Tsinghua Journal of Education. 2019, (05) Core

The Impact of Scientific Research from UK Higher Education Institutions Based on a Synthetic Analysis of the 6679 Impact Case Studies in REF2014Chinese Full Text

WANG Nan;LUO Jun-wen;College of Education, Capital Normal University;Manchester Institute of Innovation Research,Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;

Abstract: Impact was firstly set as a dimension in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework（hereafter REF） to evaluate the social, economic and cultural impact of scientific research from the Higher Education Institutions（HEIs）. The aim is to guide and facilitate the UK HEIs to make better use of their research for more positive impact and valuable contribution to the embedded society beyond academic. The result of the first REF was announced in 2014, including the rating of the 6679 impact case studies submitted by the 154 HEIs evaluated. Based on a synthetic analysis of the 6679 impact case studies, this article analyzed the characteristics and conditions of the actual impact produced from the 154 HEIs. Two core findings are illustrated: 1) the characteristics of the actual impact involves the diverse range of countries, stakeholder groups and disciplines; 2) the conditions of those impact relied on include interdisciplinary underpinning research from multiple disciplines across various HEIs, and the time lag between the underpinning research and the impact realization. The experiences of the UK REF 2014 provide insights for the China’s HEI evaluation institution, particularly that an evaluation framework should 1) guide and facilitate the interaction between HEIs and the embedded society, 2) encourage the diverse impact beyond the homogeneous orientation of research evaluation, 3) make good use of qualitative methods to accurately capture and present the impact pathways.

Keywords：

impact; Research Excellence Framework（REF）; research evaluation; UK Higher Education Institutions（HEIs）;

DOI：
10.14138/j.1001-4519.2019.05.007507
Series：
(H) Education ＆ Social Sciences
Subject：
Higher Education
Classification Code：
G644

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The Impact of Scientific Research from UK Higher Education Institutions Based on a Synthetic Analysis of the 6679 Impact Case Studies in REF2014Chinese Full Text

WANG Nan;LUO Jun-wen;College of Education, Capital Normal University;Manchester Institute of Innovation Research,Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;

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