Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of critical policy analysis (CPA) in the fields of educational leadership and policy. In addition to exploring how CPA compares to traditional research approaches in educational leadership and policy, the authors consider the influence of long-established ways of knowing, why scholars choose…

This article, with the aim of identifying elements that constitute the characteristics of an academic space within comparative education, analyzes how comparative education has been discussed and practiced in Japan, based on a questionnaire completed by 264 members of the Japan Comparative Education Society and classification of articles published…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. These "Proceedings" are from the Commission of…

This paper introduces feminist methodologies in the context of engineering education research. It builds upon other recent methodology articles in engineering education journals and presents feminist research methodologies as a concrete engineering education setting in which to explore the connections between epistemology, methodology and theory.…

George Sarton had a strong influence on modern history of science. The method he pursued throughout his life was the method he had discovered in Ernst Mach's "Mechanics" when he was a student in Ghent. Sarton was in fact throughout his life implementing a research program inspired by the epistemology of Mach. Sarton in turn inspired many…

In this essay, the authors consider the challenge made by two keynote speakers at recent social work research conferences, one in the United States and the other in Europe. Both spoke of a knowledge crisis in social work. Both John Brekke (Society for Social Work and Research) and Peter Sommerfeld (First Annual European Conference for Social Work…

In this article, educational scholars L. Janelle Dance, Rochelle Gutierrez, and Mary Hermes share insights from their lived experience as qualitative researchers trying to work in collaboration with diverse populations. They refer to these insights as "improvisations on conventional qualitative methods," reminding readers that their…

This article challenges the common-sense observation that Japanese and American education have been moving in "opposite directions" in recent times. Drawing on postcolonial discourse studies and cultural studies, the article extracts from this observation an Orientalist binary epistemology that continues to set discursive limits on the…

The quality of qualitative research has been subject to considerable criticism recently, partly driven by the development of an international movement for "evidence-based policy and practice." In the United States, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are posited by some as the best way of producing reliable research knowledge. Also,…

This paper examines paradigm proliferation in the context of ongoing efforts by the federal government in the US to regulate academic research. It argues that these efforts amount to an attempt to reposition and de-center universities as sites of knowledge production, not just about education but across domains. The paper examines this politics as…

Many non-Western and non-English-speaking scholars express the need for supporting a methodological approach that foregrounds the voices of nationals and locals (or indigenous peoples). Supporting this stance, Western scholars will reach out in democratic and liberatory ways that effect research collaboration, helping to foster social justice and…

This study investigated conceptions of knowledge and beliefs among 242 Italian and 231 American college students. Perceptions of the nature and interrelation of knowledge and beliefs, and prevalent characterizations and sources of these two constructs were explored by qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Differences emerged between Italian…

It has long been a goal of science education in the United States that students leave school with a robust understanding of the nature of science. Decades of research show that this does not happen. Inquiry-based instruction is advocated as a means for developing such understanding, although there is scant direct evidence that it does. There is a…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

Close to 1,100 people attended the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Florida from November 30-December 3, 2005. A record number of proposals were submitted this year (548), with 392 papers, symposia, and round tables accepted. This year's conference theme was inclusiveness and synthesis…