2011 Conference see Home page
2010 Conference
Filling the Void: Educational Research in Virtual and Real World Contexts
28th Annual Conference September 30 - October 1, 2010
Big Sky Resort
Big Sky, Montana
Our theme for the 2010 NRMERA Annual Conference, Conducting Research in Both Real and Virtual World Contexts, has important implications for current and future educational programs. The goal for this year’s conference is to promote research which supports connections between real and virtual learning environments. Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. However, a recent meta-analysis of empirical research sponsored by the US Department of Education suggests that a blend of face-to-face and web-based instruction offer optimal learning environments for students. Increased access and use of electronic classrooms, Web-based Conferencing tools and interactive Web 2.0 applications has changed the way that educators do business and how students learn. In this current age of accountability, it is our responsibility as educational researchers to identify researched-based practices that support learning across diverse time and space contexts in efforts to identify educational practices that enhance the quality of students’ learning experiences and achievement at all levels. We welcome and encourage all types of research proposals and hope that our presentations and discussions will join the national conversation, demonstrating the important role of research in unlocking the secrets of student learning.
As an organization that prides itself on providing a supportive environment for graduate students as well as more experienced members, NRMERA strives to provide a setting where one can present research, receive feedback, and learn from colleagues. Conferences like NRMERA offer a range of opportunities to make connections; however, as professionals, we are ultimately responsible for maximizing these opportunities when evaluating the success of our experiences. We encourage and invite graduate students, teacher educators, state and local administrators, and public and private educators to explore some of these opportunities to make connections as you make preparations to join us in Big Sky, Montana, this fall.
2010 NRMERA Conference Program
NRMERA Conference 2010 Attendee Summary
2009 Conference
Bridging Theory and Practice: Educational Research in the 21st Century
27th Annual Conference
October 8-10, 2009
Snow King Resort
Jackson, Wyoming
Our theme for the 2009 NRMERA Annual Conference, Bridging Theory & Practice: Educational Research in the 21st Century, has important implications for education. Our goal for this year’s conference is to showcase and promote connections between theory and practice as well as the role of research in making and clarifying those connections.
As an organization that prides itself on providing a supportive environment for graduate students as well as more experienced members, NRMERA strives to provide a setting where one can present research, receive feedback, and learn from colleagues. Conferences like NRMERA offer a range of opportunities to make connections; however, as professionals, we are ultimately responsible for maximizing these opportunities when evaluating the success of our experiences. We encourage and invite graduate students, teacher educators, state and local administrators, and public and private educators to explore some of these opportunities to make connections as you make preparations to join us in Jackson, Wyoming, this fall.
2009 NRMERA Conference Program
NRMERA Conference 2009 Attendee Summary
2008 Conference
New Directions in Education: Policy, Pedagogy, and Research
26th Annual Conference
October 9 - 11, 2008
MontBleu Resort, Lake Tahoe, Nevada
This year there will be several strands of research highlighted at the conference. First, in recognition of the need for diverse thinking in modern educational research, we are pleased to have Dr. Burke Johnson, University of South Alabama, and co-editor of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research, as our keynote speaker. There will also be a strand focused on educational research related to gifted education. The third strand will focus on the interrelationships of educational research and education policy: this strand will be addressed by a panel of three current or former Nevada State Superintendents of Public Instruction. We are also looking for high quality presentations in all areas of educational research. There are a variety of presentation formats available, from traditional paper presentations, to workshops and symposia, to “Learn at Lunch” roundtable discussions.
2007 Conference
Making Connections
25th Annual Conference
October 4-6, 2007
Snow King Lodge & Resort, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Our theme for the 2007 NRMERA Annual Conference, Making Connections, can be broadly interpreted. As researchers, we are typically caught in the vacuum of our daily responsibilities where we focus on our own research agendas, content area, and literature that may confirm our existing beliefs. In this environment, it can be difficult to develop and advance new ideas. Furthermore, a line of inquiry that we believe to be novel in our field may have already been pursued by colleagues in another area. Education is filled with examples of how we have seemingly not learned from earlier missteps of policy and practice when synthesizing literature. A strategy to respond to this situation is to facilitate opportunities for researchers to make connections across disciplines to spur further discussions and ideas. We are suggesting three potential interpretations of this year’s theme that we will use as an organizing framework for the conference, but these are only a few of the connections we hope you will consider.
* Cross-discipline/content connections: How do my colleagues’ research interests intersect with mine?
What are some opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from other related disciplines?
* Stakeholder connections: How can we make our research more accessible and transparent to broader audiences? What outlets are there for disseminating our research to professional communities and policymakers?
* Colleague connections: How can we expand our personal, professional network? How can we engage more colleagues in the organization and raise the visibility of NRMERA within the region?
As an organization that prides itself on providing a supportive environment for graduate students as well as more experienced members, NRMERA strives to provide a setting where one can present research, receive feedback, and learn from colleagues. Conferences like NRMERA offer a range of opportunities to make connections; however, as professionals, we are ultimately responsible for maximizing these opportunities when evaluating the success of our experiences. We encourage and invite graduate students, teacher educators, state and local administrators, and public and private educators to explore some of these opportunities to make connections as you make preparations to join us in Jackson Hole this fall
2006 Conference
Transformative Research: It’s The Big “So What?”
