This paper reports on the experiences of newcomers at the 36th Annual MERGA Conference. The paper applies Wenger's (1998) social learning theory to explore the kinds of feedback that might assist newcomers. Questionnaire responses to describe the experience of ten newcomers and interview responses from five of the ten are reported. The…

Increasingly, faculty academics are required to teach and design online courses. However, in many cases, faculty members report having low levels of confidence, self-efficacy and competence to teach in online environments. Although their professional learning is often enhanced by institutional support strategies such as workshops, online…

This research project investigated how openness and sharing of knowledge are manifested through scholarly blogging. We aimed to identify the academics' and researchers' motivations for starting a blog; the contribution of blogging to their personal and professional development; and any challenges. Twenty-six participants were recruited. A…

Supporting Teachers as Action Researchers (STAR) explores how school improvement initiatives may be sustained over time. It represents stage one of a broader investigation into how teachers' professional learning may be enhanced by positioning teachers as practitioner researchers and professionals who are capable of generating change from within…

While the significance of validation of data collection instruments in speech act research has been recognized and has attracted considerable interest, most validation studies employed a between-subjects design. In so doing, it is possible that the differences were caused by the group effects rather than different data collection techniques. This…

This study of survey research experts was conducted to determine desirable characteristics of mail questionnaires. The 82-item Likert-scale instrument used in the study covered general appearance, instructions, choice of items, choice of response options, wording, order of items, and item format. The instrument was administered to: 8 subjects who…

Discusses the relationship between the normative structure of science and the use of electronic networks by researchers. Literature on social and technical norms in science is reviewed, and empirical data gathered in an earlier study of researchers and managers through focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, and surveys are reanalyzed. (65…

A study was conducted in January 1981 to assess the level of research activities within the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). The study sought to identify the staff and monetary resources allocated to research; the activities in which researchers were involved and the amount of time they devoted to each; and those areas which…

A checklist of characteristics of effective mail questionnaires was developed that reflects some degree of consensus among experts in survey research and that can serve as a guide to novices designing a questionnaire. Journal and book sources of information about mail questionnaires were reviewed to yield 83 items in 7 categories that comprised…

Sixty-nine employers of researchers and evaluators participated in a market research study conducted by the Department of Educational Foundations and Research at Gallaudet University. The sample included consulting firms, government agencies, professional associations, and other educational agencies in the greater Washington, D.C. area, as well as…

This paper reports on a study developed to determine what experts in the area of educational research perceive as the basic skills and knowledge areas that one who has successfully completed a one-semester graduate course in educational research should possess. A decision was made to conduct a Delphi study to identify these skills and knowledge…

It is observed that teacher motivation can change drastically over the course of an individual teacher's career. This is particularly the case in Mexico with regard to teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), because the situation and role of Mexican EFL teachers has changed so significantly--especially in the wake of the passage of the…

The recent conceptualization of organizations as "open" adaptive systems rather than "closed" systems has lead to increased interest in the relationship between the organization and its significant environmental influences. In order to study the perceived sources of internal (organizational) and external (environmental)…

It has been argued that qualitative research demands a special ethics code because of the special relationship between researcher and subject. Ethical aspects of teacher-thinking research were examined by asking 12 teacher-thinking researchers in Israel to participate in an interview on ethical issues of teacher thinking. Interview transcripts…

This report describes a course in the Irish student-teacher curriculum that was designed in response to criticisms of post-graduate teacher training that it was too theoretical and insufficiently practical. The design of the Applied Psychology of Instruction course was based on the teacher-as-researcher paradigm of professionalism. Student…