Critics of distance education frequently assert that completion rates are lower in distance education courses than in traditional courses. Such criticism comes despite sparse and inconclusive research on completion rates for distance and traditional education courses. This article reviews some of the existing research and then describes some of…

This article reviews ten studies using parent training as a treatment approach for ADHD children. Six elements of research methods are considered: (1) type of parent training program; (2) parental psychopathological assessment; (3) parental involvement; (4) setting of treatment; (5) medication usage; and, (6) follow-up analysis. The studies were…

This paper describes the use of a participatory action research model to teach undergraduate social work research and statistics. Strategies of the model include (1) integration with social work education, (2) policy analysis, (3) literature review, (4) collaboration with practitioners, (5) collaboration with the target population through…

Serious criticisms of research in information and communications technology (ICT) in education have been published recently in both the UK and the USA. This paper addresses several issues raised in these commentaries: a lack of sound theoretical underpinnings to our research, persistent neglect of the history of our sub-discipline, the choice of…

The National Student Research Center (NSRC) is dedicated to promoting student research and the use of the scientific method in all subject areas across the curriculum, especially science and mathematics. The NSRC facilitates the implementation of a nationally recognized, innovative, and highly effective approach to instruction called the Student…

Researchers and program evaluators would often like to use a particular instrument, but do not because it is too long or would require too much testing time. Having a validated set of objective procedures for reducing the size of an instrument could improve many research and evaluation efforts. This paper reports the results of test reduction or…

Results of a process evaluation of dropout prevention programs in the Leon County (Florida) school district during the school year 1989-90 are presented. Altogether, 11 dropout programs were operationalized in that school year. The methodology used for developing a problem survey among teachers and administrators, the results of the evaluation,…

Projecting demand for vocational education teachers for a 5-year period has many methodological problems. For example, how does one define the "need for additional personnel" or determine the difference in demand for and supply of teachers? The demand figure changes drastically depending on how it is measured, while the supply changes…

Longitudinal studies conducted with children typically experience non-response problems that can make substantial inroads on sample size and introduce bias into the analysis. Three methods for limiting non-response in school-based research programs were assessed: (1) asking parents to return consent forms only if they do not want their children to…

Presented are findings of a 1986 national survey of 1000 American students between the ages of 8 and 17 years. Face-to-face interviews focused on youths' perceptions of their families, their schools, and major social issues confronting them. After a preview highlighting important findings, in-depth results and commentary are offered with…

A study compared the benefits of using the Hewlett-Packard HP-41CV hand-held computer, as opposed to conventional training without computers, in teaching mathematics to fire control systems repairers. Thirty soldiers in a course to train fire control systems repairers received training in technical mathematics using the hand-held computer, whereas…

This issue contains abstracts and critical comments for published reports of research in mathematics education. The reports are concerned with: (1) relationships between class size, teaching practices, and student achievement; (2) sex differences related to attitudes; (3) comprehension of mathematical relationships expressed in graphs; (4) effect…

This research, conducted for California State Department of Education, is one component of a feasibility study focusing on ways to make the testing process more efficient by application of multi-purpose tests (MPT). MPT are designed, administered and scored to serve more than one purpose and to consolidate and unify testing programs as a partial…

As part of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program effort, the conference explored the implications and impact of the prevalence of hypertension in Spanish-speaking populations in California. Approximately 150 experts in health fields, representing all levels of government, public and private health care providers, consumers, and health…

The study examines the rule space model, a probabilistic model capable of measuring cognitive skill acquisition and of diagnosing erroneous rules of operation in a procedural domain. The model involves two important components: (1) determination of a set of bug distributions (bug density functions representing clusters around the rules); and (2)…