Challenges in Education Research in Taiwan: Research Institutes and Organizations, Research Policies, and Problems

Abstract

Since the 1990s, many education researchers and policy makers worldwide have reviewed education research to attempt to provide strategies to improve the quality of such research in their countries. Taiwan's government has launched policies and funded support to set the benchmark for Taiwan's leading universities in international academic competition. The external environment of global competition based on research policy influences the ecosystem of social science research production. To assure the quality of education policy, peer review from within the education community is one approach to supplementing the government's governance, including the establishment of research institutes, promotion, rewards, and research value. This study tracked the mode of academic research and provides an overview of the status of academic education research in Taiwan. Because education research is part of the humanities and social sciences fields, this study identified the challenges in educational research by examining the trend of social science research and by analyzing research organizations, policy, and the evaluation of research performance. Due to the environment of education research in Taiwan is not friendly to education researcher to accumulate papers in SSCI or international journal, additional concerns entail how education research communities can develop and agree on its quality. AbstrakSejak tahun 1990-an, pembuat kebijakan dan peneliti pendidikan di seluruh dunia telah melakukan kajian tentang penelitian pendidikan, guna menggali strategi perbaikan kualitas riset di negara mereka. Pemerintah Taiwan mengeluarkan kebijakan dan dukungan finansial demi kemajuan penelitian universitasuniversitas unggul di Taiwan di kancah akademik internasional. Kompetisi penelitian pendidikan global sebagai faktor ekstenal jelas mempengaruhi ekosistem pertumbuhan riset ilmu sosial. Untuk menjamin kualitas kebijakan pendidikan, salah satu pendekatannya adalah dengan melakukan peer-review atau penelaahan hasil penelitian oleh sesama kolega dalam komunitas pendidikan, selain dari upaya-upaya insentif pemerintah, seperti pendirian lembaga riset, promosi, hibah, dan pembobotan penelitian. Makalah ini membahas pendekatan penelitian akademis dan gambaran umum kondisi penelitian pendidikan di Taiwan. Karena pendidikan adalah bagian dari ilmu sosial dan humanitas, makalah ini juga mengidentifikasi kendala-kendala penelitian pendidikan dengan menganalisa tren penelitian ilmu sosial, lembaga penelitian, kebijakan terkait dan evaluasi hasil penelitian. Dikarenakan lingkungan riset pendidikan di Taiwan kurang terbuka kepada para peneliti, terutama untuk pengumpulan makalah di SSCI atau jurnal internasional, maka juga perlu dipikirkan bagaimana komunitas penelitian pendidikan dapat tumbuh dan mengembangkan kualitasnya.