In recent years, there has been increasing academic debate concerning both the need for more male primary schoolteachers and the reasons for their minority status, numerically. Yet there has been relatively little heard from the men themselves. In this study the author used focus group discussions to investigate the views and experiences of…

Geographers are fully engaged in the debate surrounding the impact of new information and communication technologies (ICT) and there has been a proliferation of research on the impact of ICT on geographical education. This includes analyses of how ICT may affect geographical learning paradigms (Hill & Solem, 1999; Rich et al., 2000; Solem, 2000)…

We explored Nakayama and Krizek's (1995) notion of strategic rhetorics--i.e., the persuasive discourses that function hegemonically to continually re-secure the power of institutions by permeating the mundane talk of individuals--in relation to a series of focus group interviews with university undergraduates and instructors about the nature of…

We explore the use of focus groups with Latino families. Based on our work with Colombian, Guatemalan, Mexican, and Puerto Rican mothers, we review the factors that make this methodology particularly useful for working with these families. In addition, we provide a number of strategies for making the use of focus groups with Latino populations…

Many people in the instructional design community may wonder why AECT should devote a special session during its most recent International Convention in Anaheim, CA, to the issue of ambiguity. Isn't the whole idea behind well designed instruction that it should be ambiguity-free? If a debate on the issue of ambiguity is necessary at all, shouldn't…

This national study reviews national and state policies and guidelines, as well as surveys and focus groups of administrators and teachers, on the implementation of policies for students with low vision to gain visual access to the general education curriculum. The findings demonstrate that few states provide the necessary services to enable…

A nine-month program entitled Youth Speaks Up is delivered annually to grade 6 students from Sydney, Nova Scotia. One goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for the development of positive communication skills in participants. The purpose of this project was to determine if students participating in the program perceived changes in their…

This article examines the ways in which discourse and social context lead to identity construction in relationships between Black and White students in a large (Grades 6-8) urban middle school. Looking at issues of cross-cultural communication through focus group discussions among Grade 8 students at this school provides an opportunity for the…

This study looked at a different approach to professional development of higher education faculty. Faculty members were asked to participate in a pre-service technology course. Seventy faculty members accepted the invitation and took the course either during Fall Semester 2001, Winter Semester 2002, or Spring/Summer Terms 2002. Interviews and…

Universal Design for Instruction (UDI), a construct that serves as the foundation for the work of a federally funded project at the University of Connecticut, offers an approach to inclusive instruction that is responsive to the diverse learning needs of a changing postsecondary population. In this article elements relating to the implementation…

Public opinion research is not an area that has received much attention from applied linguists. But language lies at the heart of the procedures used to define, elicit, and report opinions, whether through such methods as polling, interviews, and focus groups, or through the less obvious channels of vox pop interviews, letters to the editor, radio…

A study examined the impact of the "Closing the Achievement Gap" (CAG schools) program on the academic achievement of students in 30 schools serving high percentages of African American and economically disadvantaged students in West Virginia (WV), 2004-2008. The program assigned experienced educators, "CAG liaisons", to the…

Background: Many of the potential benefits of using virtual worlds for teaching and learning are difficult to define and often become overly focused on the functionality of the technology or on its ability to support informal or "social" forms of learning. Purpose: The aim of the paper is to highlight the experiential nature of virtual…

This qualitative action research study investigates the common barriers encountered by successful undergraduate ethnic minority students enrolled in majors that serve as a pipeline for professional health sciences. Through specialized focus group interviews and individual interviews, this study explores the perceived barriers to student success…

The literature on competency-based human resource (HR) management provides a strong case for moving from a jobs-based to a competency-based approach to human resources. There is agreement in the literature (Dubois, Rothwell, Stern, & Kemp, 2004; Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999) on the benefits of using competencies throughout HR systems and impact…