The transformative turn in research and innovation (R&I) policy calls for new approaches to monitoring and evaluation, yet most evaluands are still rooted in previous policy paradigms. For evaluators tasked with conducting ex-post evaluations, this situation creates multiple challenges that have received little attention to date. In this…

This article puts forward several proposals for replicating two well-known "First Exposure" studies dealing with the earliest stages of adult second language acquisition. Both of them enquire into the word-level knowledge that complete beginners are able to extract from minimal input when exposed to a new language for the first time.…

A synthesis of the state of the literature is discussed in this section of the Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) forum organized around four critical questions: (1) What is ECB? (2) How can we make it happen? (3) How do we know it is happening? and (4) What is its impact? The authors argue that to move the field of ECB forward we need to envision…

This article describes the thinking behind the development of "Scholar," a "social knowledge" technology developed as part of a series of research and development projects at the University of Illinois. Seven pedagogical openings are identified in this article, possibilities for the creation of innovative learning environments…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a growing movement in the health and educational disciplines that recommends emphasis on research outcomes during decision making in practice. EBP is made possible through evidence based research (EBR), which attempts to synthesize the volume and scientific rigor of intervention effectiveness. With the purpose of…

This paper presents the full results from a 2008/2009 research study examining the application of a "learning environment" paradigm to the school library setting. The preliminary results from the examination of the Fifth Grade science classes were presented at the IASL 2009 Research Forum. We now report the process of completing our…

Two emergent conceptual models for fostering the development of innovative technology through applied science at Cooperative Research Centers (CRCs)--the Triple Helix and the science of team science--have proved highly productive in stimulating research into how the innovation process works. Although the two arenas for fostering innovation have…

Though C. Wright Mills made a pivotal contribution to the discipline by raising sociologists' awareness of the ideological and bureaucratic content of sociological practicality, he may have placed unyielding limits on "the promise" he profoundly proclaimed in the "sociological imagination." By defining types of practicality in such rigidly…

Standards-based education reform has a more than 20-year history. A standards-based vision was enacted in federal law under the Clinton administration with the 1994 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and carried forward under the Bush administration with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. In a recent…

This article is based on research and development carried out at the Centre for Outcomes-Based Education at the Open University (OU). It explores the way in which higher education (HE) assessment could meet specific criteria in order to assess the unique qualities that underpin the relationship between practitioner-researchers and the workplace.…

Human capital development is one of the emerging areas of study with regard to social science theory, practice, and research. A relatively new concept, human capital is described in terms of individual knowledge skills and experience. It is currently expressed as a function of education as well as a measure of economic activity. Little theory…

The article argues that collective learning plays an important role in the practice of teacher research, which has not yet been adequately dealt with in its theory. Lave & Wenger's (1991) theory of "Situated Learning" is examined as an example for a conceptualisation of collective learning. In the concluding section, some provisions for "learning…

Intended for individuals involved in research policy and funding in England's higher education system, this HEFCE report is a fundamental review of research policy and funding in the context of several issues addressed by the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The report summarizes conclusions reached by the committee enjoined to oversee…

Levels of analysis perform an important function in framing research and practice in human resource development (HRD). The purpose of this article is to examine the concept of HRD from the individual, organizational, and community-societal levels of analysis. The article highlights both the distinctiveness and usefulness of each level of analysis,…

Report on a peer-reviewed, interactive electronic journal focuses on stages of its development; features of two available access points--an ASCII interface called EPS (Electronic Publishing Service) and a graphical interface called Guidon; advantages of Guidon access over simple electronic file transfer; and planned improvements. (Contains five…