. It provides an overview of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) which conducts educational research to improve learning. ACER works in various areas including assessment, indigenous education, and policy. The document emphasizes the importance of building education policies and practices on evidence rather than opinions. It defines evidence-based practice and discusses challenges in implementing research findings in classrooms. It also provides resources for educators to engage with research evidence and tools to evaluate research quality.
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Translating research into action
Similar to Translating research into action (20)
More from Australian Council for Educational Research
More from Australian Council for Educational Research (11)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Translating research into action
- 1. Translating research into practice Pru Mitchell Manager Information Services & Translational Research Project Director pru.mitchell@acer.edu.au
- 2. Australian Council for Educational Research creates and promotes research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the life span not-for-profit, independent of government 380+ staff in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Dubai, New Delhi, Jakarta and London
- 3. ACER’s work Educational Monitoring and Research Education Policy and Practice Indigenous education Teaching and Leadership Tertiary Education Assessment and Psychometric Research Professional Resources ACER Press Professional learning Assessment services Library and Information Services Strategic directions 2014-16 • Assessment reform and innovation • Education policy and practice • Science of learning • Global education monitoring
- 4. ACER Indigenous Education team
- 5. © 2015 Global Partnership for Education
- 6. Equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030 Transforming lives through education
- 8. Build education policies and practice on evidence or… what? 83% of all statistics are made up on the spot “Without data, you are just another person with an opinion” (Schleicher)
- 9. Professional Standards for Teachers Standard 1.2 Teachers should “demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching”, Standard 6.2 • Highly accomplished teachers “plan for professional learning by accessing and critiquing relevant research” • Lead stage teachers “engage in research”, and implement professional dialogue that is informed by “analysis of current research”
- 10. What is Evidence-Based Practice? From medicine “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research”. (Sackett et al, 1996)
- 11. Personal dimension of EBP What is Evidence-Based Practice? http://canberra.libguides.com/evidence, CC-by-sa
- 12. EBP applied to education
- 13. Cost and evidence http://australia.teachingandlearningtoolkit.net.au ©Education Endowment Foundation
- 14. Implementing research Average number of years for research to be fully integrated into everyday practice Hall, K 2011 No.17 blue and white CC–by-nc https://www.flickr.com/photos/fragiletender/5357073143
- 18. Reading research Finding is easy... but reading is hard
- 19. Research is not perfect • Conflicting research • Unbelievable research • Dubious research • Unintelligible research • Research not relevant to our context • Research that leaves more questions But it's better than the
- 20. Critical literacy • Validity - can you trust it? • Impact - are the results important? • Applicability - does it apply to your student? • Who wrote this? • Who funded this? • How was the evidence arrived at? • Is the research able to be replicated? • Is the evidence applicable to other contexts? • What questions do you have for the researcher?
- 21. Translating research into practice
- 23. Engagement • Learning from other sectors, eg Science Communicators • Events: face to face and online • Visualisation • Slide decks licensed for re-use
- 24. Evidence for practice examining and using empirical research to form practices and inform actions, and to identify best practices Evidence in practice integrating the available research evidence with the deep knowledge and understanding derived from professional experience, as well as using local evidence to identify learning dilemmas and needs, and achievement gaps Evidence of practice measured outcomes and impacts, going beyond process and activities as outputs. It establishes what has changed for learners as a result of inputs, interventions, activities, and processes Todd 2008 Holistic EBP
Editor's Notes
- If education is to be an evidence-based profession then all teachers need access to that evidence if they are to improve student learning. This presentation considers how time-poor teachers can access high quality research that is relevant, reliable and readable, and the importance of engaging with researchers to translate research into practice - in an Indigenous education context.
