This theme of research clusters activities within the BILD research group that encompasses different educational settings, ranging from a macrolevel (educational system) to a microlevel (learners and learning environments) focus. This includes studies concentrating on, for instance, the effectiveness of learning and learning environments within regular formal education, vocational learning, or corporate environments. In connection to questions around effectiveness, research activities are also focusing on aspects of evidence-informed practices, and how learning and education can be improved. The combination of these topics enables this research strand to deliver both fundamental and practice-oriented scientific research activities that aim to advance the academic field, provide valuable and strategic insights for policymakers at varying levels, and create added value for the field of practice. More specifically, this research theme focuses on three core sub-themes:
- effectiveness, (international and/or large-scale) evaluation and impact studies
- evidence-informed practice and improvement of learning and learning environments
- measurement problems in educational settings
These sub-themes are reflected in currently running research projects on the effectiveness of school governing boards and regulation mechanisms for governments, or on capacity building for the use of learning analytics in schools.