EMPIRICAL STUDIES
 

Recently funded by SSHRC, this study will extend over the next three years and will map and evaluate the ways in which education research is shared with educators (teachers, principals, and other school leaders). This study will respond to the following questions:

In what ways are research producers making their evidence available to educators?

What is the impact of these efforts on the use of research by educators?

This study examines the knowledge mobilization practices of more than 200 education and other organizations, in Canada and beyond, as evidenced by information on their websites.

We have developed an assessment tool with which to measure and give feedback to organizations on how to improve their KM work via their website.

Websites are often a primary vehicle used by researchers and educational organizations to disseminate research findings, yet little work has been done to determine whether and how people actually use online research products. 

Our team has partnered with educational organizations in Canada and abroad to investigate this issue. Initial findings suggest significant differences in the way individuals use various websites, which may be connected to differences in website design. 

The purpose of this project is to learn about the ways research is encountered and used to shape policy and practice in Canadian secondary schools.  Schools and districts tend to lack formalized research capacity, resources or time to engage with research. Our goal is to see whether relatively simple interventions can actually change educators’ use and knowledge of research. 

This study, funded by SSHRC, examines the strategies used and steps taken by Canadian universities and faculties of education, compared with leading international faculties of education, to make research more accessible and available to the broader education community.