Events
- Una Seminar on Children’s Rights and Service Design (12 March 2010)
- Why Do We Need Participatory Research? (16 March 2010)
- Meta–Analysis in Education Research: Reading and Interpreting Quantitative Research Syntheses: an introduction to methodology (10 December 2009)
- "Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes for Children and Young People" - A Joint NCB and ICL Half Day Seminar (23 November 2009)
- Workshop on Doing Randomized Field Trials with Prof. Gary Ritter (30 September 2009)
- Seminar: “Do Volunteer Tutoring Programs Enhance Academic Performance for Tutees? A Systematic Review" (1 October 2009)
- Postgraduate Research Conference (2-3 June 2009)
Una Seminar on Children’s Rights and Service Design (12 March 2010)
A one-day seminar is to be held at Queen’s University Belfast on Friday 12 March on the theme of: “Respecting Children’s Rights in Service Planning, Provision and Evaluation”. The event is being organised by the Children’s Rights and Advocacy Learning Group of Una: The Global Learning Initiative on Children and Ethnic Diversity and is being hosted by the Improving Children’s Lives Initiative at Queen’s.
Una is a global, inter-disciplinary network of leading researchers and practitioners committed to reducing racial and ethnic divisions and building socially inclusive communities through the promotion of effective early childhood programmes. Its work is characterized by a commitment to developing programmes that are children’s rights-based, outcomes focused and evidence-informed. Una is Co-Directed by Profs. Paul Connolly and Tony Gallagher of the Centre for Effective Education.
The purpose of the seminar is to share international experiences and perspectives regarding the application of a children’s rights based approach to the planning, provision and evaluation of children’s services and to consider the implications of this for developing early childhood programmes aimed at promoting respect for ethnic diversity.
The seminar is free to attend but pre-registration is essential to secure a place. Further details, including how to register, are provided in the event flyer: http://bit.ly/93mBv0
For more information please contact David Piekaar on 028 9097 5956 or email at: d.piekaar@qub.ac.uk
Why Do We Need Participatory Research? (16 March 2010)
Presentation –Workshop – Networking – Panel – Best Practice Guidance
Tuesday 16th March 2010, 10.00-16.00
NCB, Albany House, 73-75 Great Victoria Street, BELFAST BT2 7AF
Key speaker: Dr Darren Sharpe : Practice Development Officer of the National Youth Agency and Director of the Young Researcher Network
Other speakers/organisers: Celine McStravick: Director NCB Northern Ireland
Gill Crouch: Participation Worker NCB Northern Ireland
Dirk Schubotz: YLT Director, ARK
NCB/ARK Young Researchers
After Darren’s presentation, two parallel workshop sessions will be held which provide an opportunity to discuss the methodology and practice of working with young people as researchers. The workshops will be co-facilitated by young people who have worked as peer researchers themselves on recent ARK and NCB projects. The day will be concluded with a Panel Discussion of a Best Practice Guide on participatory research.
This free event (catering included!) is held within the ESRC Festival of Social Science week and is organised by ARK in conjunction with NCB Northern Ireland. It provides a good networking opportunity for people who have been involved in participatory research, but equally an ideal starting point for those who have an interest in such research and would like to learn more about participatory research practice and ethics of working with young people.
Places are limited! To book yours, please contact Dirk Schubotz at: (028) 9097 3947, or email: D.Schubotz@qub.ac.uk
Click here for a flyer for this event.
Meta–Analysis in Education Research: Reading and Interpreting Quantitative Research Syntheses: an introduction to methodology (10 December 2009)
Free one day introductory course is to be held at Queen’s University Belfast. The one day course will provide an introduction to the use of meta-analysis in education research with particular emphasis on quantitative techniques.
The course is organised by the School of Education, Durham University in collaboration with CEM at Durham University, York University and the Institute of Education, University of London.
Date: Thursday 10 December 2009, 10 am to 4 pm
Venue: Room C2K, School of Education, 69-71 University Street
Cost: Free (lunch included)
The course will be of interest to research students, research associates, academic researchers,
research methods course leaders and those with a policy interest in interpreting research findings.
Topics to be covered will include: systematic reviewing and meta-analysis; types of quantitative
synthesis; effect size as measure (especially in intervention research); interpreting effect size
differences; key issues (heterogeneity/homogeneity); weighted means; quality issues; publication
bias; discipline specific issues in education and exploration of the 'warrant' of the findings of
quantitative synthesis.
Project Website: http://www.durham.ac.uk/education/rdi
To book a place on the course, download a booking form from the website or contact the Project Secretary.
CONTACT:
Sheena Smith, Project Secretary,
School of Education, Durham University, Leazes Road, Durham, DH1 1TA
Tel: 0191 334 8403
Click here for a flyer for this event.
"Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes for Children and Young People" - A Joint NCB and ICL Half Day Seminar
Monday 23 November 2009, 9.30 am – 2.00 pm. The Great Hall, Queen’s University Belfast
This half-day seminar is for service commissioners, practitioners, academics and policy makers. This event, which is being co-hosted by NCB Northern Ireland and the Improving Children’s Lives initiative at Queen’s University Belfast, seeks to explore the challenges faced by researchers and service providers in attempting to meet the government’s pledge - “To deliver improved outcomes for all children and young people…. based on identified need and on evidence about what works” (Our Children and Young People – Our Pledge 2006 – 2016).
