Describes a simple circuit based on an inexpensive quad operational amplifier that permits a direct-reading temperature instrument to be constructed using silicon diodes. Encourages the use of this equipment in introductory thermal experiments. (DDR)

A greater challenge than collecting and organizing data is transforming data into easily accessible, useful information that staff members can employ for school improvement. A New Hampshire district developed four guiding principles. They prioritized instructional change, instituted staff training, stressed communication of results, and invited…

An observational study of families watching television was conducted in six households, using a video camera. Results show that family members were absent for substantial proportions of the time the television set was in operation, and when present, for most of the time did not pay full attention. Thirteen tables depict information. (AEF)

This article documents the wide variation in terminology used by the U.S. Department of Education and the 50 states in gathering data on deaf and hard-of-hearing children and in determining eligibility for services. Recommendations for achieving uniformity in defining and applying the terms "deaf" and "hard of hearing" are…

Reports on a study undertaken to develop research rubrics for a performance assessment of science processes and evaluate seventh-grade science students' ability to perform them. Focuses on the processes of recording data, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and providing evidence. Reports that only 61% of the students performed the activity and…

Presents survey results that identify the occupation of school-district-level technology director: their salaries and educational levels, length of service, budgetary demands, and job responsibilities. Results show the following: average technology director budgets are between $200,000 and $399,000; their average salaries are between $50,000 and…

Discusses teaching display and presentation skills by incorporating it into an interdisciplinary computer, math, and science lesson on graphing and collecting data which reinforces problem-solving skills and develops students' abilities to graph and interpret data. (ASK)

Describes use of a follow-up study and newspaper scanning techniques to collect data to review and revise the Library and Information Science curriculum at the University of Zululand (South Africa). Includes a case study of graduates that investigated whether their training was adequate and a scan of job advertisements. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the concepts of marketing and relationship management as they apply to libraries. Topics include perceptions of the profession; environments that libraries operate in; connecting content and users through access and services; and the need for reliable and consistent collection of effective data. (Author/LRW)

A course to prepare nursing students to identify health and safety needs of farm families used a model with eight subsystems. Students were trained to gather assessment data from a variety of sources in each subsystem; then they developed diagnoses and planned interventions. (SK)

Introduces the analysis of a river as an excellent way to teach geochemical techniques because of the relative ease of sample collection and speed of sample analysis. Focuses on the potential sources of sample contamination during sampling, filtering, and bottle cleaning processes, and reviews methods to reduce and detect contamination. Includes…

Presents a model for using the Internet to teach high school students about plasma physics and fusion energy. (Author/CCM)

Describes the use of focus groups to determine young adult needs in public libraries, based on experiences at the Johnson County Library system in Kansas City. Highlights include the benefits of focus groups over surveys, time involvement, how to design questions to ask, and compiling data. (LRW)

Investigates a mixed set of methods (group interviews, recollection of information needs and word association tests to collect data; content analysis and discourse analysis to analyze data) to evaluate whether these methods collected the data needed for work domain oriented thesaurus design. Findings showed the methods together provided domain…

Conducted meta-analysis of preschool and early elementary school self-esteem instruments, using reliability as criterion variable and different aspects of methodology used in testing an instrument as predictor variables. Found that reliability could be predicted by study setting, number of items in the scale, age of children being studied, method…