Research Findings Conference
The ULRI Research Findings Conferences, which have taken place twice a year for the last two years, give practitioners the opportunity to share their personal research project findings with others. In particular, the Research Findings Conferences ask one very pertinent, central question:
‘What works best in teaching so that the impact on learning can be maximised?’
In 2008 and 2009 teachers from around the group gathered in Sheffield and London to share the findings of their research, with some of the titles of the presentations being:
- How have thinking skills activities improved the learning of students in GCSE and A level Physics?
- What has been the impact on learning of cross-curricular partnerships at Lambeth Academy?
- How has personalised learning improved performance in maths education at Hampshire Collegiate School?
- What are the key components of an outstanding lesson and how have they impacted on learning at Caterham School?
- What are the transition issues at KS2 to KS3 at Manchester academy and how have they been addressed?
- Getting year 9 boys to read at Caterham School – what works?
- How has a focus on G&T strategies in Spanish impacted on Teaching and Learning at Hull Collegiate School?
- How can Interactive Technologies improve learning in Geography?
- How do engaging starter activity strategies enable an NQT to cope with challenging pupils in an inner city Academy?
- How does an innovative and creative use of ICT enable effective teaching of Drama?
In addition to these ULT and UCST specific projects, a focus on national and international research findings have also been a major focus of the Research Findings Conferences. In particular, interactive sessions involved:
- Visible Learning – the work of John Hattie, Professor of Education at Auckland University. This session focused on discussing what Hattie’s 15 year study involving 80 million people had found to be most effective in terms of learning;
- The Effect Size – so what? This session focused on the relevance, importance and power of how calculating an effect size can inform teachers about the impact their teaching is having on, amongst other things, their students’ learning.
