UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Graduate School of Education Wins Two Major Awards for Teaching and Learning
The University of Bristol's Graduate School of Education has been awarded substantial funding for two research projects in teaching and learning.
The awards were announced on 1 September, under the £7.5 million Phase II of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Teaching and Learning Research Programme. The announcement is the culmination of an intensive nine-month competition, for which 95 applications were received. It is a major achievement for one institution to be awarded funding for two projects.
The first research project will aim to raise levels of literacy and numeracy in primary schools and enhance pupils' attitudes towards learning. The project aims to bring together, for the children's benefit, the different kinds of knowledge and skills possessed by teachers and parents.The research team will work with teachers and parents to develop new forms of home-school collaboration, and evaluate their effects on pupils'attainment and attitudes.
The project has been developed with the close co-operation of teachers and Local Education Authority (LEA) officers and will be based in Bristol and Cardiff. The project will be co-ordinated by Professor Martin Hughes, Professor of Education at the University of Bristol, and by Professor Andrew Pollard, who will be Professor of Primary Education at the University of Cambridge from 1 October 2000.
Professor Hughes said: 'We are delighted to receive funding for our project. We hope to establish new methods through which parents and teachers can work together to improve children's learning. The project's results will be of direct relevance for teachers, parents and educational policy-makers.'
The second research project will examine ways in which new technologies can be used within education to improve learning. The research will focus on the design and evaluation of longitudinal teaching and learning initiatives within the areas of English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages and Music. The project is also concerned with learning which cuts across the traditional subject disciplines such as numeracy/application of number, literacy/communication and problem solving/creative thinking. The project will pay particular interest to the relationship between out-of-school and in-school use of computers by learners and teachers.
The research is a collaborative partnership between teachers, researchers, teacher educators and managers, working across the primary, secondary and FE sectors. Professor Rosamund Sutherland, Professor of Education, who is leading the project, said: 'We are thrilled with the award. We hope to identify ways in which research evidence can be transformed and developed to be of value to educational practitioners. The findings will be communicated by researchers and teachers to a wide range of people who can use them to improve practice in teaching and learning through Information and Communication Technology (ICT).'
Notes to Editors: The ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme is the largest programme of research in education and training in the United Kingdom. The Programme has been commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) with funding of £12.5 m. from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly and the Department for Education and Employment. The programme website can be found at http://www.ex.ac.uk/ESRC-TLRP/
The ESRC website is at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/
Professor Martin Hughes, Head of Department and Professor of Education, tel (0117) 928 7007, email martin.hughes@bristol.ac.uk, Mr Roger Deeks, Deputy Head of Department, tel (0117) 9287016 or (0771) 2329405 and Professor Rosamund Sutherland, Professor of Education, tel (0117) 928 7108, email ros.sutherland@bristol.ac.uk, will be available for interview, by arrangement.
To arrange an interview please telephone the Communications & Marketing Office, tel (0117) 928 8896/8086/7777, fax (0117) 929 2396 or email communications-office@bristol.ac.uk Previous stories:
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Copyright: 1998 The University of Bristol, UK
Updated: Wednesday, 20-Sep-2000 12:37:28 BST