Talk on "Making Research Matter" to kick off Research in Action Speaker Series
Betsy Talbott of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) will speak at the School of Education on Dec. 8, kicking off the school’s new Research in Action Speaker Series.
The event, hosted by the School of Education’s Office of Research, will be held at 6 p.m. in the school’s Dogwood Room. It is free and open to the public.
The series is an initiative spearheaded by Tom Farmer, the school’s first Associate Dean of Research. For Farmer, bringing together students, faculty and practitioners to discuss new ideas in education is one of the best ways to weave research into the fabric of the school’s activities. “If we build synergies between research, teaching, service and community engagement,” says Farmer, “their interplay will become seamless.”
The new speaker series, designed to highlight ongoing, original research and facilitate research activities among students and faculty, will open with a talk on making research matter.
For Betsy Talbott, associate professor of special education at UIC, the biggest challenge educational researchers face is supporting school professionals in their use of assessment and teaching strategies with the research to back those strategies up. However, “adapting research-based assessment and intervention is critical throughout all of education, whether the goal is to improve students’ reading, math, science, social studies and study skills, or to shape their social-emotional learning,” says Talbott.
Talbott will discuss strategies for researchers to put their findings into action by working with policymakers and practitioners. She hopes attendees will leave the event with concrete action steps and the realization that “having a seat at the table—engaging with school and state leaders, as well as practitioners and parents—will make a difference.”
The School of Education will also host Talbott for a brown-bag lunch discussion on issues in school-based mental health on Dec. 9 at noon in Room 2066. Faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend.
Talbott’s visit is the first of three this winter in the Research in Action series. Jill Hamm, professor of educational psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Barry Sloane, program director of the National Science Foundation’s Division of Research on Learning, will come to campus in early 2017. More details will be available soon.
See other upcoming events at the School of Education.