24th Annual Conference
October 11 – 14, 2006
Sun Valley Inn & Resort
Sun Valley, ID
The major purposes for research are that we learn new things, advance our evolving knowledge and/or confirm our beliefs about certain concepts, constructs and phenomena. Moreover, we research with the intention of helping teachers to be more effective in their teaching and work in schools and communities. However, even the most well-intended work may find that it is a primarily transmission style of research wherein teachers are the receivers of the research results. Sometimes we may discover that the teachers are not that receptive to the research we do even though they were collaborators in the research processes. So what, then, can we do more effectively to assure ourselves/everyone involved that our research agendas’ processes and major focus is to truly transform ourselves and the teachers with whom we work?
By transform I mean that there is a dialogic structure that overprints the research process from start to end, wherein the investigators, i.e., the teacher and the researcher, learn from each other at the same time they are learning about the phenomena under investigation. That is, the teacher and the researcher are transformed through the processes of inquiry where they build shared understandings on personal and social dimensions, and are transformed as a result of the constructed understandings derived from the data they mutually collect and analyze. Furthermore, transformation most especially occurs when the inquiry is grounded in authenticity of purpose and focus, and positively affects pedagogies and praxis of the investigators for the mutual benefit of school children.
Pedagogies of engagement must go beyond the tired social, cognitive and political issues which are the foci of much of the current research conducted, analyzed and published. The issues we address in our research must necessarily have a transformative dimension that goes beyond these repetitive agendas and forms spaces for engaging ideas and processes that precipitate changes that have a greater promise of actually making a difference in students’ lives, most especially among linguistic and ethnic minorities. Richard-Amato (2003) calls these issues of investment and desire. We sometimes know this in our research as The Big “So What?”
The 2006 NRMERA conference offers multiple forums for discussions centered on the concept of transformation and other related educational research agendas that respond to difficult problems using transparent and coherent paradigms. Educators across all disciplines and from all ranks are invited to submit proposals in an effort to foreground critical issues in Schooling our children. We encourage and invite district personnel, state administrators, public and private school teachers, graduate students and teacher educators to participate in this year’s discussions. Many of our current members began their connection with this association as graduate students!
Richard-Amato, Patricia A. (2003) (3rd Ed.) Making It Happen: From Interactive to Participatory Language Teaching. New York: Pearson Education.
2005 Conference
Professional Vitality: Celebrating Us and Our Work
23rd Annual Conference
October 6-8, 2005
Snow King Lodge
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
The NRMERA 2005 conference theme is Professional Vitality: Celebrating Us and Our Work.
During this time of increased regulation in education and the stress this imposes, it becomes essential that educators’ find ways to celebrate accomplishments and renew professional vitality. The quantity and
quality of scholarship accomplished everyday given the complex environments we work in, is nothing short of astonishing. At every NRMERA conference one can marvel at their colleagues love for teaching,
their respect for students, and their joy for research. It is with this great respect for each of you that we plan the 2005 NRMERA conferenceto honor all of us and our work. We invite you and your colleagues to submit proposals that celebrate the quality work you do whether it isto celebrate and share your “Significant Research”, your ideas for “Promoting Pedagogy”, “Cultivating Leaders”, “Creating Communities of Solidarity and Hope” or “Honoring our Collective Wisdom”. We are seeking a broad range of proposals from a variety of educational fields. We will be mixing our traditional conference
presentations with a little fun. We hope you will join us.
2004 Conference
Promoting Pedagogy
22nd Annual Conference
October 6-9, 2004
Sylvan Lake Resort
Custer State Park, South Dakota
In light of new federal regulations on education, all educators need to take a proactive approach to the role of pedagogy within our education community. The following research questions are in an effort to realize the broad perspective that should be taken to connect the art of teaching with the value of content:
* How can our research help develop and promote learner centered teaching through active learning communities?
* How does our research assist in understanding and utilizing both traditional and on-line pedagogy?
* How can teachers and teacher-educators work as partners to proactively address the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act?
* How can our research address the collaborative inquiry that creates a strong sense of genuine community?
Research friendly learned society: Many of the current NRMERA member’s began their connection with this association as graduate students. It is our hope that each NRMERA member encourages graduate students at their institution to submit a proposal for this conference. In addition to graduate students, proposals from school administrators, teachers, and educational practitioners of all kinds are encouraged.
The 2004 conference calls for research proposals, symposia, round tables, and workshops that invite dialogue and present research regarding any educational issues.
2003 Conference
Cultivating Leaders
21st Annual Conference
October 8-11, 2003
Snow King Lodge
Jackson, Wyoming
2001 Conference
A Researcher's Odyssey
19th Annual Conference
October 11-13, 2001
Snow King Lodge Jackson Hole, Wyoming
To continue on our "odyssey" of exploration and discovery in education, we must make sense of where we have come and set a worthwhile and exciting itinerary for where we are going. Where are we headed in educational research? What will be our guiding paradigms for reflecting on and assessing our work? What innovative methods will give us "fresh eyes" to shape the future study of theory and practice? What constitutes best practice and best thinking in the present and past of educational research and how will it inform our ongoing research? The 2001 conference calls for research proposals and colloquia that explore these issues and can offer learned insight to our collective journey.
2000 Conference
Honoring Our Collective Wisdom:Transforming Hope To Action18th Annual Conference
18th Annual Conference
Wednesday, October 5-Saturday, October 7, 2000
The Yarrow Resort & Conference Center
Park City, Utah
The theme of the 18th NRMERA Conference is: Honoring Our Collective Wisdom: Transforming Hope to Action. This conference represents a departure from the traditional format in the expectation of inviting participants to interact between and among their institutions to develop and enact research plans around interest groups identified at the 1999 conference. As we move into the 21st Century, it is time to take our collective wisdom into our schools and communities for dynamic, positive directions in education. This conference should result in participants leaving with action research plans to be carried out in the northwest region.