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Full-Text Articles in Education

Assessing Creative Thinking Skills - An Interdisciplinary Approach, Mark Butler Nov 2012

Assessing Creative Thinking Skills - An Interdisciplinary Approach, Mark Butler

Mark Butler

The Australian Council for Educational Research (A.C.E.R.) is a not-for-profit organisation that works with Australian and international governments to develop and improve learning and assessment practices. In 2012 A.C.E.R. was contracted by the Victorian government to undertake research in the assessment of critical and creative thinking skills for students aged 8 to 18. Over 300 test items were developed for this purpose and these items were used to form a developmental scale for thinking. The research highlights the how critical and creative thinking skills can be incorporated into lessons which transcend traditional subject boundaries. This presentation focuses on the process …


Evaluation Research In Education, Pauline Joyce Nov 2012

Evaluation Research In Education, Pauline Joyce

Pauline Joyce

This paper gives an overview of evaluation and evaluation research, particularly how it fits with education. Reference to some evaluation debates over the years is presented as well as some seminal works in the topic area. A brief synopsis of evaluation in the education setting is then presented before outlining various approaches to evaluation.


Libguide To Dissertation And Thesis Resources, Elisabeth Shields, Mary Wilson Nov 2012

Libguide To Dissertation And Thesis Resources, Elisabeth Shields, Mary Wilson

Mary Wilson

This guide contains resources on how to prepare dissertations and theses. The guide is intended to help you understand from the start how to build the intellectual base and relationships that will lay the foundation for a successful dissertation or thesis. Sections include writing guides, information on literature reviews, APA style, finding other dissertations and theses, reference management software, and more.


#Doesthatreallywork? Transforming The Traditional, Rethinking, Letting Go, Michelle Jacobs-Lustig, Sally Bryant Nov 2012

#Doesthatreallywork? Transforming The Traditional, Rethinking, Letting Go, Michelle Jacobs-Lustig, Sally Bryant

Sally Bryant

After a critical examination of the "traditional," Pepperdine University Libraries has made many dramatic, yet cost effective changes in Fall 2011. We have adopted an attitude of perpetual Beta for products and library services. We learned that sometimes it is not just out with the old, but out with the too new. At Pepperdine we completely redesigned our roles for our student workers to include learning outcomes and better customer service, we even had them work on LibGuides. We consolidated staff by merging our circulation and reference desk, creating the new iPoint (Get all of your library needs met in …


Ict Research Comes Of Age, Gerry White Oct 2012

Ict Research Comes Of Age, Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

That is not to suggest that teachers and students do not use ICT. In fact, they are two of the highest ICT user categories reported by ACMA and ABS. However, the combination of ICT and education programs in classrooms and courses is a situation where issues about pedagogy and the benefits to learning with ICT continue to be debated.


Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams Sep 2012

Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams

Susan Adams

Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, Dayton, OH, October 19, 2012.


Nf03-582 Early Season Extentstion Using Hotcaps, Laurie Hodges Sep 2012

Nf03-582 Early Season Extentstion Using Hotcaps, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

Hotcaps are covers used to protect individual plants from low temperature stress early in the season. There are three common hotcap designs: opaque plastic milk jugs, waxed paper, and plastic water-filled tubes. They are usually used by home gardeners or market gardeners with limited production. Growers with more acres or more extensive production tend to use row covers or high tunnels that protect more than one plant. This NebFact discusses the study methodology, findings, and conclusions to using hotcaps in the garden.


American Higher Education In Transition, Ronald G. Ehrenberg Sep 2012

American Higher Education In Transition, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] In public higher education, tuition increases in recent decades have barely offset a long-run decline in state appropriations per full-time equivalent student. State appropriations per full-time equivalent student at public higher educational institutions averaged $6,454 in fiscal year 2010; at its peak in fiscal year 1987, the comparable number (in constant dollars) was $7,993 (State Higher Education Executive Officers 2011, figure 3), translating into a decline of 19 percent over the period. Even if one leaves out the "Great Recession," real state appropriations per full-time equivalent student were still lower in fiscal year 2008 than they were 20 years …


Financial Forces And The Future Of American Higher Education, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Michael J. Rizzo Sep 2012

Financial Forces And The Future Of American Higher Education, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Michael J. Rizzo

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Recent shifts in state funding are altering the most basic realities of American higher education, from student access to faculty research.


