The enhancement of critical thinking skills is necessary for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. A three-year mixed methods study conducted at a Historically Black College and University in Baltimore, Maryland focused on enhancing critical thinking skills for African American students.…

The purpose of this study was to gather descriptive data on the experiences of Black female student athletes. A better understanding of the experiences of Black female student athletes as students, as athletes, and as developing young women may help student affairs practitioners better understand their collegiate experience; provide them with…

This is a qualitative interpretive study that explores the past and present experiences of heritage learners (HLs) of Mexican descent who were studying or had recently studied advanced Spanish in institutions of higher education. All of the participants had been exposed to Spanish in the home and began their studies in elementary or middle school…

The current qualitative study, using a grounded theory approach, explores the benefits of looping as an instructional practice by comparing the success of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in looping classrooms to the success of hearing students in looping classrooms. Limited information is currently available about the success of looping as an…

Using qualitative methods, the researchers explored student perceptions of the social and emotional advantages and disadvantages of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) program participation, differences between the AP and IB programs in those perceptions, and whether or not students report experiencing a "forced-choice…

The research reported in this paper is focused directly on assessing the validity of the "Teaching Knowledge about Reading and Reading Practices" (TKRRP) assessment. Following the recommendations of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (APA/AERA, 1999), the authors see validation as a process of constructing an…

Research addressing the effectiveness of feedback for learning has focused on many dimensions of feedback, including the timing (Kulik & Kulik, 1988), type (Mory, 2004), and amount of available information (Dempsey et. al, 1993). Much of the feedback research in education has tacitly assumed that the available information is perceived, and any…

This study addresses the fundamental question, "Are Kentucky's public community and technical colleges training enough students with the relevant skills to fill job openings in Kentucky's middle-skill jobs?" By examining student interests in occupational programs, labor market demand for trained middle-skill employees, and their…

This study examines the reasons that influence six secondary English teachers' decisions to remain in the teaching profession. A concern of parents, administrators, and policymakers is that secondary English teachers, often early in their careers, leave the profession at alarming rates, especially in California. This problem exacts a high monetary…

This study combined qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the reasons many women use indirect messages to say "no" to men's attempts to escalate sexual intimacy. Subjects were six female students at a large southwestern university. At one time, one group had four women, at another time the group had two women. All were…

This book for doctoral students is designed to provide direct, in-depth support for learning about qualitative research. The data sources for the book are reflections of research correspondents who describe their experiences with choosing qualitative research methodologies for their thesis research. The book begins with a chapter about "the end,"…

This paper assesses the value of research, not on its methodology type but on its goal and accomplishments. It outlines an idea for developing a knowledge base capable of informing teacher education program planning and other educational policy decisions. Studies are described that advance knowledge about causal relationships between classroom…

Interviewing is one of the most common methods used in small-scale educational research. This book is about semi-structured interviews, in which the interviewer sets up a general structure by deciding in advance the ground to be covered and the main questions to be asked. The detailed structure is left to be worked out during the interview, and…

This book describes several projects addressing experiences as women educators in defining the positional perspectives related to the understanding and reconceptualization of teaching and curriculum. Each project faces the dilemma of imposition in the authors' work with student teachers, teenage mothers, children of color, community members, and…

Parallels in the thinking of Gloria Anzaldua as expressed in her work "Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza" (1987) about "mestiza" consciousness and the tasks of critical ethnography are explored. Ethnography, as it shifts toward the new paradigm of critical ethnography, can learn much from the consciousness Anzaldua…