Research news and Comment: The Learning Connection: AERA’s Annual Meeting as a Catalyst

Abstract

The article that follows was written by a group of graduate students. They tell us about their experiences reading research, then meeting the investigators and discussing their work with them at AERA. Their story teaches us much about the relationship between our work and the work of the teachers that populate our graduate programs.

The tension between practitioners and researchers is often a topic of discussion at our professional meetings. Many of us have complained about the supposed lack of interest practitioners have for the research task and its product. The enthusiasm of the signatories to this article suggests that we must take some responsibility for that communication gap. The resistance we complain about has more to do with the ways in which we invite our students to join us in the appreciation of research than with their interest in it.

As researchers in education, we must join hands with those who, unlike us, are in daily touch with the realities of the classroom. We need to learn from them and share our ideas with them. It is only by working together as educators with a common goal that we can improve the educational experience for children. The authors of this article describe one professor's way of accomplishing this objective.