- ACER creates and promotes research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the life span not-for-profit, independent of government 380+ staff in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Dubai, New Delhi, Jakarta and London
- https://www.acer.edu.au/research/indigenous-education ACER works collaboratively with Indigenous learners and communities in undertaking research to inform policy, programs and practices to support improved outcomes for Indigenous learners. The Indigenous Education team: Tony Dreise, Principal Research Fellow, Troy Meston, Graduate Research Fellow, Jacynta Krakouer, Graduate Research Fellow, Gina Milgate, Research Fellow, and Bill Perrett, Senior Research Fellow. A group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participated in ACER’s Indigenous Visiting Fellow Development Program in Melbourne. Participants had an opportunity to learn about ACER and our work in Indigenous educational research and development, and identify research questions and appropriate methodologies in pursuit of their own research projects. Subscribe to Indigenous Update: http://research.acer.edu.au/indigupd/ Research Developments: https://rd.acer.edu.au/category/indigenous
- Behind each of these claims about education is a set of evidence from research bodies including the Global Partnership for Education, the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, Save the Children and other organisations working in global education. Australia is also working in this area through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The Australian Council for Educational Research also has a strategic centre dedicated to Global Educational Monitoring. http://www.globalpartnership.org/education/the-benefits-of-education – [plain text version has links] http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/education-post-2015.html http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=intdev
- This year is an important one for the global education community as leaders work to address the problem of universal education for all. In the year 2000 the Millennium development goals were set to propel the world into action for solving the issue of the number of children who were not receiving an primary school education, particularly girls How have we gone on MDG 2: achievements on education? In developing regions 90% of children are in primary education, and gender parity in enrolment has almost been achieved Enrolment in primary education in developing regions reached 90% in 2012, up from 83% in 2000, and 80% in 1990. By 2012, all developing regions had achieved, or were close to achieving, gender parity in primary education enrolment. In Afghanistan, 3.75 million girls were enrolled in school in 2014, compared with just 191,000 in 2002. Overall, school enrolment in Afghanistan has increased from 1 million to 8.2 million, and more than 165,000 new teachers have been trained. But despite all the work and funding towards this goal over the past 15 years, there are still 121 million children of primary and lower secondary school age out of school today. Meanwhile the emphasis on school attendance has masked the fact that hundreds of millions of children, despite going to school are failing to learn the basics of numeracy and literacy, Attendance at school, and having a teacher when you get there, does not automatically translate into learning. Australia needs particularly to note this - as a number of OECD reports show that: On average, our indigenous students are more than 2.5 years behind non-indigenous students (ACER, 2013: PISA 2012: How Australia measures up, p.37). Attendance is something that has been studied in Australia. Purdie & Buckley (2010) found that there is still a 10% gap overall in attendance of Indigenous students compared to non-Indigenous students. NSW year 5 the gap is currently 5%, ranging to 31% in Year 10 in NT. Of course addressing the underlying factors for the attendance gap is one of the important parts of this equation Sadly, also the performance of our students from Tasmania and the Northern Territory falls into the Low Quality/Low Equity category according to Glenn Savage, 2013 commenting on OECD 2012 report Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting disadvantaged students and schools, http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/50293148.pdf, in a Conversation article: https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australian-education-highly-equitable-20815 This year the world sets a new goal: #4 of the Sustainable Development Goals. What are we trying to achieve in the next 15 years? Equitable and inclusive QUALITY education and lifelong learning for all by 2030. References http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/18/julia-gillard-the-uns-new-education-goal-is-ambitious-and-audacious-it-has-to-be http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr/23/millennium-development-goal-2-15-achievements-on-education http://teachforaustralia.org/stories/australian-education-and-inequity-pisa-oecd/
- We all have tasks or challenges that require research. Teachers in your school will have problems that they need to solve to as they seek to provide equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all. In scale they may be a little less daunting than the issue facing global leaders, but they are still important and require similar information in order to see the way forward. Think of one learning related problem in your school or family or facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. Make a note of it and what knowledge you believe you need in order to solve that problem. What strategies have you tried/could you try to find evidence to help you solve the problem?
- Evidence-based practice seems so self-evident that we may not stop to question what is meant by the term. It is unlikely that anyone advocating ‘evidence-free education’ would receive much of a hearing, nor would a school be likely to advertise and education program built around its own convenience. If our practice is not built on evidence, what is it built on? Opinion? our own? others? Clever marketing rhetoric? What's easiest/good for us? Guesswork about what is good for kids? Faith? Research and evidence are like this image of Finding the right path We have an idea of where we are heading, have a basic direction and follow a path we have learned about from others. but it is sandy around the edges, there are distractions, and parts where nature changes, or we learn a better way, our knowledge of creation means the path behind is replaced and other should not follow. Parts are clear, others not so definite.
