The completion of a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation requires discipline, independent initiative, creative thinking, working with others, and the surmounting of self-doubt. This book attempts to facilitate the dissertation process for students. This book is organized around the themes of content and process. The first part of this book…

This study sought to determine under what conditions 14 recent Mexican immigrant high school students thought they used and acquired English as a Second Language (ESL) in an "English Only" high school in California. Each of the 14 students was interviewed at least twice and "shadowed" for 2 days in school. Follow-up interviews and observations…

Beginning with a review of relevant literature on learning and computers, this report focuses on a group of five second graders in the process of creating a multimedia presentation for their class. Using "StoryShow," software that combines images, sound, and text, the students took on a variety of production roles. Each one contributed…

Visual thinking has been neglected with the increasing emphasis on verbal and analytical skills. There is a need to provide balance in curriculum content and instructional evaluation related to visual imagery skills. In order to draw upon students' diverse talents and thinking capacities, educators must honor and respect alternative thinking and…

This case study report provides information that can be useful in implementing rational changes in mathematics teacher education. Considering teachers' thinking about a specific mathematical topic, such as functions, allows one to better understand the broader domain of teachers' mathematical thinking and its influence on teaching and learning.…

An arts-based supplemental education program was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. It was hypothesized that this classroom program would cause gains in critical thinking skills, as measured through writing ability. The program provided 87 teachers in grades 3 through 12 with a classroom set of "Arts Indiana" magazine and an accompanying…

As an outgrowth of "A Study of Exemplary Mathematics Programs," conducted at the Northeast Regional Exchange in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, a panel of experts rated 150 school mathematics programs that had submitted evidence of excellence in student outcomes, for example, high test scores, exceptional course enrollments, significant…

The function of qualitative research in education is examined, taking into account the curriculum development of one institution, the Escuela Normal Veracruzana, Jalapa (Mexico), which is one of the oldest teacher training colleges (dating from 1886) still functioning in Mexico. Although this academic institution never traditionally promoted the…

This paper describes the research strategies employed in the Dutch Technology Enriched Schools (TES) project, which was initiated in 1987 to introduce computers into secondary education, to encourage extensive and intensive use of computers in a small number of secondary schools, and to study the effects of computer use on the classroom, the…

This study examined the process of parent-school communication from the perspective of Native American parents in a consolidated, rural school district. The multi-model qualitative study used participant observation, open-ended interviews, and document collection to focus on the relatively wealthy, rural consolidated district, encompassing three…

It has been difficult to define the work of curriculum directors for a variety of reasons related to educational structures and policies. Through the use of qualitative methodology, this study provides an in-depth analysis of the work of four exemplary curriculum directors in an effort to define their duties and responsibilities, identify the…

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the availability of computers in educational settings. Since the technology became available for all ages, the amount of technology usage increased in early childhood classrooms (Haugland, 1997). Despite of the dramatic increase of computers in early childhood classrooms, there are still…

This qualitative interpretivist study analyses the perceptions of a stratified and purposive sample of university-based adult educators with a view to understanding how they perceive the effectiveness of adult education as a contributor to national development in southern Africa at the beginning of the 21st century. These perceptions of…

This article provides a preliminary analysis of issues and challenges associated with a qualitative participatory research project conducted in Auckland, New Zealand. It traces the history of the development of the project in two selected urban areas which entails an investigation of a full range of learning for older adults--formal, non-formal…

One of a series of six portraits of high school literature classrooms, this paper gives a detailed, evocative characterization of how one "master teacher" introduced, undertook, and guided the study of literature, focusing in particular on how the teacher interacted with students in the context of discussion of a literary work in class.…