Introduction: For some time now the field of medical education has been criticized by many of its stakeholders. Countless debates have been presented in the literature regarding the quality of medical education research, adequacy of methodological rigor, and other concerns. Methods: At present, the views expressed have largely come from physicians…

Despite its growing popularity, the thesis by publication is a less conventional format for doctoral dissertations in the field of education. The author successfully undertook a thesis by publication in education from 2012, to submission in 2014. This paper draws on both the literature in the field and the experiences of the author through an…

Gerald Bracey thought that after devoting the March and April columns to various kinds of "trouble" with research, he was done with it. But he had yet to encounter a December 2003 publication from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) titled Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported by Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide.…

Reforms of educational practice arise from attractiveness of new ideas rather than from research findings because researchers import frameworks from other disciplines rather than using actual classroom phenomena as a basis for conceptual apparatuses and methods. (JW)

Educational researchers in the United States contend that making low-performing students repeat a grade is an ineffective educational practice. This view derives largely from the summary of grade retention research reported by Holmes (1989). A meta-analysis of more recent studies (Jimerson, 2001) also concludes that the practice of grade retention…

Teachers engaged in action research are involved in a process that focuses on how they and their students construct and reconstruct learning experiences, thereby extending professionalism and creating additional learning opportunities for students. This paper describes the evolution of an action research project involving an elementary school…