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OX3 0BP Oxford Headington Oxfordshire UK Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Contact Person: ALT Phone: +44 (0)1865 484 12 Fax: +44 (0)1865 484 165 Association for Learning Technology publishes response to HEFCE proposals on Research Excellence Framework The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) today published its response to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)’s proposals for the new Research Excellence Framework (REF), urging HEFCE to adopt clear guidelines to ensure that interdisciplinary fields such as learning technology are properly judged in the REF. In its response to the HEFCE consultation, ALT warns that many of its members - as with many others in interdisciplinary areas - are located in departments, units and centres that are not themselves responsible for compiling submissions. For this reason it is important that the REF does not systematically militate against individuals working on learning technologies being entered into the REF in appropriate units of assessment. On the vexed subject of “impact”, learning technology is a discipline whose impact can be judged: but the most informative accounts of impact may well be based on changes to ‘host’ institutions. For this reason the REF should include among indicators of impact the impact within a researcher’s own institution. Concerning interdisciplinary research, of which learning technology research is an example, ALT warns that many HEIs are likely to discriminate against interdisciplinary research being reported in the REF and against researchers representing themselves as interdisciplinary. This is already having an impact on the work of individual researchers as they bid for project funding and write research outputs. Already ALT detects that advice is being given to our members in their institutions to make sure that they have the right number of “mainstream” outputs rather than those that are interdisciplinary in character. A commitment to ensure that major interdisciplinary groups are represented on panels and to a more open process needs to be articulated very early in the cycle so as to be credible. Professor John Cook, Chair of the ALT Research Committee, and Professor of Technology Enhanced Learning at the Learning Technology Research Institute said: “The basic premise of our submission is that steps need taking to ensure that interdisciplinary fields like learning technology are supported rather than thwarted by the REF. “Collaboration between institutions in research and development areas such as learning technology is a particularly strong part of Government policy. It is regrettable that this emphasis on collaboration is not as strongly reflected in the REF, and this issue needs to be addressed. “In particular, vigilance by panels and clear guidelines from the funding councils will each be needed to curtail the tendency for institutions to discriminate against interdisciplinary research being reported in the REF, and against researchers describing their work in the REF as interdisciplinary. “In order to save burden on the system, we urge HEFCE to delay the REF being finalised to 2011, and for it take place in 2014, since activities timetabled for 2010 may need to be significantly reworked, in the light of the likelihood of new funding strictures, and to allow time for the new-style REF to be fine tuned to take account of responses to the current consultation.” |
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