Better feedback at school
Research in education has shown that the quality of feedback that pupils get from their teachers is one of the most important factors in determining how much they learn from what they are being taught. That is why educational researchers such as John Hattie from New Zealand and those from Utrecht University are conducting research into the quality of feedback. Some of the schools with which Utrecht University collaborates intensively in teacher training considered the results of the research to be so important that they decided to give their teachers further training in providing good quality feedback.
This project is bringing academic research and educational practice closer together.
Schooling and research
For each school we have set up development groups in which teachers and employees of the university and HU University of Applied Sciences are not only involved in developing the schooling, but are also carrying out joint research into its effects. Students on the university teacher training programme are involved in the research as well. A research team led by Larike Bronkhorst of Utrecht University collates the data gathered at the various schools. The research shows that teachers are very satisfied and have learnt a great deal from the schooling that their colleagues have helped develop. In future, the effects on pupils' learning will also be studied.
Results
An important result of the project is that the schools involved, the university and the HU University of Applied Sciences have been able to successfully combine their own different approaches towards educational research and the development of teaching. In that sense, the cooperation in this project brings academic research and educational practice closer together.