alt="AERO AOCE" border="0" />2012 Ontario education research symposium
Last week in Toronto, great minds gathered to learn, share ideas, collaborate, and spark new relationships at the 7th Annual Ontario Education Research Symposium (OERS). The two and a half days were filled with informative keynote addresses, innovative vignettes, and revealing workshops all based on the theme of Research Impact.
The OERS is sponsored by the Ministry of Education to foster and support collaborative relationships among educators, researchers and policy makers. AERO is fortunate that the Ministry of Education extends invitations to up to 20 of our members each year.
AERO was well represented with its own poster presentation. As well, many members were in attendance, making presentations, showcasing posters, and facilitating workshops.
The Symposium began on Tuesday evening with a fireside chat from Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor on Education Policy at the OECD. Wednesday morning, the Honorable L. Broten, Minister of Education opened the day by setting the context of the importance of research in education. Symposium attendees were lucky to hear from Andreas Schleicher again as the keynote speaker for Wednesday discussing the research that shaped PISA and the research that PISA shaped. The remainder of Wednesday was filled with hearty food and professional banter, two vignettes delivered by Carol Campbell and Chris Conley respectively, panel discussions, and an extensive list of informative workshops. The evening closed with Dr. Jeffery Hoch, Research Scientist, discussing why some medications are funded in Ontario and why others are not. Outlining what role research plays in the process and what other factors influence decision making,
Thursday was also a full day with panel discussions, vignettes, and workshops all to the theme of evaluation. In the morning, AERO a small group of members participated in a focus group discussing changes to the Ministry of Education’s website. A highlight of the day, I think for many, was to hear from students. A pilot project – the Student as Researchers Conference – was running simultaneously to OERS. There the students had an opportunity to work in collaboration with students from other school boards, researchers and educators to create and share knowledge about student engagement, learning and teaching. Five of these students came to OERS to share their projects with us.
After a panel discussion - Looking to the Future - the Symposium came to end with Ben Levin sharing some of the work done during the day and Raymond Theberge closing the afternoon. We all left the Symposium with new connections and ideas – looking forward to next year’s event.
The OERS is sponsored by the Ministry of Education to foster and support collaborative relationships among educators, researchers and policy makers. AERO is fortunate that the Ministry of Education extends invitations to up to 20 of our members each year.
AERO was well represented with its own poster presentation. As well, many members were in attendance, making presentations, showcasing posters, and facilitating workshops.
The Symposium began on Tuesday evening with a fireside chat from Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor on Education Policy at the OECD. Wednesday morning, the Honorable L. Broten, Minister of Education opened the day by setting the context of the importance of research in education. Symposium attendees were lucky to hear from Andreas Schleicher again as the keynote speaker for Wednesday discussing the research that shaped PISA and the research that PISA shaped. The remainder of Wednesday was filled with hearty food and professional banter, two vignettes delivered by Carol Campbell and Chris Conley respectively, panel discussions, and an extensive list of informative workshops. The evening closed with Dr. Jeffery Hoch, Research Scientist, discussing why some medications are funded in Ontario and why others are not. Outlining what role research plays in the process and what other factors influence decision making,
Thursday was also a full day with panel discussions, vignettes, and workshops all to the theme of evaluation. In the morning, AERO a small group of members participated in a focus group discussing changes to the Ministry of Education’s website. A highlight of the day, I think for many, was to hear from students. A pilot project – the Student as Researchers Conference – was running simultaneously to OERS. There the students had an opportunity to work in collaboration with students from other school boards, researchers and educators to create and share knowledge about student engagement, learning and teaching. Five of these students came to OERS to share their projects with us.
After a panel discussion - Looking to the Future - the Symposium came to end with Ben Levin sharing some of the work done during the day and Raymond Theberge closing the afternoon. We all left the Symposium with new connections and ideas – looking forward to next year’s event.