This present study investigated engineering students' conceptions and misconceptions related to derivative, particularly interpreting the graph of a function and constructing its derivative graph. Participants were 147 first year engineering students from four universities enrolled in first year undergraduate calculus courses with or without the…

Ethnographic study, which calls for tape-recorded interview data, requires a means of interpreting such data. One manner of interpretation is the fairly typical approach of providing descriptive and interpretive accounts of the persons who populate particular social scenes. Excerpts from or transcripts of recorded interviews are often used to…

In the current study, momentary time sampling (MTS) and partial-interval recording (PIR) were compared to continuous-duration recording of stereotypy and to the frequency of self-injury during a treatment analysis to determine whether the recording method affected data interpretation. Five previously conducted treatment analysis data sets were…

Because the researcher's interpretation is the final word, traditional research reinforces relations of domination. When popular theater is used as research methodology, the interviewer's interpretation is performed immediately following data collection, and interviewees offer their interpretations of the interpretation. This gives voice to those…

Given the current popularity of ethnographic methods of researching teaching and teachers, many investigators commonly confront the task of analyzing interview transcripts in order to uncover speakers' meaning systems and the embedded perspectives on knowledge and practice upon which those meaning systems rely. Others have written about conducting…

Practice-as-inquiry refers to the blending of instructional practice with systematic curricular inquiry. College and university teachers, while experts in their disciplines, typically are not specialists in instructional practice. Practice-as-inquiry (also referred to as teacher-as-researcher) may function as a mechanism of continuous teaching…

Data from interviews, surveys, and archival records were used to examine gifted education policy implementation in Missouri. The study found that school districts tend to use a programmed approach to policy implementation when identifying gifted students with state guidelines usually being used prescriptively. Results suggest a need for greater…

Reports a study to examine the role of context on the ability to interpret graphs. Graph tests involving 2 ecological contexts were presented to 14- and 15-year-old students (n=23) in the form of an interview. Results indicated how students used their contextual knowledge in interpreting the graphs. (MDH)

Students in small rural schools in British Columbia face barriers to accessing senior science courses. A case study employing questionnaire and interview methods sought the perspectives of principals, teachers, and students in the affected schools on this issue. Interpretive data analysis revealed the following barriers as key factors that affect…

The ability to think critically in the presence of arguments with essential quantitative elements, most often graphical elements, will become an essential skill for educated citizens in the future. This paper takes one specific graphical display, a narrow series of observational and interpretational tasks related to a graph, and using a small set…

This case study aimed to generate explanations for the lack of integration of physical activity (PA) promotion in general practices of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia. This explanatory study adopted a qualitative approach, based on three techniques; focus groups (n = 3), semi-structured (n = 25) and short individual interviews (n = 5). These…

The principal aim of this study is to explore the relations between work domains and the work-related learning of workers. The article is intended to provide insight into the learning experiences of Dutch police officers during the course of their daily work. Interviews regarding actual learning events and subsequent changes in knowledge, skills…

Psychological methods of assessing intelligence have been criticised because of their limited diagnostic-remedial nature and especially their lack of potential for initiating effective and pragmatic intervention programmes. Similarly, the means through which the results of such methods are communicated in order to make them useful and constructive…

Parents are increasingly drawn into school improvement as a key strategy to enhancing student achievement, but parents' understanding of their role is not well documented. This case study illuminates three Alberta (Canada) mothers' perspectives on the meaning of school improvement and their experiences within the provincially funded Alberta…

This article describes a qualitative research approach (in-depth phenomenological interviewing) and illustrates, through the example of an actual study, its potential for helping institutions of higher education understand their students. It argues that progress in understanding college student outcomes, such as persistence, has been retarded by…