This highly readable text demystifies the qualitative research process--and helps readers conceptualize their own studies--by organizing the different research paradigms and traditions into coherent clusters. Real-world examples and firsthand perspectives illustrate the research process; instructive exercises and activities build on each other so…

The purpose of this study was to explore students' response to a multicultural course for graduate level speech-language pathology preservice candidates grounded in a sociocultural conceptual framework. This study will describe: (1) the innovative instructional methods used for the delivery of multicultural course content, (2) student's…

Growing up in an era when protest at national political conventions is carefully contained in "free-speech zones" (often physically removed from the site of the official conventions), students today may have a difficult time conceptualizing the tumultuous scene that was the 1968 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. Fueled by…

Imaging of artwork is an important aspect of art conservation, technical art history, and art authentication. Many forms of near-infrared (NIR) imaging are used by conservators, archaeologists, forensic scientists, and technical art historians to examine the underdrawings of paintings, to detect damages and restorations, to enhance faded or…

PictoPal is the name of a technology-supported intervention designed to foster the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four and five year old children. Following the theoretical underpinnings and a brief description of PictoPal, this article describes how children worked with the technology; how the intervention elicited their…

Maria lifts up a book from the table. Dietre eats cereal for breakfast. Akisha winds up a toy robot. Jacob puts batteries in a flashlight. These seemingly dissimilar events demonstrate various ways children experience energy daily. The authors have used these lessons successfully for several years and have been continually impressed with the…

A hands-on activity is described in which students attempt to measure something that they cannot see. In small groups, students estimate the number of marbles in sealed boxes. Next, students' estimates are compared with the actual numbers. Last, values from both the students' estimates and actual numbers are used to explain measurement theory and…

Since the AACSB mandates that students demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills, it is imperative that business professors do what is necessary to improve such skills. The authors investigate whether the use of using multiple progress reports in an Advertising class project improves the final product. The data results show that…

In 1985, a prototype publication by and for teachers of speech communication was sent to the membership of the Speech Communication Association. The publication stated that its goal was to provide teaching ideas for instructors at all levels, K-12 to university, and that it would welcome materials from all areas of the discipline. This unnamed…

One of the most effective ways to help students integrate classroom knowledge they have gained in an Organizational Communication class is for students to put that knowledge literally "to work" through analysis of an actual organization. However, unlimited entry into a "real" organization's communication systems is sometimes limited and often…

In the early 1990s, the National Science Foundation funded many research projects for improving statistical education. Many of these stressed the need for classroom activities that illustrate important issues of designing experiments, generating quality data, fitting models, and performing statistical tests. Our paper describes such an activity on…

The technique of distance sampling is widely used to monitor biological populations. This paper documents an in-class activity to introduce students to the concepts and the mechanics of distance sampling in a simple situation that is relevant to their own experiences. Preparation details are described. Variations and extensions to the activity are…

Construction details are provided for simple heat engines that use candle wax and elastomers as working substances. The engines are constructed using common household materials and can be easily constructed in a school classroom or at home. They work reliably and are useful tools for demonstrating the conversion of heat to mechanical work. They…

We designed a series of analyses to develop a measurement system capable of simultaneously recording the free-play patterns of 20 children in a preschool classroom. Study 1 determined the intermittency with which the location and engagement of each child could be momentarily observed before the accuracy of the measurement was compromised. Results…

Preschool and kindergarten teachers must make decisions everyday about how much to allow their children to talk out loud to themselves during various classroom activities. The present study examines the effects of children's private speech use on task performance for a group of behaviorally at-risk children and a group of control children during a…