Focus groups of six instructors and 21 physical-therapy students examined separately clinical and classroom experience. Results revealed (1) a mismatch between student and faculty expectations; (2) student preference for passive learning; (3) concern about teacher/student relationships; (4) student anxiety about career expectations; and (5)…

Explores a curriculum-review process for assessing how a specialized secondary school for the gifted might improve its programs and services. The review process used document review, interviews, focus groups, and classroom-observation techniques to arrive at recommendations and an action plan. (Author)

Focus groups with 18 health-care employers identified assessment, independence, critical thinking, and collaboration as the most important skills and qualities for community-health practice. Partnerships to improve undergraduate nursing curricula and the marketability of nursing graduates were developed. (SK)

Investigates the body concerns of adolescent girls (N=67), together with the underlying motivations for wishes to be thinner. Results of focus group studies reveal that sociocultural influences exerted the strongest pressures to be thin. The girls displayed an unexpected sophistication in their conceptualization of the role of both media effects…

Reports on research with four focus groups of 17-year-old girls of different education levels, about their need, expectations, and attitudes concerning contraceptives. Determined: (1) the school physician is not the person they want to seek help from; (2) peer influence is very important; and (3) girls expect confidentiality from their family…

Discusses issues which higher education institutions need to consider when marketing continuing vocational education to small and medium-sized enterprises. Experiences at the University of North London and results from a survey of other institutions and focus group discussions with managers and employees are reviewed. (Author/LRW)

Used focus group discussion and classroom observations to compare whether early childhood teachers' reported use of timeout as a discipline method was congruent with classroom behavior. Found that the verbal responses of the five teachers observed were very congruent with what they carried out while teaching. (Author/KB)

Uses data from 30 focus groups from a qualitative study of middle school students' experiences of race to show two distinctive types of conversations about race in a multiracial context: (1) "bridging talk" that builds unity and (2) discourse that creates borders and conflict. A third form, "democratic conversations," promoted…

Focus group research methodology was used to identify professional skills regarded by educational team members (N=30) as necessary to support students who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in general education classrooms. All valued five skills, including the ability to work together collaboratively and to maintain and operate…

Presents access issues based on three Canadian empirical studies of the use of computer and information technologies by college students with physical, sensory, and learning disabilities. Results of focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires indicated that the majority used computers and the Internet but many needed some type of adaptation to…

Several attitudes that predicted binge drinking on campus were identified by focus groups. A brief classroom intervention led to self-reported attitude change among university students. This type of intervention may be useful to college counselors interested in redefining normative perceptions of alcohol use to decrease the prevalence of binge…

A review of eight publications regarding reading interventions with elementary school students with emotional or behavior disorders (E/BD) and a focus group of eight teachers, found cross-age tutoring and direct or explicit instruction may hold some promise for students with E/BD, however, neither revealed specific instructional procedures that…

Examined 12- to 14-year-olds' understanding of mental health and illness, responses to negative feelings, and perceived differences between themselves and adults. Found that the term "mental health" was little understood. Relationships with family and friends were considered a positive influence. Youth, especially boys, reported…

Discusses the methods and findings of the student focus project, a six-month study of student perceptions of service at a large university in Brisbane, Australia. Analysis of 24 focus groups identified "malignant bureaucracy" and the "balkanization of information" as systemic factors negatively influencing student perceptions…

Defines alternate assessments, describes methods used to collect data, and describes domains in which data should be collected. The results of a focus group study in which teachers delineated ways in which data might be collected using each of the methods in each of the domains is reported. (Author/CR)