In this article, we present a co-adaptive design approach named TE-Cap (Tutoring Experience Capitalisation) that we applied for the development of an assistance environment for tutors. Since tasks assigned to tutors in educational contexts are not well defined, we are developing an environment which responds to needs which are not precisely…

The study examined the ODL learners' perceptions of the quality of provision of research support services to the ODL learners by tutors. It focused on the Zimbabwe Open University's (ZOU) Bachelor of Education (Educational Management) research students' experiences. It was a qualitative multiple case study of four of the 10 Regional Centres of the…

This article aims to demonstrate how the use of an online journal, a bilingual blog, can contribute to filling in the language and cultural gaps of foreign language learners. This case study focuses on the participation, interaction, motivation, language acquisition, feedback and cultural input improved by students of Spanish as a Foreign Language…

Using the Gini-Light-Margolin concept of "partioning" variance for qualitative data, correspondences are established between various kappa statistics and intraclass correlation coefficients under general conditions (multiple raters and polychotomous category systems). A measure of marginal symmetry for multiple ratings. (Author/TJH)

Although the importance of validity has long been accepted among quantitative researchers, this concept has been an issue of contention among qualitative researchers. Thus, the first purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive discussion of the different ways that validity has been defined. Second, an argument is provided that in order for…

Constructivist grounded theory is focused on discovery through understanding data in a human ecology. The procedures outlined in this paper are designed to guide the beginning theorist through the process of creating a theory grounded in data that is a product of the human ecology under study. These new procedures extend grounded theory, providing…

The importance of intuition and creativity in qualitative research is discussed. By discussing lessons learned from well-known creative individuals, it is possible to find ways to open a conversation on creativity. Since the researcher is the research instrument in qualitative research projects, the definition of the role of the researcher is…

Use of a focused autobiography to illuminate researcher bias in qualitative study had the unintended effect of identifying additional research questions. Hermeneutic theory suggests that bias or "preunderstanding" is a necessary condition of interpretation. (SK)

Details the philosophical and practical dimensions of five types of validity used in qualitative research: descriptive, interpretive, theoretical, generalizable, and evaluative, with corresponding issues of understanding. Presents this typology as a checklist of the kinds of threats to validity that may arise. (SK)

Sees qualitative assessment as offering counselor methods of helping clients to know and understand themselves better. Describes card sorts, simulations, exercises and games, and work samples, calling many methods projective in nature and thereby tapping values, interests, and needs in ways that standardized tests do not. Describes methods as…

An overview of the many types of studies that fall into the qualitative design genre is provided. Strategies that qualitative researchers use to establish the authors' studies as credible and trustworthy are listed and defined. So that readers will recognize the important contribution qualitative studies have made in the field of special…

The development of collaborative partnerships between parents and professionals is too often unsuccessful. One reason for this failure may be the lack of empirical understanding of the components of interpersonal partnerships. Using qualitative inquiry, 33 focus groups were conducted with adult family members of children with and without…

Situated in the context of Israeli in-service education, this study investigates the range of meanings that twelve in-service mentors attribute to a mentors attribute to a mentoring conversation and the extent to which these attributions are realized in their actual conversations in practice. Drawing on qualitative research paradigms that stress…

This study presents a preliminary investigation into changes in the perceptions and behaviors of teachers and students when all have universal Internet access at home and school using Internet-on-TV technology. Four hundred fourth-grade students and their teachers from seven schools participated in the WISH TV (WorldGate Internet School to Home)…

The discursive arena known as qualitative inquiry initially took shape in opposition to the epistemology and politics associated with philosophies of logical positivism and empiricism and the doctrine of value-free science. An identity of resistance and antagonism continues to characterize many who identify with this arena of activity. This paper…