International Development Research Centre: IDRC Digital Library
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International Development Research Centre's Research Quality Plus (RQ+) assessment instrument
Get PDFThis document lays out steps for using Research Quality Plus (RQ+) in future summative evaluations, presenting a framework and practical guidelines for assessing the quality of research for development. Referred to as the RQ+ assessment instrument, it serves to guide the work of external evaluators hired by IDRC. Most IDRC program portfolios consist of too many grants and outputs for a comprehensive assessment of the research performance of all. Reviewers can apply the RQ+ assessment to a whole project, but at times it will make more sense to apply RQ+ at a sub-project level
Demographics and the future of work (FoW)
Get PDFThe French philosopher Auguste Comte once said that “demography is destiny.” The quote may have grown trite, but only because it emphasizes an essential truth—that underlying many of the economic, social, and political dynamics that structure human society are demographic fundamentals. Global discourse on the future of work often foregrounds technological acceleration and climate change; but global transitions in demography will also shape labor markets in profound ways. This brief explores general findings from global literature on demographic trends, while also unveiling the specific demographic concerns of the Global South, which are themselves internally diverse, and connecting all of these population dynamics to the quest for a better world of work
Análise de economia política : uma agenda para ação - transição para um sistema alimentar saudável e sustentável na América Latina
Get PDFNairobi teacher illustrates a life-changing lesson for parents in the community
Get PDFMany of the schools lining Nairobi, and the thousands of pupils that attend them, are in need of resources and support. Our recent School Leadership Project introduced 12 of these schools to our BookSmart app, giving teachers powerful data about their students’ reading habits and allowing them to make data-led decisions in their classrooms. A project intended to build knowledge and capacity cultivated many fruitful benefits. Gatoto Primary, a school that participated in the project, is situated in the Mukuru slums, an industrial area of Nairobi. Peter Nyabuto Omimi has been a teacher for 20 years, and a headteacher at Gatoto for five. He has been encouraged by the positive effect BookSmart has had on his classroom, but also by the newfound connections he’s made with parents
Reimagining the human-environment relationship : indigenous philosophy and intergenerational justice
No full textThis paper forms part of the volume Reimagining the Human-Environment Relationship for Stockholm+50. This curated collection of ideas captures, interrogates, and elevates alternative paradigms of the human-nature relationship – existing and new, and from various disciplines and societies – creating a space to recast our relationship with the environment and inform future policymaking
Reciprocal feature encoding by cortical excitatory and inhibitory neurons
Get PDFIn the cortex, the interplay between excitation and inhibition determines the fidelity of neuronal representations. However, while the receptive fields of excitatory neurons are often fine-tuned to the encoded features, the principles governing the tuning of inhibitory neurons are still elusive. We addressed this problem by recording populations of neurons in the postsubiculum (PoSub), a cortical area where the receptive fields of most excitatory neurons correspond to a specific head-direction (HD). In contrast to PoSub-HD cells, the tuning of fast-spiking (FS) cells, the largest class of cortical inhibitory neurons, was broad and heterogeneous. However, we found that PoSub-FS cell tuning curves were often fine-tuned in the spatial frequency domain, which resulted in various radial symmetries in their HD tuning. In addition, the average frequency spectrum of PoSub-FS cell populations was virtually indistinguishable from that of PoSub-HD cells but different from that of the upstream thalamic HD cells, suggesting that this population cotuning in the frequency domain has a local origin. Two observations corroborated this hypothesis. First, PoSub-FS cell tuning was independent of upstream thalamic inputs. Second, PoSub-FS cell tuning was tightly coupled to PoSub-HD cell activity even during sleep. Together, these findings provide evidence that the resolution of neuronal tuning is an intrinsic property of local cortical networks, shared by both excitatory and inhibitory cell populations. We hypothesize that this reciprocal feature encoding supports two parallel streams of information processing in thalamocortical networks.Canadian Institutes of Health ResearchIsrael Science FoundationAzrieli FoundationEMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral FellowshipSir Henry Wellcome Fellowship (A.J.D.
Agenda for action : transitioning to a healthy sustainable food system in Latin America - political economy analysis executive summary
Get PDFThis political economy analysis addresses challenges concerning the implementation of interventions aimed at promoting healthy and sustainable food systems. Food systems are understood here as configurations that encompass individuals, institutions, inputs, environments, activities, and infrastructures by which food is produced, stored, processed, distributed, consumed, and disposed of
Mejora de la alfabetización infantil mediante el apoyo de redes comunitarias : reporte final de la investigación en Ghana - Unlock Literacy Learning Networks
Get PDFEnglish version available in IDRC Digital Library : Improving child literacy through support from community networks : Unlock Literacy Learning Networks (ULLN) research report from Ghan
Cost-effectiveness : considerations for scaling teacher professional development
Get PDFThis briefing note provides an overview of some of the approaches, questions to consider when establishing the cost-effectiveness of teacher professional development (TPD) programs, and challenges in measuring cost-effectiveness. Four broad challenges are outlined which include (i) the lack of data and research on cost, educational impact, and cost-effectiveness; (ii) the lack of clarity on real costs of TPD and economies of scale; (iii) political will; and (iv) the wider enabling (or disabling) environment. The briefing note focuses on the efficiency triangle (i.e., optimization of inputs to achieve desired outputs; cost-effectiveness) in the TPD@Scale Framework, while ensuring that efficiency is balanced with ensuring quality and equity
Learning for influence methodology
Get PDFThe Learning for Influence methodology uses narratives and storytelling within a complexity framing to generate and capture experiences that may be missed by other monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approaches. Learning for Influence can complement other MEL approaches, such as outcome mapping, outcome harvesting, Most Significant Change, and impact stories. The methodology focuses on four dimensions that shape how influencing policy and practice happens: context, organizational approach(es), examples from practice, and stories of impact. It also aims to generate multiple perspectives within an organization and can also be used for collaborative learning across a network of organizations working together. Therefore, the methodology should involve a variety of individuals within organizations working to influence policy and practice