Provides an overview of the three major philosophical debates regarding art therapy research: qualitative or quantitative research, integration, and teaching research. Presents thoughts about art therapy research based on the author's experience as an educator of art therapy research. (MKA)

Linguistics research, including studies of classroom discourse and social patterns of language, seeks to identify the functions of language in learning situations. Future educational researchers need grounding in linguistics and other disciplines related to understanding the context of language use. (Author/SK)

Discusses how mentoring is being increasingly used by companies as a means of fostering employee learning and development. Presents the results of a qualitative study that investigated the characteristics that the ideal mentor should possess, and ways that both mentors and proteges can make mentoring relationships most effective. (Author/GCP)

Chronicles perceived dilemmas of 20 Australian principals whose work lives were preoccupied with school restructuring. Findings suggest two main types of dilemmas: general, personal/professional "states of mind" and specific, practical organizational dilemmas. Research is needed on devising management solutions and improving leadership…

Explores some opportunities open to evaluators as practitioners of organizational development and the advantages and competencies evaluators can bring to such initiatives. Presents eight examples of such opportunities. (SLD)

Reports a phenomenographic interview study of 13 British engineering students which identified five conceptions of learning, including: (1) learning as memorizing definitions, equations, and procedures; (2) learning as applying equations and procedures; (3) learning as making sense of physical concepts and procedures; (4) learning as seeing…

This study examined the construct of agency as a facilitator of change within an occupational-therapy parent-training group over seven class sessions. Using field notes, documents, and interviews, several themes emerged, including the way in which the class changed to a more supportive group, changes in parents as action agents, and positive…

A qualitative study examined factors promoting participation in and the success of work-based learning. Identifies congruence and dissonance between employer and employee perspectives of work-based learning as a major influence affecting motivation and participation. Discusses the implications of the findings for lifelong learning and the creation…

A qualitative research design was used to study decision making regarding the participation of young children with disabilities in inclusive preschool and early elementary placements. After the 5-year follow-along period, 60 percent of the children remained in some level of inclusive placement. Factors influencing placement decisions were…

Cooperative education, in the form or practicums, forms an essential part of teacher training and is the means by which academic content or professional knowledge gains value. A more holistic approach to teacher education would include cooperative education. Research into cooperative education likewise needs to be developed via a holistic approach…

Grounded theory was used to design a content analysis of peer reviewer comments on qualitative research. Six themes emerged: What is the purpose of the study? How does it build on previous research? How thorough is the methodology? How are the findings presented? What are the contributions, implications, significance? and Is the paper well…

Worksites represent an untapped resource for reaching teens with tobacco control messages, given that 80% of teens have held at least one job by the time they graduate from high school. This paper presents formative research findings from a methods development study aimed at designing and testing a tobacco control intervention targeting working…

This article describes a pilot study using qualitative methods to investigate bullying from the perspectives of the victimized children, their parents, and educators. Interviews were conducted with children in grades 4 and 5 who self-identified as victims, one parent, each child's teacher, and school administrators. Two major themes emerged:…

Background: The advent of evidence-based healthcare has seen a rise in the use of systematic reviews to bring together the findings from research studies. The use of systematic reviews in speech and language therapy (SLT) was criticized in this journal in 2004 by T. R. Pring. It was claimed that their findings are misleading due to the potential…

This study explored the use of writing to help students' develop schemata knowledge for algebraic thinking. Eight seventh-grade pre-algebra students participated in a teaching experiment in which they solved algebraic problems related in mathematical structure. The problems involved contexts of growth and change and size and shape. Qualitative…