Research in psychology and education tend to use large-N group designs that necessitate reporting of mean measures analyzed mostly with null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST), but sometimes with Bayesian, or the estimation approaches in inferential statistics. These approaches all render the average person or student as the the putative…

This article aims to help doctoral students in technical communication prepare themselves for the academic job market and for the subsequent process of earning tenure and promotion in increasingly demanding environments. The authors propose that students do four things: (a) learn to spot and articulate research problems; (b) find their…

A common argument leveled against charter schools is that they attract the most motivated and intelligent students from already struggling public schools. Marcus Winters seeks to examine this claim, known as "cream-skimming," by comparing the performance of New York City's (NYC) charter middle schools with a set of traditional selective…

In this article, the authors discuss the utility of combining quantitative and qualitative methods in conducting intersectional analyses. First, they discuss some of the paradigmatic underpinnings of qualitative and quantitative research, and how these methods can be used in intersectional analyses. They then consider how paradigmatic pragmatism…

In this article, the author discusses how researchers can use mixed-methods approaches and intersectional analyses to understand college access among first-generation Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). First, he discusses the utility of mixed-methods approaches and intersectionality research in studying college access. Then, he…

In this article, the author argues that current strategies to study and understand students' identities fall short of fully capturing their complexity. A multi-dimensional perspective and a mixed-methods approach can reveal nuance that is missed with current approaches. The author offers an illustration of how mixed-methods research can promote a…

This paper examines and critiques several learning style inventories (LSI) in an effort to find the optimal research instrument for a proposed empirical study of both the quality of courseware and the impact of courseware characteristics on variations of learning effectiveness due to learner characteristics. Five LSIs are examined: (1) Dunn LSI;…

Research on the retention or promotion of failing students has been unable to demonstrate the superiority of either method, concludes the author of this review. Furthermore, research shows that neither method by itself solves the educational problems of low-achieving students, since both retained and promoted students continue to achieve at levels…

Extracts highlights about the process and products of needs assessment from 40 major research studies conducted over the past five years. Discusses who conducts needs assessments and why, where needs assessments are going wrong, what has been learned from these studies, and what needs assessments cannot do. (AYC)

In this revised version of ED 127 248, the author has re-evaluated response data from a survey of 1680 selected engineering freshmen at 42 schools. The survey was an effort to identify distinguishing characteristics of the increasing numbers of women entering engineering programs. Respondents, who included men and women, were asked to give…

In an effort to identify distinguishing characteristics of the increasing numbers of women entering engineering programs, a survey was made of 1,680 selected engineering freshmen at 42 schools. The 230-question survey required male and female students to respond to multiple-choice items covering their family and educational background, study…

This paper focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education, broadly considered. It addresses the following questions: (1) What models or programs of transition exist? (2) On what basis can we say one transition program is more effective than another? In other words, how is successful transition defined? (3) How are…

A review of more than 3,000 books, monographs, journal articles, papers and other reports was conducted to discover what kinds of design, measurement, and analytical lessons have been learned as a result of the enormous volume of college-impact-on-student studies that have been published in the last 20 years and to determine how these lessons…

A review of research on dropouts from adult basic education (ABE) reveals several theoretical models relevant to the study of dropout and persistence in ABE, shows specific variables related to dropout behavior, provides insights as to who drops out and why, identifies some characteristics of disadvantaged adult learners, and reveals some problems…

DATA GATHERED FROM FORMER STUDENTS WERE FOUND TO HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR COLLEGE PROGRAM PLANNING. AREAS OF FOCUS CAN PROFITABLY INCLUDE STUDIES OF DROPOUT CHARACTERISTICS AND THE ACADEMIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENT POPULATIONS, EFFECTIVENESS OF VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL PROGRAMS, TRANSFER STUDENT SUCCESS, VALUE OF GENERAL EDUCATION…