Flipped Classroom Research: From “Black Box” to “White Box” Evaluation

The flipped (or inverted) classroom model has gained increasing interest among university teachers in recent years. In the flipped classroom approach, students are encouraged to watch short video lectures as preparation for class, and classroom time is dedicated to more active forms of learning. In this editorial, we provide a thumbnail sketch of the origins and concept of the flipped classroom followed by a summary of the contributions to this special issue, which highlight the importance of considering a range of individual as well as contextual factors when implementing and evaluating the flipped classroom approach. Based on this observation, we propose and briefly discuss realist evaluation as a promising approach to evaluating educational interventions and for advancing our theoretical understanding of the flipped classroom. We argue that realist evaluation provides an analytical framework for posing the next generation of questions about the flipped classroom and we encourage scholars to address the questions: “How or why does the flipped classroom work, for whom, and in what circumstances?

Towards a model for planning and evaluation of the development of education for library, archive, and information services.

The absence of an appropriate theoretical framework for understanding and assessing influences on the development of education for library, archive and information work is reflected in a literature that is largely experiential rather than soundly grounded in empirical studies. Any development involves the introduction of innovations, and requires effective management. Drawing on theories on the management of change, the communication of ideas and the transfer of innovations, and incorporating the contextual evidence base suggested by comparative methodologies, this paper presents an analysis of the wide range of factors that need to be considered. A model developed from Porter's 'Value Chain' theory provides a framework within which these factors could be considered not only in evaluating past developments in the field, but also in planning future innovations; a model that is arguably as relevant in professional practice in library, archive, and information work as in LIS education

Knowing with Experts: Contextual Knowledge in and Around Science

The original concept of epistemic dependence suggests uncritical deference to expert opinions for non-experts. In the light of recent work in science studies, however, the actual situation of epistemic dependence is seen to involve the necessary and ubiquitous need for lay evaluations of scientific experts. As expert knowledge means restricted cognitive access to some epistemic domain, lay evaluations of expert knowledge are rational and informed only when the criteria used by non-experts when judging experts are different from the criteria used by experts when making their claims. The distinction between ‘substantial knowledge’ and ‘contextual knowledge’ allows for the laypeople to know with experts without having to know precisely what experts know. Such meta-expert evaluations are not specific to the public sphere outside science, nor are they limited internally to science, but they are present in a wide range of contexts in and around science. The paper legitimizes the concept of contextual knowledge by relating it to the relevant literature, and expounds the idea by identifying some elements of such a knowledge

Randomised controlled trials of complex interventions and large-scale transformation of services

Complex interventions and large-scale transformations of services are necessary to meet the health-care challenges of the 21st century. However, the evaluation of these types of interventions is challenging and requires methodological development. Innovations such as cluster randomised controlled trials, stepped-wedge designs, and non-randomised evaluations provide options to meet the needs of decision-makers. Adoption of theory and logic models can help clarify causal assumptions, and process evaluation can assist in understanding delivery in context. Issues of implementation must also be considered throughout intervention design and evaluation to ensure that results can be scaled for population benefit. Relevance requires evaluations conducted under real-world conditions, which in turn requires a pragmatic attitude to design. The increasing complexity of interventions and evaluations threatens the ability of researchers to meet the needs of decision-makers for rapid results. Improvements in efficiency are thus crucial, with electronic health records offering significant potential

Evaluation of Public Housing Programmes in Nigeria: A Theoretical and Conceptual Approach

The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical and conceptual framework for an alternative approach to evaluation of public housing programmes in Nigeria. It seeks to address limitations of existing approaches where one theory or discipline has the upper hand in evaluating public housing programmes. This paper proposes a broad-based framework for assessing relationships between input, output and outcomes of public housing programmes through a realistic approach to evaluation based on objective-oriented theory, theory-driven evaluation paradigm and conceptual issues. This approach allows for the use of logical framework to explain the complex connections between underlying programme theory and outcomes. The distinct features of this alternative evaluation approach include: an open-ended evaluation approach; housing providers and residents participation; broad-based and a multi-faceted data gathering approaches and analysis in distinguishing the outcome of different housing delivery strategies in public housing programmes

Business models for sustained ehealth implementation: lessons from two continents

There is general consensus that Computers and Information Technology have the potential to enhance health systems applications, and many good examples of such applications exist all over the world. Unfortunately, with respect to eHealth and telemedicine, there is much disillusionment and scepticism. This paper describes two models that were developed separately, but had the same purpose, namely to facilitate a holistic approach to the development and implementation of eHealth solutions. The roadmap of the Centre for eHealth Research (CeHRes roadmap) was developed in the Netherlands, and the Telemedicine Maturity Model (TMMM) was developed in South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the commonalities and differences of these approaches, and to explore how they can be used to complement each other. The first part of this paper comprises of a comparison of these models in terms of origin, research domain and design principles. Case comparisons are then presented to illustrate how these models complement one another

CAL evaluation: Future directions

Formal, experimental methods have proved increasingly difficult to implement, and lack the capacity to generate detailed results when evaluating the impact of CAL on teaching and learning. The rigid nature of experimental design restricts the scope of investigations and the conditions in which studies can be conducted It has also consistently failed to account for all influences on learning. In innovative CAL environments, practical and theoretical development depends on the ability fully to investigate the wide range of such influences. Over the past five years, a customizable evaluation framework has been developed specifically for CAL research. The conceptual approach is defined as Situated Evaluation of CAL (SECAL), and the primary focus is on quality of learning outcomes. Two important principles underpin this development. First, the widely accepted need to evaluate in authentic contexts includes examination of the combined effects of CAL with other resources and influential aspects of the learning environment. Secondly, evaluation design is based on a critical approach and qualitative, case‐based research. Positive outcomes from applications of SECAL include the easy satisfaction of practical and situation‐specific requirements and the relatively low cost of evaluation studies. Although there is little scope to produce generalizable results in the short term, the difficulty of doing so in experimental studies suggests that this objective is difficult to achieve in educational research. A more realistic, longer‐term aim is the development of grounded theory based on common findings from individual cases