European Educational Research Association (EERA/ECER)

European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in Copenhagen 2017 – At the University College UCC Carlsberg, Copenhagen 22 – 25 August 2017
Conference theme: Reforming Education and the Imperative of Constant Change: Ambivalent roles of policy and educational research
As part of our ongoing participation in the long term ILETC project it was a pleasure as industry partners to contribute with our knowledge and experience including some good practice school case studies from Germany, Netherlands and Spain with the help of EDUnet and our local colleagues.
The purpose of our participation as a group was to hold a mini symposium within the main conference:
Title: Industry and Academic Collaboration in Learning Space Design and Use
Chairperson: Professor David Clarke, The University of Melbourne
Discussant: Alastair Blyth, University of Westminster
Abstract overview
The role of educational research in reforming education has become increasingly important in the political arena. However, this research is not only limited to academia. University and industry are largely independently pursuing high quality research. Increasingly, collaboration between the two sectors are commended, encouraged, and measured. Successful cooperation between industry and universities brings substantial benefits to organizations, their staff, to higher education institutions, academics, students, and to society as a whole.
The heart of the proposal focuses on industry and academic collaboration in an international project on Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change. Funded by the Australian Research Council and industry partners in four countries (Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States), the four-year collaborative project, led by researchers at the University of Melbourne, investigates how teachers enable learning most effectively in innovative learning environments to accommodate the learning approaches of the 21st century student.