- AITSL Standard 1.2 Teachers should “demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching”, Standard 6.2 Highly accomplished teachers “plan for professional learning by accessing and critiquing relevant research” Lead stage teachers “engage in research”, and implement professional dialogue that is informed by “analysis of current research”. Where do we find the evidence for teaching practice? Indigenous specific standards 1.4 Provide advice and support colleagues in the implementation of effective teaching strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students using knowledge of and support from community representatives. 2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians Where do we find the evidence for teaching practice? What are the sources you know of for findingresearch relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education? AJIE, AJE, universities, university library libguides, AIATSIS What are the sources you know of for finding research relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education? AJIE, AJE, universities, university library libguides, AIATSIS
- ATED describes EBP as “an approach to professional practice, particularly in the health science area, that is based on results of statistical research rather than on theories or individual experience” “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research”. You can see the connection with education when you remove the word ‘clinical’ and replace patient with ‘student’ Reference Sackett, D., Rosenberg, W., Gray, J., et al. (1996). Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't: it's about integrating individual clinical expertise and the best external evidence. BMJ, 312, 71-72. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71
- The classic diagram of EBP in health shows these four contributing elements – one of which at the top - includes the patient’s input. So while it is simple to say ‘get the best research evidence’ and all will be right, there are 3 other equally important things to ‘get right’ For the sake of this session we have the luxury of focussing on just the red bit. Reference: http://canberra.libguides.com/evidence
- This is the best diagram I have come across in the literature for EBP in education. While it is missing the context and student perspective of the previous diagram, it shows the importance of ongoing student assessment in EBP.
- There seems to be a trend in current education research literature that favours the scientific or experimental methods that have been a driving force in medical research. Evidence-based medicine places particular emphasis on systematic review of randomised control trials (RCTs), and a number of policy makers are advocating for adoption of this as the primary approach for education (Goldacre, 2013). The UK Evidence-Based Teachers Network (2014) takes as its position: “we do not reference original research because secure evidence only comes when all the research is combined in meta-studies.” This brings education research into line with the hierarchy of evidence that is used in medicine. Marzano and Hattie are two well-known names in the area of meta-studies in education. In 2011 Higgins et al. (2015) developed a simple tabular way of displaying the relative cost, evidence and impact of common educational interventions. This was published as ‘an accessible summary of educational research on teaching 5-16 year olds’ by the UK Education Endowment Foundation [Link: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit]. The Australian teaching and learning toolkit [Link: http://australia.teachingandlearningtoolkit.net.au] is an adaptation of the UK version, and also prioritises systematic reviews of research and quantitative studies, such as meta-analyses of experimental studies. Qualitative evidence There is no consensus however that experimental research is the pinnacle of evidence in the education sector. Quinn (2014) argues strongly for the value of qualitative evidence. In response to the oft-quoted [‘anecdote is not the plural of evidence’] Quinn counters that “systematic, intentional, and careful recording of purposefully sampled anecdotes (stories) can become evidence when rigorously captured and thoughtfully analysed,” especially by a professional researcher. Dylan Willam (2014) counters with another view. He believes “teaching will never be a research-based profession” and that “educational research can only tell us what was, not what might be.” George Couros (2015) calls for an approach that balances attention to evidence with attention to innovation, considering an ‘innovation mindset’ as an important element of the educator’s toolkit. Education Endowment Foundation http://australia.teachingandlearningtoolkit.net.au
- It takes an average of 17 years for medical clinical research to be fully integrated into everyday practice. even once evidence is widespread, providers still make decisions based on habit rather than evidence. the challenge is to make good evidence easier to find and appraise Reference Morris et al "The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding ... [2011] Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, http://jrs.sagepub.com/content/104/12/510.full.pdf+html https://www.lib.umn.edu/apps/instruction/ebp Kirsty Hall (2011). No. 17 https://www.flickr.com/photos/fragiletender/5357073143
- Finding research How do we find about about new research? There are a number of ways that teachers come to know about research. 1. Sometimes it is passive consumption where research is delivered directly through marketing, news headlines, social media, RSS feeds, alerts or subscriptions. 2. In other cases readers come across research serendipitously when browsing online or print resources, or 3. in conversations with colleagues, and as 4. part of professional learning activities. Libraries have a role in each of these types of research finding. UTAS has subject guides, eg Aboriginal Studies: From letting staff know about alerts, feeds and services that have these features built-in, to curating hot topics and pathfinders to save teacher time. Subscription database services such as Informit’s A+ Education allow users to sign up to alerts to any new material indexed on a previous saved search, and Google Scholar supports personalised research alerts. Libraries can support book clubs, journal clubs, and Professional Learning Networks as well as providing literature searches for staff or working collaboratively or proactively to collect research on topics related to school priorities. At times teachers must engage actively and consciously, searching in response to a specific need or interest.
