Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

ABSTRACT The leaders of Networks for School Improvement (NSIs) have complex, challenging jobs which require constant learning and adaptation. To support these leaders, the contributors to this volume have developed a survey-based data visualization system—the Improvement Network Health Development (INHD) Information System—designed to generate insight about key aspects of network health and functioning. The INHD Information System constitutes the third leg of the boundary object, described in the introduction, that was developed by our project. This article describes and provides the rationale for six key design features of this system: (1) offering bounded customization of key terms used in different improvement networks; (2) anchoring results in the Improvement Network Health and Development (INHD) Framework and the measures from the INHD Survey; (3) signaling the information that merits further consideration; (4) illuminating variation in beliefs and practices; (5) providing evidence in a timely fashion to inform network improvements; and (6) safeguarding the system as a formative tool supporting network development. We also share preliminary evidence of the uses of the system by NSI leaders.

Abstract Background A designathon is a three-stage participatory activity informed by design thinking and rapid prototyping that includes preparation with end-users, an intensive period of collaborative teamwork, and evaluation of solutions by topic experts or community partners. A few previous systematic reviews have focused on the use of designathons in health. This study synthesised how designathons were organised and implementation-related factors to address health challenges. Methods We searched Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and the ClinicalTrials.gov registry for peer-reviewed articles until November 29, 2022. The systemic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023389685). Results In total, 4,947 citations were identified, with 38 studies included in this review. Most studies were from high-income countries (26, 68%). The median number of participating teams was eight (IQR 5, 15), and the duration of the intensive collaboration phase ranged from three hours to seven days. The final products (i.e., ideas and prototypes) related to four themes: mobile applications, educational programs, medical devices, and other prototypes. Common evaluation criteria were feasibility, innovation or creativity, and impact. The most common facilitators were including diverse participants and having high-quality mentorship. . The most common barriers related to planning and implementing the designathon, and engaging diverse participants to participate. There were limited data on required resources and further implementation of solutions after designathons and no data on cost-effectiveness. Conclusion Designathons are a promising tool for fostering innovative and person-centred solutions to address health challenges. Given its adaptability in terms of budget, mode of delivery, and involvement of diverse participants including end-users, designathons can be implemented in a wide range of contexts to address various health issues.

This paper reviews the responses to questions regarding innovation in engineering education posed to a nine-person panel assembled for The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's pre-conference workshop at the Frontiers in Education (FIE) 2000 in Kansas City. Questions were focused on the inspiration, enablers, and challenges for innovation. In addition, issues related to innovation institutionalization (or sustainability) and to evidence gathered by the panelists to assess and evaluate the institutionalizing process are discussed. Themes and commonalities of the responses are presented and related to literature on the diffusion of innovation.

Abstract In order to create more useful theories we must attempt to choose better concepts (variables). Although we may strive to identify “independent” variables, that effort is problematic because we live in a world where everything is connected; also, attempting to obtain even nominally independent variables may require sophisticated analytical methodologies available only to well‐funded researchers and practitioners. To help resolve those problems, and so provide an improved path for developing more useful theories, we explore the notion of orthogonality as a tool for rethinking concepts in a theory, from a structural perspective, in a way that clarifies research opportunities (from a data perspective) and clarifies situational/theoretical perspectives (from a relevance perspective).

Ce ne sont pas les bonnes idées et les innovations qui manquent dans le champ éducatif. Pourtant, l’école actuelle demeure largement incapable de répondre aux besoins de l’ensemble des élèves, s’agissant notamment des élèves de couleur et des élèves pauvres. Pourquoi nos innovations ne parviennent-elles pas à créer une pression positive en faveur de l’équité ? Face à une trop grande variété des résultats dans une même situation, il est illusoire de vouloir prescrire ce qui a marché ailleurs. C’est au contraire en créant une grande « vigilance et conscience situationnelle » que l’on pourra, de façon fiable, faire face à la diversité des besoins et assurer plus d’équité.

The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for A World in Flux, by Cathy N. Davidson. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2017, 336 pages. $28.00 Hardcover; $16.99 E-book.The...

Between 2013 and 2016, the Teagle Foundation underwrote an extraordinary project of research and development called “A Larger Vision for Student Learning: Education for Civic and Moral Responsibili...

This paper outlines the development of practical measures of productive persistence using digital learning system data. Practical measurement refers to data collection and analysis approaches originating from improvement science, and productive persistence refers to the combination of academic and social mindsets as well as learning behaviors that are important drivers of student success within the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Community College Pathways Network Improvement Community. Strategies for operationalizing noncognitive factors using learning system data as well as approaches for using them as improvement measures are described.

The Rise & Decline of Faculty Governance: Professional-ization and the Modern American University, by Larry G. Gerber. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. 264 pages. $59.95 Hardbac...

This chapter describes the impact that participation in the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement had on the institutions of higher learning that applied for the classification. This is described in terms of changes in direct community engagement, monitoring and reporting on community engagement, and levels of student and professor involvement in service learning and engagement projects.