Not knowing the population size is a common problem in data-limited contexts. Drawing on work in Sierra Leone, this short take outlines a four-step solution to this problem: (1) estimate the population size using expert interviews; (2) verify estimates using interviews with participants sampled; (3) triangulate using secondary data; and (4)…

In the complex and dynamic environment of schools, the greatest asset is the collective wisdom of educators. The insights, experiences, and perspectives of teachers and staff are the most valuable data for driving meaningful improvement and fostering a positive environment where both students and adults can thrive. To lead effectively, one must…

Multiple data collection or research methods exist for evaluating library spaces. Faced with numerous choices and limited time for gathering data, it becomes challenging for information professionals to determine the best way to proceed with evaluating their libraries' physical spaces. There is a gap in the literature on best practices for…

Intergenerational service-learning initiatives are an increasingly common educational practice designed to engage college students and older adults with one another. The growth of the baby boomer population and a growing interest in lifelong learning opportunities among older adults have the potential to create new models of multigenerational…

With the widespread use of learning analytics (LA) tools, there is a need to explore how these technologies can be used to enhance teaching and learning. Little research has been conducted on what human processes are necessary to facilitate meaningful adoption of LA. The research problem is that there is a lack of evidence-based guidance on how…

Background/Context: Mixed methods research conveys multiple advantages to the study of complex phenomena and large organizations or systems. The benefits are derived from drawing on the strengths of qualitative methods to answer questions about how and why a phenomenon occurs and those of quantitative methods to examine how often a phenomenon…

Museums often evaluate various aspects of their audiences' experiences, be it what they learn from a program or how they react to an exhibition. Each museum program or exhibition has its own set of goals, which can drive what an evaluator studies and how an evaluation evolves. When designing an evaluation, data collection methods are purposefully…

For more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of India's young adults have volunteered to collect data for an annual household education related survey. The survey is called the Annual Status of Education Report or ASER, for short. The ASER survey is a unique methodology of citizen-led assessments. The purpose of this article is to describe and…

Although the implementation of e-learning initiatives has reached advanced stages in developed countries, it is still in its infancy in many developing nations and the Middle East in particular. Recently, few public universities in Iraq have initiated limited attempts to use e-learning alongside traditional classrooms. However, different obstacles…

The disconnect between data collection and analysis across academic and administrative units within institutions of higher education makes it challenging to incorporate diverse data into curricular design. Understanding the factors related to student retention and success is unlikely to occur by focusing on only one unit at a time. By promoting…

The purpose of this program was to analyze the effects of The Leader in Me/seven habits philosophy on the selected elementary school in western North Carolina. The perceived problem was that in this particular school there was a need for methods to encourage student participation and student motivation and to increase homework completion and…

When yes/no or multiple-choice answers do not suffice--when a qualitative understanding of a topic rather than a quantitative head count is needed--it is time to consider focus groups. They work well when learning why, how, and what for is more important than measuring how many. Focus groups are primarily an open-ended form of inquiry, enabling…

The true power of comparative research around the impact and use of open educational resources is only just being realised, largely through the work done by the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub, based at The Open University (UK). Since late 2012, the project has used a combination of surveys, interviews and focus groups to gather data about the use…

Since the essential role of counseling supervision for counselor growth and effectiveness was emphasized in several seminal articles in the 1980s (Blocher, 1983; Loganbill, Hardy, & Delworth, 1982), many researchers have investigated the complex factors involved in effective counseling supervision. However, within this large body of work, very…

The paper presents a case study of the use of conceptual tutoring software to promote deep learning of the scientific concept of density among 50 final year pre-service student teachers in a natural sciences course in a South African university. Individually-paced electronic tutoring is potentially an effective way of meeting the students' varied…