Practical and useful research? First, sort out the theory

Researchers need to begin by examining their theories to enable them to control their research, and avoid the risk of being misled by unexamined beliefs.

We need to talk about language: The researcher view

Coming from a background in community learning and development, my work in partnership with Banff Academy as part of my PhD research has been an interesting and rewarding experience. I find myself...

Lifelong learning ecologies: The challenge of capturing emergent forms of learning

Why does a powerful metaphor of learning in our contemporary society poorly convey empirical research, research transfer and applications? This appears to be true of the concept of ‘learning...

Shifting power in children’s literature: Story Makers Press

Literary criticism of children’s literature focusses on the power relations between the adult writer and the child reader. At one end of the spectrum, this relationship is described as...

Where is the ‘theory’ within the field of educational technology research?

We know that research in the field of educational technology has grown substantially in importance over the last decade or so – mainly due to the huge investment by many governments in...

Exploring learning entanglement

Learning spaces are changing. Classrooms, once filled with uniform furnishings and distinct ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ territories, are being reimagined to provide learning spaces that...

Having a secure and safe place to conduct the fieldwork: Further anecdotal tales in pursuit of the elusive doctorate

From Zero to Hero: Anecdotal tales in pursuit of the elusive doctorate

In this blog we consider the more logistical aspects of completing a PhD – namely, ensuring that you have a secure and safe place in which to conduct the fieldwork. We both feel strongly about...

Peering through the looking glass: Making sense of the observation process in HE

This blog is inspired by two recent experiences. The first was attending Matt O’Leary’s recent seminar at Liverpool John Moores’ University on ‘Observing teaching and learning in higher...

BERA Bites, issue 3: Innovative methods for educational research

The BERA Bites series presents selected articles from the BERA Blog on key topics in education, presented in an easily printable and digestible format to serve as teaching and learning resources...

Professional learning resources to contribute towards a more collaborative professional community of teacher educators

In England there are two distinct communities of teacher educators: institute-based teacher educators (IBTEs) employed by higher education institutions (HEIs), and school-based teacher educators...

Understanding social transformation and school environments through social network analysis

Some decades ago, several studies advanced an unexpected answer to an age-old question: schools do not help students improve their social positions (see for example Coleman et al., 1966). This...

Are there individual differences in developing spatial thinking skills of university students within a web‐based GIS mapping environment?

Spatial thinking as a set of cognitive skills is essential for success in academic, workplace and everyday settings, particularly in the contemporary information age. Existing research shows that...