The event will be chaired by Celine McStravick (Director of NCB Northern Ireland) and will include the following speakers:
- Christine Davies CBE, Director, Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services www.c4eo.org.uk
- Dr Deborah Ghate, Director, Centre for Effective Services www.effectiveservices.org
- Prof. Paul Connolly, Director, Improving Children's Lives www.improvingchildrenslives.org
We will also invite poster presentations/information sharing to promote ongoing examples of evidence based interventions to improve outcomes for children and young people in the region.
A buffet lunch will be provided.
As places are limited, we respectfully request you book your place as soon as possible by completing the booking form below the advertisement attached to this page and returning to cadrain@ncb.org.uk
Click here for flyer and booking form for this event.
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Workshop on Doing Randomized Field Trials with Prof. Gary Ritter (30 September 2009) Methods Workshop: “Doing Randomized Controlled Trials without the Control: Conducting Random Assignment Studies in a Social Context" Professor Gary Ritter, University of Arkansas Time and Venue: 11:00 - 15:30, Wednesday 30 September 2009, G13 (Cathcart Room), School of Education. In this workshop, we will discuss the challenges, possibilities, and ultimately the importance of conducting random assignment in social (and particularly educational) contexts. The workshop will be organized roughly around the following questions: · What exactly is a Randomized Field Trial (RFT) and how is it different from an RCT? · What types of questions can RFTs help us address? · In the absence of RFTs, what are policymakers and others using as evidence? · How can such evidence lead them/us astray? · What are the common arguments against doing RFTs? · Why should we continue to do RFTs anyway? · What are the logistical issues than can undermine RFTs? · What are some lessons from the field in successfully conducting RFTs? The workshop will conclude with a presentation of the results of an actual RFT conducted in 2006-08 with more than 4,000 school children in the US on the impact of technology in the classroom.
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Seminar: “Do Volunteer Tutoring Programs Enhance Academic Performance for Tutees? A Systematic Review” Professor Gary Ritter, University of Arkansas Time and Venue: 13:00 - 14:00 (sandwich lunch at 12:30), Thursday 1 October 2009, G13 (Cathcart Room), School of Education This meta-analysis assesses the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs for improving the academic skills of students enrolled in public schools Grades K-8 in the United States and further investigates for whom and under what conditions tutoring can be effective. The authors found 21 studies (with 28 different study cohorts in those studies) reporting on randomized field trials to guide them in assessing the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs. Overall, the authors found volunteer tutoring has a positive effect on student achievement. With respect to particular subskills, students who work with volunteer tutors are likely to earn higher scores on assessments related to letters and words, oral fluency, and writing as compared to their peers who are not tutored. |
Postgraduate Research Conference (2-3 June 2009)
The Research Forum for the Child warmly invites you to the First Postgraduate Conference on the subject of the Child on 2 and 3 June 2009 at Queen's University Belfast. The Conference is an initiative of the Research Forum for the Child and seeks to promote high quality, multi-disciplinary research that provides a better understanding of the issues that affect children and young people. The response from the Call for Papers has been phenomenal and has given us the opportunity to produce a programme that is diverse and interesting. It will provide postgraduates with the opportunity to present, listen and network with other postgraduates with similar research interests.
Registration on both days of the conference will be in the Peter Froggart Centre from 9.00am – 9.30am with an Introduction on Tuesday 2 June 2009 from 9.30am to 10.00am. On both days of the conference we will be providing lunch, tea and coffee. We are also planning a dinner on Tuesday 2 June for people attending the conference to socialise and enjoy some Belfast craic! It will be an opportunity to relax and network further with other postgraduates. We are asking that a contribution towards this of £10 is paid on registration to those wishing to attend.
Further information and registration forms are available from the Research Forum for the Child's website. Please return the attached registration form for the conference as soon as possible and no later than Wednesday 6 May 2009.
Seminar and Workshop on Cost/Benefit Analyses by Steve Aos (23 June 2009)
A Seminar and Workshop focusing on cost/benefit analyses of early intervention programmes for children will take place on 23 June. The Seminar and Workshop to follow will both be led by Steve Aos, Associate Director of the Washington State Institute of Public Policy (WSIPP) which is housed within government at the Washington State Legislature. Steve’s work puts prevention and the analyses of research-informed programs at the heart of government. He is an internationally regarded expert in the production of cost/benefit analyses of early intervention programmes for children. His costs/benefits analyses (or ‘consumer reports’ as he likens them to) detail which early interventions with children provide the best value for money in relation to their longer term outcomes. He has carried out these reports in a range of contexts including; Criminal Justice, Education, Child Welfare, Health Care and Mental Health. Steve will follow his seminar with a short practical session on how to compile cost benefit analyses.
This Seminar and Workshop is being organised by the Centre for Effective Education in conjunction with Improving Children’s Lives. These events have been made possible with the support of the Contract Research Staff Training and Development Fund. An overall itinerary for the day is provided below. Further details will be available shortly:
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Sandwich lunch 12.30-1.00pm (Senate Committee Room)
Seminar 1.00-2.00pm (Senate Room)
Workshop 2.30-4.30pm (Senate Room)
For more information contact Dr Liam O’Hare l.ohare@qub.ac.uk or to register for either event please contact David Piekaar d.piekaar@qub.ac.uk