Purpose: The purpose of the study is to undertake a formative evaluation of a young person's Smokebuster club and to examine how young people's experience of being a club member can be used to inform the club's future development. Design/methodology/approach: After seeking and being granted Local Research Ethics Committee approval to undertake the…

Recent papers document that student problem-solving competence varies (often strongly) with representational format, and that there are significant differences between the effects that traditional and reform-based instructional environments have on these competences [Kohl and Finkelstein, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 1, 010104 (2005); Kohl and…

We have developed a wet lab DNA microarray simulation as part of a complete DNA microarray module for high school students. The wet lab simulation has been field tested with high school students in Illinois and Maryland as well as in workshops with high school teachers from across the nation. Instead of using DNA, our simulation is based on pH…

A great deal of similarity exists between engineering and technology education. Many schools and state education administrators are working to bring engineering principles and problem-solving approaches into the technology education classroom. More and more, technology education is viewed as a breeding ground for tomorrow's new crop of engineers.…

This paper discusses a formal study conducted in 2001 at Brigham Young University to determine the value of the library to the university community. Methods used to collect data for the study included an e-mail survey, usage statistics, naturalistic observations, and interviews. Two years after the study, the authors wondered if the conclusions of…

Researchers in the fields of cognitive and language development have made less use of large-scale longitudinal designs and of person-centered approaches to data analysis than have researchers in the fields of social and personality development. It is argued that differences among domains of developmental psychology in the research methods employed…

Institutions of higher education want to diversify their learning climates, and many offer courses in multiculturalism, yet these courses still do not meet the needs of attitudinal change. A new instrument was developed, the Munroe Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE), that was theoretically based in Banks's transformative approach,…

The purpose of this study was to characterise the development of a preservice physical education teacher's professional activity over the course of training interactions with her co-operating teacher. The student teacher's professional development was studied using a hermeneutic and inductive approach based on the analysis of data from observation…

The aim of this paper is to develop an approach that can be used in addressing the issue of the use of information technology and its importance in human meaning making. By using a combination of Wittgenstein's work method, a sociocultural perspective on learning, and a sociotechnical perspective on artifacts a specific focus for analyses was…

The Virtual Vee Map proved successful in promoting student learning in the areas of inquiry and data analysis using resources and data available on the internet. A postsurvey found that a majority of students enjoyed collecting and interpreting the data to find an answer to their own inquiry question. (Contains 3 tables and 6 figures.)

This article shares critical reflections on cultivating community partnerships through arts education and provides an analytical framework for community building. It is argued that increasing access to arts education requires attention be paid not only to content issues in arts education, but, also, to holistic approaches that address the contexts…

This book talks about the enormous pressure school counselors are under to document effectiveness by using data and producing quantitative accountability reports--whether or not they've had the appropriate training. Highly respected by counselor educators and trainers it gives preservice and inservice school counselors the tools to knowledgeably…

Effective management relates to creativity, good leadership, and a strong educational basis. Managing conflict is one of the main responsibilities to be an effective administrator. The purpose of this study was to investigate conflict management methods that administrators are using and what the perceptions of subordinates. Thirty-eight…

In 2001, the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) released its blueprint for reforming the city's high schools. Central to the blueprint were plans to create eight innovation high schools and to convert all nine large, comprehensive high schools into smaller neighborhood schools. Since May 2003, the Urban Institute has been conducting a…

In December 2006 the Government announced that a new framework for assessing and funding university research would be introduced following the completion of the next research assessment exercise in 2008. The sector has welcomed the key features of the announcement, which includes the creation of a new UK-wide indicator of research quality. The…