Describes a study of 14 fifth graders concerning their understanding and attitudes toward the Persian Gulf War. Finds that the public school served as a significant socialization agent during the war, although television was even more important. Concludes that patriotic issues and activities overshadowed any attempts to have students think…

This report, using qualitative methodology, investigates the collaborative teaching and learning of a university educator and an elementary educator, and the learning of eight fifth graders from their social studies class. The report analyzes the extent to which these co-teachers implicitly modeled collaboration for the students and the ways in…

This guide discusses the use of focus groups in marketing research for higher education. It describes the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, and examines when it is appropriate to use focus group research, when it is not, and why. The guide describes a step-by-step approach in how to plan, formulate, moderate, and report…

Helping school, district, and/or community leaders facilitate discussions with community members about improving schools, this guide discusses how to use informal focus groups to gather information about what is important to people in the school community. The guide helps users gather information in a systematic way, organize what they hear,…

This booklet illustrates and compares three important standards (levels of expectation) set for diploma examination writing in Social Studies 30: excellent, proficient, and satisfactory. Sample papers are used to illustrate the scoring criteria for group leaders and markers are presented, along with accompanying commentaries, or rationales, that…

This manual has been designed as a practical guide to quantifying and measuring the results, or outputs, of public library service to children. The basic output measures presented are tailored to reflect library services to children (defined as persons 14 years old and younger) and their care givers. Six categories of measures are presented: (1)…

In 1987, the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention contracted with the Social Science Education Consortium to study how law-related education (LRE) programs become institutionalized and what factors influence institutionalization. Interviews were conducted in eight school districts in four states and narrative case studies…

An investigation of Ontario high school students' understanding of acids and bases with quantitative and qualitative methods revealed misconceptions. A concept map, based on the objectives of the Chemistry Curriculum Guideline, generated multiple-choice items and interview questions. The multiple-choice test was administered to 34 grade 12…

The results of interviews conducted with 48 freshman writing/composition teachers in 11 two-year colleges in California are summarized in this report. After brief descriptive comments introducing each interview topic, responses are summarized by college to the following questions: (1) What placement procedures are used to assign students to…

Reviews a study which investigated children's predictions and explanations of the formation of images through pinholes by use of extended light sources. Interviews with 9- to 13-year-old children at a science center revealed that a prevalent model for image formation involved light that traveled from the sources as a whole. (ML)

Since current instructional, environmental, medical, and neuropsychological interventions do not yield predictable benefits for learning disabled children, there is a need for naturalistic research on the prevention and correction of learning disabilities and learner differences. School personnel should focus on program development, evaluation,…

To determine the nature of camp for senior citizens, four participant observers (staff members) conducted open-ended interviews with campers at a five-day residential camp in Oregon. Results showed universal satisfaction with the camp experience. Campers valued the wide range of activities, comfortable places to socialize, and staff relations with…

Presents a brief overview of good research design and related statistical concepts in deliberately non-technical language and argues that an awareness of the basic principles of valid research on the part of teachers and researchers is necessary to put the findings of language and education research into proper perspective. (Author/CB)

This book offers a resource guide for qualitative researchers in education, discussing data collection techniques, data analysis, reporting, and the issues of validity, reliability, and ethics. Part 1 reviews the nature and design of qualitative research; it discusses various types of qualitative research (including case studies), and how to…

Explains science teachers' perceptions and decisions about the development and implementation of a science/technology/society curriculum. Discusses the teacher interviews based on teachers' decisions. Summarizes five themes: concerns over content, discomfort with grouping, uncertainties about evaluation, frustrations about student population, and…