Barriers to and facilitators of walking and bicycling to school were explored through 12 focus groups made up of fourth- and fifth-grade students and their parents who lived near their respective schools. The barriers and facilitators reported by parents and children generally fell into one of three categories: intrapersonal and interpersonal…

The purpose of this study was to examine students' perceptions of the extent to which reflection, a principle of cooperative learning, satisfied their needs for self-worth and belonging. Eight mature preuniversity students completed a scaled questionnaire and took part in a focus group interview following a 12-week preliminary study into the…

The Emory-Obed Watershed in Tennessee, like many other rural areas throughout the United States, is experiencing changes in economic activities and social values associated with natural resources. Informed by the interactional approach to community development, this effort strove to build community capacity so community members could more fully…

The purpose of this study was to determine the agricultural information preferences of crop producers in Iowa and the implications for agricultural extension education. The objective was to identify agricultural information issues producers perceive as significant to their businesses. The results will help agricultural extension educators and…

In this investigation, the use of the Alice programming language in an introductory computing class was studied from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Students in an introductory computing class participated in a 2.5-week unit to learn programming through the graphical programming environment of Alice. Quantitatively, students were…

"The George Lopez Show" is the first successful television show with a Latino in a leading role that features Hispanic material since Freddie Prinze's thirty-year-old sitcom, "Chico and the Man." This study seeks to assess how Latinos are presented on "The George Lopez Show." A content analysis reveals that the show perpetuates some of the…

Despite frustration with school constraints, new teachers who graduated from a program focused on advocacy for equity spoke for students in need in school forums and spoke up about issues of equity. Speaking for students, driven by convictions about equitable access to resources and a responsibility to act, often helped garner support and affected…

Oregon State University (OSU) researchers surveyed 3,227 undergraduate students to identify how many students use or do not use the physical and virtual OSU libraries. Most importantly, we wanted to determine the alternatives to the library that students choose for typical library activities, such as studying, research, and research assistance,…

The authors evaluated the environmental education program of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association in Brazil by comparing results of a 2001 survey with baseline data from 1986. Responses of 666 residents and results from 4 focus groups revealed an increase in public support for the tamarin and its habitat and an increase in general environmental…

The authors sought to understand the types of parent involvement that teachers, parents, and students believe affect the academic achievement of adolescent learners at the junior high school level. Research that included focus groups, interviews, and surveys indicated that teachers and students believed that parent involvement at school was…

Girls and women continue to be underrepresented in high school Advanced Placement computer science courses, undergraduate and graduate computer science programs at colleges and universities, and engineering programs and related careers. This is not to suggest that public schools train students to fulfill specific job needs, yet it is evident that…

In the last forty years, federal and state financial aid policy has fundamentally shifted the way in which students and families finance college costs. Whereas grants once served an important function in equalizing college opportunity, loans are now considered a key lever against escalating postsecondary costs (McPherson and Shapiro, 1998). This…

This small scale action research study investigated the experiences of learners over two iterations as they completed a patchwork text assignment within the digital medium of a personal learning system (PLS). The aim was to investigate the extent to which using a PLS can facilitate formative and collaborative feedback to assist student learning. A…

In Uganda, curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS has largely depended on public and private media messages about the disease. Media campaigns based on Uganda's cultural norms of communication are metaphorical, analogical and simile-like. The topic of HIV/AIDS has been introduced into the Senior Three (Grade 11) biology curriculum in Uganda. To what…

Peer-Assisted Tutorials (PATs), a form of Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL), were introduced to a conventional 4-year honours degree programme in Chemical Engineering. PATs were designed to support students in becoming more self-directed in their learning, to develop student confidence in tackling Chemical Engineering problems and to promote effective…