Reporting on panel looking at the UK’s Research Excellence Framework, Liz Morrish looks at whether the assessment tools created by government have extended their reach and left academics exposed.
A very strong overall REF performance signifies a large concentration of outstanding work. It is an unambiguous plus. All the same, precise league table positions in the REF, indicator by indicator, should be taken with a grain of salt.
Measuring impact was a key feature of the just-released Research Education Framework in the UK. But ‘impact’ isn’t as fair a measurement as we could hope.
Not all eyes will be glued to the release of the UK’s Research Excellence Framework on Thursday. Some of the people who built the REF are evaluating the current lessons to improve the next version.
The Conversation asked the man who developed Britain’s Research Excellence Framework back in 2008, Rama Thirunamachandran, vice-chancellor and principal at Canterbury Christ Church University, to talk through it. We repost that conversation here.
Discussions around the REF have tended to be negative, but what exactly is viewed poorly varies by interest group[. Two academics who conducted an analysis of the media’s covefage of the framework argue there is much that can be learned for future assessment exercises and it is ever-more important that we get it right when thinking about ‘impact’ in research and the pressures academics face.
There is a push to demonstrate the impact of the social sciences, especially as political and funding authorities start viewing them through an immediate-payoff prism. But showing impact doesn’t always come at no cost.
With the final consultation period now over, the open access policy for Britain’s next Research Excellence Framework has been released. Alma Swan looks at the rollout–which requires the deposit of articles into repositories–and finds this is pragmatic but good policymaking that should help shift the culture in British universities towards open access.
Drawing on discussions with academics who have oriented their work around public engagement and social impact, Daniel Pearson suggests these academics present an opportunity to rethink the existing structures of reward and recognition in higher education. “We are, as a species, addicted to story,” says English professor Jonathan Gottschall in his book, The Storytelling Animal. “Even when the […] Tom Burns, whose combination of play — and plays – with teaching in higher education added a light, collaborative and engaging model […] A 2024 report by the National Academies explores the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology and their potential effects on economic productivity, job stability, and income inequality. It also highlights key research opportunities and data needs to help workers and policymakers adapt to the evolving AI landscape. In this post, co-authors Frank T. Piller, Tucker J. Marion, and Mahdi Srour reflect on the inspiration behind their research article, “Generative […] During the final stages of editing the proofs for Artificial Intelligence and Work: Transforming Work, Organizations, and Society in an Age of Insecurity, […]
EXPLORE
Impact
Young Scholars Can’t Take the Field in Game of Academic Metrics
READ MORE
Canada’s Storytellers Challenge Seeks Compelling Narratives About Student Research
READ MORE
Tom Burns, 1959-2024: A Pioneer in Learning Development
READ MORE
Innovation
NAS Report Examines Nexus of AI and Workplace
READ MORE
When Do You Need to Trust a GenAI’s Input to Your Innovation Process?
READ MORE
The Authors of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Work’ on Future Risk
READ MORE
