Researching and Extending Developments in Contemporary Educational Practice

Abstract

The field of contemporary education abounds with multiple practices designed to enhance the effectiveness of teaching approaches and to maximise students' learning outcomes. Yet we still know relatively little about what works in terms of teaching and learning in different educational contexts. In particular, if we are to advocate the wider application of particular kinds of educational developments, we need to conduct and evaluate research about the foundations of those developments and the factors that promote and/or inhibit their success.This chapter distils some key findings from current scholarship about educational developments and how they are practised in varied professional contexts. The analysis of these findings is informed by a number of conceptual frameworks gleaned from contemporary research into the elements of effective educational strategies in specific teaching and learning domains. Key concepts from these frameworks are in turn used to identify the central questions about educational developments and practices addressed by the authors of the subsequent chapters in this book. More broadly, this chapter contributes to continuing debates about both the pre-requisites and the effects of effective teaching and learning approaches and strategies in widely varying educational contexts.