- ACER curates a special collection of research into indigenous education. It is promoted as Learning Ground. It is free to access and subscribe to. Learning Ground, is our Indigenous Education Research Database. It is portal of the latest evidence-based Indigenous educational research that expands professional knowledge in teaching and learning and informs our work in Indigenous education. Making a Difference: We have produced and published over 60 reports and continue to publish widely. This contribution has included research, policy analysis, program evaluation, professional development, and the development of assessment tools and other resources. Making a Difference illustrates the contribution we have made to Indigenous education over the past decade. We develop resources for the profession and our publication Two-Way Teaching and Learning is used as a prescribed text in higher education institutions.
- Twitter is a great way to receive alerts of new resources and research.
- While there is no doubt that publishers and libraries could improve access to research literature, when Stanford researchers were interviewed about the challenges of searching, they declared that "finding is easy... but reading is hard" (Sack, 2014). An online education magazine editor shared her concern recently that while their research articles and interviews generate significant numbers of tweets and likes and mentions, the page analytics show that very few of these ‘readers’ actually read the article or clicked on the video interview. This trend is reported by other online publications (Mangoo, 2013). Reading a headline or a tweet about a research paper is not sufficient to underpin evidence-based practice.
- There are examples of conflicting research, dubious research, unintelligible research or research not relevant to our context. There is particular concern currently over correlations that are read and accepted as causation, and on ‘neuromyths’ arising from misunderstanding of neuroscience (Howard-Jones, 2014). Conflicting research Unbelievable research Dubious research Unintelligible research Research not relevant to our context Research that leaves more questions Spurious correlations: http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations But rather we had some poor research, than none at all
- The critiquing of research is an essential component of engaging with research. With students we often use the acronym CRAP (Currency, Reliability, Authority, and Purpose) to teach evaluation of sources. The same requirement for critical thinking, and certain amount of scepticism, applies when reviewing research into professional practice. Validity - can you trust it? Impact - are the results important? Applicability - does it apply to your student? Who wrote this? Who funded this? How was the evidence arrived at? Is the research able to be replicated? Is the evidence applicable to other contexts? What questions do you have for the researcher?
- In the same way that teaching does not equal learning, the act of conducting or reading research changes nothing for the learner. It requires some kind of response to the evidence, and taking appropriate action. For schools this response can be effectively developed in local, collaborative teams. Research is expensive. In 2012 education research, just within the Australian higher education sector, cost $357.6 million (ABS, 2012). While education represents a fraction of that spent on medical research, this is a massive waste if the findings do not translate into improving outcomes for learners. The challenge for those doing research is to make it easier for practitioners to find, understand and apply their research. The Australian Council for Educational Research has a strategic project dedicated to translation of research into educational practice. We recognise that it is not enough to publish research, or even to put it into the hands of teachers, leaders and systems – we need to ensure this research is applied to improve learning. The Teacher School Learning Community [Link: https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/page/join-the-teacher-school-learning-community] is one strategy where teachers in teams or at whole school staff meetings put aside some time to read short evidence-based articles and engage in discussion of their context ResearchED [Link: http://www.workingoutwhatworks.com/en-GB/Resource-library] reports on schools in the UK which have appointed ‘research leads’, middle- to senior-level staff with a position of responsibility related to research in the school The annual Excellence in Professional Practice Conference (EPPC) [Link: https://www.acer.edu.au/eppc] provides professional learning teams with an opportunity to share their collaborative action research projects
- We took as our inspiration the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet from ECU, in Western Australia which has been developing translational research in public health areas The priority is to foster communication and understanding between teachers and researchers, and to help recognise the difficulties faced by each group. If engagement is to be genuine and productive, it is essential that neither teachers, nor researchers, approach this from an attitude of deficiency or stereotyping. How you can help The translational research team at ACER would like to hear from teachers on the ground. Questions include: How do you keep up with research? How do you like to ‘digest’ research? When is the best time for you to engage in research? What questions do you wish educational researchers would address? What is the value of this research for improving learning? Does this research make sense? Does it fit your context? What has been missing? Are there voices absent? How can you apply these findings? Where does it fit in your frame of reference?
- Holistic model of evidence-based practice (Todd, 2008, p.40) Returning to the models of evidence based practice, it is important to remember that the goal of the finding, reading and critiquing research is to come to a bottom line, to decide on exactly what is the best evidence based on all the information and critical techniques at your disposal. Then begins the real work of applying the learning from this evidence as you implement these recommendations, and move into Todd’s evidence in practice stage.