RESEARCH CAPACITY BUILDING NETWORK (RCBN) 2004 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

2004 Conference Title: Research Capacity Building in Teaching and Learning

One-day Conference
Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
24 February 2004

** Two presentations from this conference are now available for download:
NERF and Capacity Building (by Andrew Morris, Programme Director for the National Education Forum, England) and Towards a New Policy Science **

The development of teaching and learning requires the most effective possible research base. Creating innovative strategies for building on the existing strengths of educational research in the UK is thus a key element in current attempts to strengthen policy and professional practice for teaching and learning.

This conference will explore some of the key issues which arise in the development of research capacity in this field. It will do so through the exploration of the experiences of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP); and it is intended primarily for the researchers who are involved in the TLRP.

This conference will explore some of the key issues arising in the development of research capacity in this field. It will do so through the exploration of the experiences of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) and it is intended primarily for researchers involved with the TLRP. It is hoped that at least one principal investigator and one contracted researcher from each TLRP project can attend the conference.

The 2004 RCBN Annual Conference has been organised alongside a conference by DYSG, the National operation in Wales of the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA). Both events will be followed by a Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) Showcase of its whole project portfolio.

The conference will begin with a presentation by the RCBN on the results of its consultation exercise and an outline of how it is beginning to define ‘research capacity’ and ‘research capacity-building’. A number of TLRP projects will then be invited to present and discuss their experiences and contributions to building research capacity from a range of perspectives. Participants will then be given the opportunity to discuss future strategies for individuals, research teams and the TLRP as a whole on the future direction of research capacity building in the UK.

PROGRAMME

10.15 Registration (coffee and tea available)

10.45 – 11.00 Welcome and introduction
Professor Paul Atkinson (Chair of ESRC Research Methods Programme Steering Committee)

11.00 – 12.00 Plenary session 1: Building research capacity within the TLRP - RCBN Team
Chair: Professor Andrew Pollard (Director of the TLRP)

12.00 – 13.00 Three short presentations by members of the TLRP

• Professor Denis Gleeson (Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education)
• Mark Newman (The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning in Promoting Evidence-Based Practice)
• Jan Winter (Home-School Knowledge Exchange and Transformation in Primary Education)

Chair: Professor Gareth Rees (Director of the RCBN)

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 Breakout discussion sessions: Future strategies for building research capacity
Discussion group leaders: Members of the RCBN Executive Group

15.00 – 16.30 Plenary session 2: Future directions in teaching and learning research

• A new policy science - Professor Hugh Lauder (University of Bath)
• The work of the National Education Research Forum - Andrew Morris (NERF & DfES)
• Review of Research Capacity - Kurt Larsen (OECD)

Chair: Professor Robert Burgess (Chair of the TLRP Steering Committee and Vice Chancellor of the University of Leicester)

16.30 Tea and coffee

A reception and showcase of TLRP projects will follow the conference at 17.00-19.00. The reception will be opened by Jane Davidson, Welsh Assembly Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning.