Network Business Meeting 2012
This meeting was attended by about 50 network members, and was held by the Link Convenor of Network 9, Wilfried Bos, in co-operation with his Co-convenors Pekka Kupari and Tjeerd Plomp as well as Monica Rosén as a new Co-convenor. Six main topics were addressed:
- Network 9 programme overview
For the overview of the submissions in Network 9, please refer to the above sections of this report. - Acknowledgements of chairpersons, discussants and reviewers
In sum, 33 chairpersons and discussants from 15 countries were included in the ECER 2011 programme of Network 9. Our network is indebted to the commitment of these scholars, and to the large number of international researchers who support the network by participating in the review process for the ECER conferences. The network convenors thank all chairpersons, discussants and reviewers for volunteering their valuable time and expertise, and for contributing to the conference organization and the scientific quality of the research presented in Network 9.
The names of the chairspersons and discussants are listed in the conference programme. In order to make the effort of the reviewers visible as well, an acknowledgement with a list of the reviewers for each ECER beginning with ECER 2010 is included on the Network website. - Network activities
3.1 Spring schools on Advanced Methods in Educational Research in 2011 and 2012
Wilfried Bos and Monica Rosén give a short report on a one-week spring school on advanced methods in educational research held in 2011 at TU Dortmund University and present an outlook on a second one-week spring school on advanced methods in educational research to be held in 2012 at the University of Gothenburg. These spring schools are a joint project of the Institute for School Development Research at TU Dortmund University, Germany, and the Department of Education and Special Education at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, co-ordinated by Wilfried Bos (Dortmund) as well as Monica Rosén and Jan-Eric Gustafsson (Gothenburg).
The schools aim to bring together European and international emerging researchers, train them on methodological topics, promote exchange of research and offer the opportunity for capacity building and international research collaborations. The topics of the spring schools are:
a) Methods for Causal Inference from Observational Data (2012, University of Gothenburg)
b) Combining Categorical and Continuous Latent Variable Modeling with Mplus (2011, TU Dortmund University)
A call for proposals for the 2012 school and a report on the 2011 school are available on the website of this project: <link http: www.ifs-dortmund.de>www.ifs-dortmund.de/1520.html
3.2 Publications
Network 9 works on several international, peer-reviewed publications that derive from symposia held at ECER 2009 and ECER 2010:
a) Two special issues of the journal Educational Research and Evaluation (ERE) on the topic of Rasch Measurement in Educational Contexts (in press)
b) A special issue of the Journal for Educational Research Online (JERO) on the topic of Assessing Social Competencies in Childhood and Adolescence (in preparation) - Network activities: Promoting poster submissions
The network convenors propose to encourage submissions of posters, as this format of presentation allows young researchers to participate in the ECER conference with a first contribution without having to shoulder the more challenging task of a paper presentation especially for those with a limited proficiency in the English language. In order to foster the idea of poster sessions, Network 9 piloted an interactive poster session in co-operation with Networks 8, 10 and 27 at ECER 2011. To further promote the submission of posters, Network 9 provided the impetus to initiate a Best Poster Prize for the ECER main conference:
a) Waxmann Publishing House sponsors a Best Poster Price for ECER Main Conferences 2011-2013, awarded to the best three posters
b) The best posters are suggested per network by the network convenors and selected from this shortlist by a group of EERA officers - Succession of Co-convenors in Network 9 and Honorary Membership for Tjeerd Plomp
Monica Rosén (University of Gothenburg) was announced and accepted as new Co-convenor of Network 9 to succeed Tjeerd Plomp (University of Twente), who retires as Co-convenor after serving the network for many years as Link Convenor (2006–2008) and Co-convenor (1999–2006 and 2008–2011). Wilfried Bos thanks Tjeerd Plomp, for his longstanding and continued contribution to the work and mission of the network and within the field of Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement. On behalf of the network, Wilfried Bos commends and honors the work of Tjeerd Plomp, one of the founding fathers of the ECER conferences, by awarding him the first Honorary Membership of Network 9. Wilfried Bos welcomes Monica Rosén as a distinguished researcher and valued colleague to the group of convenors of Network 9. - Discussion on symposium proposals
The role of symposium submissions, discussants and chairpersons is addressed. Different experiences with the current procedure in Network 9 and ideas for improving the role of discussants, for instance by stricter adherence to a full-paper / full presentation submission, are discussed within the context of EERA rules and regulations. The network convenors will take the arguments of the discussion into consideration for the development of symposia for ECER 2012.