Creating Time For Research At Marshall University, Deanna Mader, Chong W. Kim Sep 2012

Creating Time For Research At Marshall University, Deanna Mader, Chong W. Kim

Deanna R. D. Mader

Creating time for research is important, yet difficult. Creating large blocks of dedicated research time is nearly impossible. It is critical, therefore, that the institution encourages all levels to work in a coordinated effort to assist faculty in accessing those precious minutes and smaller blocks of time. At the departmental level the Management and Marketing Division conducts a Research and Teaching (R&T) Forum six to eight times per academic year. The forum allows the division’s 28 faculty members to brainstorm, find areas of similar interests, combine research efforts, and present a “test run” before submission to a journal or conference. …


Creating Time For Research At Marshall University, Deanna Mader, Chong W. Kim Aug 2012

Creating Time For Research At Marshall University, Deanna Mader, Chong W. Kim

Chong W. Kim

Creating time for research is important, yet difficult. Creating large blocks of dedicated research time is nearly impossible. It is critical, therefore, that the institution encourages all levels to work in a coordinated effort to assist faculty in accessing those precious minutes and smaller blocks of time. At the departmental level the Management and Marketing Division conducts a Research and Teaching (R&T) Forum six to eight times per academic year. The forum allows the division’s 28 faculty members to brainstorm, find areas of similar interests, combine research efforts, and present a “test run” before submission to a journal or conference. …


Igniting And Nurturing The Next Generation Of Stem Talent, Innovation And Leadership, By Design, Stephanie Pace Marshall Jul 2012

Igniting And Nurturing The Next Generation Of Stem Talent, Innovation And Leadership, By Design, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Stephanie Pace Marshall, Ph.D.

Regrettably, most American students experience STEM learning as an exclusive, individual, theoretical and “formulaic” enterprise. By decoupling STEM education from the human experience, we have distorted the essential nature of the scientific enterprise and advanced instrumentalist and utilitarian rationales for pursuing STEM careers—global economic superiority and technological competition.


Involving Undergraduates In Research To Encourage Them To Undertake Ph.D. Study In Economics, Ronald G. Ehrenberg Jul 2012

Involving Undergraduates In Research To Encourage Them To Undertake Ph.D. Study In Economics, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Recent evidence suggests that the growing use of part-time and full-time non-tenure-track faculty nationwide adversely influences American college students’ graduation rates (Ehrenberg and Liang Zhang, 2005). I have become concerned that the increased usage of non-tenure track faculty members also likely adversely influences the propensity of undergraduate students to go on for Ph.D.s in economics for two reasons. First, many students enter college with the expressed intent of becoming doctors or lawyers, getting an MBA, or going on for advanced degrees in the sciences or humanities. However, with the exception perhaps of the small number of high-school students who …


The Sociobehavioural Cancer Research Network: Background Progress Report, Lori Lockyer, R Futcher, F Ashbury, Don Iverson Jun 2012

The Sociobehavioural Cancer Research Network: Background Progress Report, Lori Lockyer, R Futcher, F Ashbury, Don Iverson

Don C. Iverson

The Sociobehavioural Cancer Research Network (SCRN) was established in 1994 by the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) with funding from the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). The network was created to facilitate the development of behavioural science studies that would contribute to a fuller understanding of the cancer experience, from prevention through detection, treatment and post treatment (including palliative care). This article describes the nature of network research, the development and organization of the Sociobehavioural Cancer Research Network and the challenges it faces.


