Many researchers and research funders want their work to be influential in educational policy and practice, but there is little systematic understanding of how policymakers and practitioners use research evidence, much less how they acquire or interpret it. By understanding what does shape policymakers' and practitioners' decision making and the…

Art therapists increasingly are turning to educational and presentation technology to expand awareness of their field and to inform others in mental health care. This trend supports inquiry into how art therapists interact with and emotionally respond to the demands of technology. This paper presents a qualitative study that used 3 art-based focus…

Background: Low rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening persist due to individual, provider, and system level barriers. Purpose: To develop and obtain initial feedback about a CRC screening educational video from community members and medical professionals. Methods: Focus groups of patients were conducted prior to the development of the CRC…

Many institutions seek to capture the student voice through market research, including surveys and focus groups. These are worthy exercises and institutions that use these methods deserve credit. Still, most conversations about education reform reflect the perspective and agenda of the institutions that provide educational services, rather than…

Addressing connections between higher education and "industry" framed by UK government creative industries strategies, this article draws on research with games design students to explore their transition from being a student to being "industry-ready". The article introduces broader currents within higher education around…

A total of 75 individuals participated in 1 of either 5 parent or 4 early intervention therapist focus groups. Groups were held regionally in a large mid-Atlantic state to explore the ways in which each group interpreted the concept of natural environments and to identify any differences in perspectives among parents and therapists. Transcribed…

The current study examined students' perceptions of the effects of different forms of instructional feedback on their performance, motivation, and emotion. Forty-nine students attending an eastern US university participated in focus group discussions. The groups explored students' reactions to grades, praise, and computer versus instructor…

This qualitative study investigates how parents of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manage courtesy stigma in their lives. Focus groups are conducted with mothers and fathers of adolescents with ADHD who are part of a cohort study on ADHD detection and service use. Using grounded theory analysis, researchers find…

The objectives of this study were (1) to explore the consequences of parental deployment for adolescents and their families and (2) to identify potential strategies that may help adolescents cope with a parent's deployment. Eleven focus groups were conducted among adolescents in military families, military parents, and school personnel in…

Objective: To report findings from a study of anonymous disclosures of abuse experiences among a national sample of youth in Canada who participated in violence prevention programming. Methods: A qualitative analysis was done of a purposeful sample of 1,099 evaluation forms completed following Red Cross RespectED violence prevention programming…

This article presents the results of a qualitative study into how adult literacy learners perceive reading. Individual interviews and focus groups were used to ask 37 adult literacy learners at a London further education college what reading is. It follows a grounded theory approach to build a model, or narrative, of reading in the form of six…

Purpose: Drawing upon Sternberg's theory of mental self-government, this paper aims to investigate the thinking styles and workplace experiences of 152 human resource (HR) practitioners pursuing Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) membership. It seeks to explore whether their thinking styles complemented their jobs and consider…

Concepts of gender equity are changing and the necessity of actively developing a fairer gender balance is now enshrined in the Gender Equality Legislation implemented in 2007 that required public bodies to positively promote equality. This study examines, from the perspectives of educators, their understandings of gendered inequalities in…

This article discusses the development and implementation of a technology-supported student teacher performance assessment that supports integration with a larger electronic assessment system. The authors spearheaded a multidisciplinary team to develop a comprehensive performance assessment based on the Pathwise framework. The team collaborated…

Middle school reformers have widely promoted advisory programs as a way to strengthen connectedness at the middle level. Broadly defined, advisory programs are configurations in which an adult advisor meets regularly during the school day with a group of students to provide academic and social-emotional mentorship and support, to create…