This paper discusses several interrelated processes aimed at helping teachers to use an experimental approach to improve their teaching. In making a diagnosis, the teacher generates a hypothesis about the relationship between his/her potential behavior and its effect upon the students. Following the formulation of such a hypothesis, the teacher…

Based upon the experiences of Delgado Community College (DCC), this series of presentations examines the use of needs assessment as a planning tool. After explaining the way needs assessment is defined at DCC, Carol Hopson discusses the decisions to be made before beginning a needs assessment with respect to: (1) institutional willingness to abide…

The theme developed in this paper is that major improvements could be made in the research acquisition and utilization process for preservice teacher educators and that this improvement would constitute important faculty development. Efforts to improve the way professors acquire and utilize research on teaching must be based on two assumptions:…

An analysis of the rationale, concepts and procedures for designing and implementing a model of decision-making for teachers engaged in developmental research is presented. The decision-making model is conceptualized as the intersection of four sets of data sources derived from the performance of preactive/planning tasks,…

An overview is presented of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, which describes the major factors influencing the decisions and actions of individuals in the innovation adoption process. The two critical indicators hypothesized by the model, Level of Use of the Innovation, and Stages of Concern About the Innovation, are discussed. The seven stages…

The influence of biological science research on the development of physical education curriculum is examined in this paper. The social construction of scientific knowledge is described as occurring in the selection of problems to be studied, the collection and interpretation of data, the dissemination of results, and the educational uses of…

Wheeless' trust and solidarity scales are examined under conditions of positive and negative target person. Valence of stimulus is shown to have a strong influence on the performance of the scales. The problems on Wheeless' scales were not detected in the original validation studies because of the normal validation paradigm. That paradigm…

To explore whether there is a recognizable point (a terminology-setting event, e.g., a scholarly conference, a special issue of a journal, or a particularly influential journal article) in the development of a new branch of knowledge that serves to codify a vocabulary for the researchers of that field, electronic and manual searches were conducted…

In order for education to evolve from a craft to a profession, a spirit of inquiry must be infused into the beliefs and activities of education faculty members and practicing teachers. For faculty members in professional schools, the responsibilities of teaching, research, and service should be integrated activities for which inquiry serves as the…

An effective environmental scan will improve the quality of community college planning and decision making by alerting institutional leaders to the challenges and opportunities in the environment. Scanning can be done in three ways: (1) establishing a scanning committee to gather and synthesize information to guide planning; (2) sponsoring a…

Attitudes toward research-based effective teaching behaviors were inventoried to explore differences between teachers, principals, college faculty, and undergraduate education students (N=500). Scores from the Teaching Behaviors Questionnaire (TBQ) were analyzed using analysis of variance and a post hoc comparison procedure. The scores indicated…

It is suggested in this paper that practical arguments can be used in teacher education and staff development programs to introduce teachers to research-based practices. Practical arguments consist of three types of premises--value, empirical, and situational--that conclude with an action, or an intention to act. Such arguments are a useful way to…

This paper presents a model for turning research findings into prescriptions for practical action. The model contains the following five interactive elements: (1) clear, understandable research knowledge; (2) relevant knowledge, which is seen as meaningful to normal life and concerns; (3) images of actions which exemplify the knowledge; (4) a will…

The theoretical fields of adult developmental psychology and andragogy provide some principles or rules for action that may lead to useful improvements in course organization and teaching methodology. An analysis of the principles and the likely effects of their implementation has led to the following speculation: principles that are not likely to…

When a school system chooses to buy into modern computer technology as the way to solve some existing problems and to meet pressing needs, a myriad of new problems and issues are created. However, the new problems are worth solving to allow the system to benefit from the new technology. In other words, the conversion to using the latest computer…