Events Archive
Time: 1.00pm – 2.00pm
Place: School of Education, Room G1, 6 College Green
In 2010, UNICEF country office, Kyrgyzstan commissioned the Centre for Effective Education to undertake a formative evaluation of the children’s TV series, Magic Journey. Magic Journey is an animated programme aimed at pre-school children and was developed by UNICEF in 2006 in response to the extreme lack of pre-school provision within the country. The series is broadcast in the Kyrgyz language and features 4 key characters: Aktan (a little boy); Akylai (a little girl); their Grandpa and; Takay (a little donkey). Through activities such as story-telling, song and dance, problem solving and being curious and exploratory these characters address and teach about a range of developmental issues including: life skills, diversity, personal hygiene and basic numeracy and literacy.
The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide UNICEF and other key stakeholders with high quality evidence regarding the reach of Magic Journey and its appeal to children aged 5-6 years and their parents/caregivers in order to help shape the further development of the series. This seminar will present some of the findings from the evaluation.
To register for this seminar please email June Clawson at j.clawson@qub.ac.uk
Date: 10-11 January 2011
Time:10:00 - 16:45
Place: Room 0G/005, 20 College Green, School of Education, Queen's University Belfast.
Time: 11:00am - 3:30pm
Place: 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.
Date: Thursday 1 October 2009
Time: 13:00 - 14:00 (sandwich lunch at 12:30)
Place: 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.
Organised through the Coalition for Evidence based Education (CEBE) event series, staff from the CEE will be showcasing some of the Centre’s work at the Institute of Education, University of London in early December 2012 (Exact date to be confirmed). The half day event intends to outline the philosophy and approach that the Centre takes in the conduct of randomised control trials in education and community settings as well as some of the results of recent evaluations. It will be aimed at academics, policy-makers and educational practitioners.
