From October 17 to 18, the First National Forum on Educational Empirical Research, which was jointly sponsored by the Faculty of Education of East China Normal University, the Faculty of Education of Beijing Normal University, the National Educational Science Planning Office and the Education Research Center of Guangming Daily, was held in East China Normal University. Tong Shijun, secretary of the Party committee of East China Normal University and Liu Wei, deputy editor in chief of Guangming Daily, delivered the opening speeches respectively. More than 600 people attended the forum, including faculties of education, university schools of education and science, institutes of education and science, educational science research labs, various educational periodicals and media.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Professor Shi Zhongying, a Yangtze River Scholar and director of the Faculty of Education of Beijing Normal University.
After the opening ceremony, 13 scholars delivered keynote speeches on empirical research in their respective fields at the meeting.
Professor G.Willianson McDiarmid, Dean of the School of Education at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, was delivering a keynote speech. Based on his research of teacher education and perspective of empirical research, Pro. McDiarmid reviewed research paradigms of teacher education in American educational reform, and introduced research fields and application of specific methods in contemporary empirical research of teacher education. He pointed out that the current core problem is how to apply the empirical data to bring about changes in the curriculum of teacher education so as to maximize the quality of classroom teaching.
Yang Xiangdong, deputy director of the Curriculum and Teaching Research Institute of East China Normal University, was delivering a keynote speech. He presented a case study of empirical research based on quantitative research method: how to use survey tools to analyze the effect of key schools by quantitative methodThe representatives present all agreed that strengthening empirical research is essential to raising the level of scientific research in education as well as fulfilling the role of educational research in exploring the truth and educating people. Vigorously developing educational data is a prerequisite for strengthening empirical research.
Professor Yuan Zhenguo, director of the Faculty of Education and vice president of the China Education Association, made a concluding speech at the conference. He pointed out that the forum was enthusiastically received with more than 600 people signing up, which shows that empirical educational research has engaged full attention. He sincerely hoped that through such forums, “we could gradually promote and deepen the empirical research paradigm in China’s educational research, which is the responsibility and mission that we need to shoulder together for the prosperity and development of China’s education and educational research.”