Research
Our main fields of research include:
- teacher’s professional development (development of teacher’s professional competence, implications of teacher’s professional development on students’ achievement and general competencies, teaching practices and beliefs of teachers and academic staff);
- educational technology and digital literacy (inquiry-based learning and problem solving in web-based learning environments, digital competencies, responsible research and innovation);
- special education (development of instruments for assessment of progress of students with special educational needs, development of research based learning materials and teachers’ guidelines for work with students with special needs, description of speech and language disorders in speakers of Estonian and development of therapies addressing them);
- education systems and educational management (quality systems, school network, autonomy of schools, roles and competences of school principals, PISA surveys).
Important recent publications deal with phases of inquiry-based learning, students’ metacognition, and interconnection between teachers’ teaching practices and students’ achievement.
The institute’s staff has participated in international development projects focusing on web-based inquiry learning environments and learning analytics in e-assessment (Go-Lab, Ark of Inquiry, WatchMe).
Institute of Education co-ordinates the work of Pedagogicum – a consortium established by all faculties of the university for co-ordination and joint development of curricula, standards and practice in teacher training, and co-ordination of related development projects.
In co-operation with Tallinn University, the institute issues Estonian Journal of Education – an open access peer-reviewed journal with an international editorial board.