Explores the ethics of research using students as subjects. Discusses the issue of voluntary participation amid student perceptions that a survey questionnaire is "just another piece of schoolwork." Offers a study of drug use by 2,000 British students as an example. Examines the implications for administrators, teachers, and researchers.…

Recent years have witnessed the rapid rise of a new educational research orthodoxy in the UK and the USA. Central to that orthodoxy are the assumptions that method can ensure objectivity in research, and that more objective 'safe' research to inform practice is needed. But educational research is a field made up of overlapping communities of…

Reviews the literature on the effect of prior knowledge and text familiarity on document comprehension and usability. Discusses current methods for assessing subjects' topic familiarity. Presents an empirically based method for effectively assessing topic familiarity. Explains that the method includes use of two subject groups and reliance on…

Responds to Barry Hutchinson's views of Active Tutoring Work. Says Hutchinson's assumption that teachers are not policy makers is in error. Discusses problems in the teacher-researcher, action research model. Challenges the notion that Hutchinson's research impedes communication between teachers and researchers. (NL)

Reviews and describes different versions of feminism and postmodernism. Reviews the current debate about the challenges that the two sets of theories offer to traditional epistomologies. Concludes with suggestions about the influence of feminism and postmodernism on educational research. (CFR)

Contends that most of the research on gender issues in schools has focused on teacher behavior and the values transmitted through observed talk and behavior. Reports on a study of the views toward their elementary schooling by 53 secondary school students. (CFR)

Provides an overview of the current practices and controversies concerning educational research in the United Kingdom. Addresses issues including lack of adequate evidence and the hindering effects of fragmentation and isolation. Offers suggestions for improving professionalism and discusses the efforts of the British Educational Research…

Addresses some of the recent criticism aimed at educational research, its failure to provide a sound base for teaching or to generate a cumulative body of knowledge. Answers that there is always a dichotomy between research and application and argues that restrictions would only worsen the situation. (MJP)

Examines the background and implementation of a student research project exploring the decisions of 16-year olds to leave or stay in school. Offers a critique of the methods of student researchers focusing upon five main issues, organization, time, equity, research style, and clashing cultures. (MJP)

Reviews research on the role of reflection subsequent to action research in the professional development of teachers. Discusses the use of reflection as a part of the learning process. Calls for partnerships within collaborative organizations that provide opportunities for interaction and reflection. (CFR)

Investigates the ethical issues arising out of a field research project on the educational experiences of Muslim girls in a private Muslim girls' school and a single-sex state school. Argues for a feminist and poststructural approach to the research process with the subjectivity of the researcher explicitly acknowledged. (MJP)

Argues that educational research and policymaking are hampered by increased intervention by governmental agencies and misrepresentation in the media. Asserts that current educational reform efforts are in conflict with research findings related to curriculum, learning, and assessment. (CFR)

Reports on an exploratory study of a metacognitive approach to teaching low achieving secondary students. Asserts that the research team hoped to examine a process whereby a dialog about learning processes would develop. Finds that all students indicated that they were able to focus on learning as a topic of conversation. (CFR)

Details findings of research into 17-year-old students' consideration of science-based social issues. Reports that, although sex-based differences appeared in both student questionnaire and discussion responses, differences were far fewer in the discussions. Argues that social factors blur sex differences, making discussion a valuable learning…

Reports on a study of the impact of metacognition among 10 middle school-aged British students with learning difficulties. Finds that student awareness and subsequent control over thought processes were enhanced through self-reporting and self-appraisal. Examines this kind of reflection on enhanced learning capabilities and self-esteem. (CFR)