Background on the Conference

AERA, as the national scientific association for research on education and learning, is dedicated to advancing knowledge, the capacity to undertake research of the highest quality, and to the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Over the past decade, this has taken the form of a number of initiatives directed to innovation in the dissemination and communication of research and data and to initiating discussion about what counts as scholarly productivity and knowledge. Key to this effort has been the work of AERA’s Consortium of University and Research Institutions (CURI) and Annual Meeting sessions, symposia, discussion at CURI meetings and convening (including of deans internationally) focused on the quality of doctorate training and forms of scholarly knowledge that can reach diverse publics. AERA has also participated in similar conversations emerging in other fields and across higher education (e.g., by the Council of Graduate Schools).

The year 2016 marks AERA’s Centennial and has only further stimulated reflection and rededication to valuing the science of our field as it connects to diverse publics. This conference, the 2016 Annual Meeting, and other Centennial plans are directed to public scholarship and outward facing. Unlike the other programming being held this year, this conference is directed less to the doing of public scholarship and more to examining how we can elevate public scholarship, define it in terms that are recognized and widely shared, and develop the capacity to reward it and do it well. Our question is straightforward: How can education deans, academic institutions, and professional associations develop and institutionalize practices that promote public scholarship?

Several dimensions of public scholarship will be explored at this conference: (1) indicators of what counts as public scholarship; (2) skills needed for effective communication; (3) expertise required for building research-practice/policy partnerships that promote the public good; (4) institutional barriers to researcher engagement in public scholarship (e.g., the promotion system); (5) the reward structure that lead to researcher preparedness for academic sectors rather than other research employment contexts; (6) doctoral preparation programs and professional development programs to provide researchers with necessary skills; and (7) identification of arenas where additional research is needed to understand and enhance public scholarship.

View PDF of the Background on the Conference here