Challenging Mobile Learning Discourse Through Research: Student Perceptions Of Blackboard Mobile Learn And Ipads, Shelley Kinash, Jeffrey Brand, Trishita Mathew May 2012

Challenging Mobile Learning Discourse Through Research: Student Perceptions Of Blackboard Mobile Learn And Ipads, Shelley Kinash, Jeffrey Brand, Trishita Mathew

Trishita Mathew

Many university academics disagree with the rationale that we should pursue mobile learning because 21st century students are apparently demanding it. We argue that the only defensible rationale for making mobile learning part of pedagogy is because it enhances student learning. This presentation shares results from research with 135 students engaged in mobile learning over two semesters. It addresses the question of whether Blackboard Mobile Learn made a perceived difference to their learning. Results revealed that in-class, students used their mobile devices for Blackboard Mobile Learn to the same extent as they used them for searching the web for study, …


Challenging Mobile Learning Discourse Through Research: Student Perceptions Of Blackboard Mobile Learn And Ipads, Shelley Kinash, Jeffrey Brand, Trishita Mathew May 2012

Challenging Mobile Learning Discourse Through Research: Student Perceptions Of Blackboard Mobile Learn And Ipads, Shelley Kinash, Jeffrey Brand, Trishita Mathew

Jeffrey Brand

Many university academics disagree with the rationale that we should pursue mobile learning because 21st century students are apparently demanding it. We argue that the only defensible rationale for making mobile learning part of pedagogy is because it enhances student learning. This presentation shares results from research with 135 students engaged in mobile learning over two semesters. It addresses the question of whether Blackboard Mobile Learn made a perceived difference to their learning. Results revealed that in-class, students used their mobile devices for Blackboard Mobile Learn to the same extent as they used them for searching the web for study, …


Mind The Gap: Unexpected Pitfalls In Doing Classroom Research, Amanda Baker, Joseph Lee May 2012

Mind The Gap: Unexpected Pitfalls In Doing Classroom Research, Amanda Baker, Joseph Lee

Joseph J. Lee

unanticipated, challenges experienced by researchers. This article moves beyond the main issues highlighted in the literature and identifies some of the problems the authors encountered when conducting two common methodological procedures, classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews (SRIs), as part of our dissertation research investigations. The paper first surveys what the literature describes as the main areas of concern with these two procedures. It then pulls away from these resources to explore actual difficulties we experienced that we believe are inadequately addressed in the literature. Using illustrations from our dissertation projects, we examined several recurring challenges we faced, including participant …


Tools And Community : How Women Become Researchers In Communication Sciences And Disorders, Karen L. Mccomas Mar 2012

Tools And Community : How Women Become Researchers In Communication Sciences And Disorders, Karen L. Mccomas

Karen L. McComas

Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) is a female-dominated discipline in danger of losing its professional autonomy. In 2002, the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA) reported that 6-7% of all faculty positions in CSD were vacant, predicted a substantial increase in vacancies through 2012, and declared the issue of faculty preparation as the "most significant threat to our [CSD] future" (p. 5). In 2008, ASHA reported that, although more people were receiving Ph.D. degrees, only half accepted positions in higher education. The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of the problem of too few researchers in CSD by increasing …


Is There A Relationship Between Chemistry Performance And Question Type, Question Content And Gender?, Ross Hudson Feb 2012

Is There A Relationship Between Chemistry Performance And Question Type, Question Content And Gender?, Ross Hudson

Dr Ross Hudson

This research inquires into the effectiveness of the two predominant forms of questions - multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions - used in the State University Entrance Examination for Chemistry including the relationship between performance and gender. It examines not only the style of question but also the content type examined (recall and application questions). The research involves class trial testing of students with structured questions that examine the same material content with each type of question (multiple-choice or short-answer) and also examines the different type of content (recall or application) and finally the influence of student gender. Rasch analysis of …


Comparative Studies Research, Kara Brown Feb 2012

Comparative Studies Research, Kara Brown

Kara D. Brown

No abstract provided.