A brief look at the potential of the computer as an educational research tool. (HB)

Educational researchers feel that "artistic" models of procedure might not yield material of great value. The most difficult problem is that the more researchers wish to tap the vivid description and deep human insight which the arts can generate, the less they can expect to achieve a neutral presentation of facts. (JN)

Discusses the use of numeric machine readable data files (MRDFs) in educational research. Three areas are addressed: MRDFs that deal specifically with educational topics and processes; the use of general databases, such as the 1990 census, by educational researchers; and the use of the new Integrated Postsecondary Educational System database to…

Reports a study based on concerns of the editor of the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" regarding fairness and equity for qualitative studies submitted to this journal. Examined 1991 articles and concluded there is no bias against qualitative research. There was a lower rate of reviewer agreement for qualitative studies but no…

Gaps, barriers, boundaries and walls are words often used to describe the separation between educational research and practice. They account for the differences that are said to exist between the 'two cultures'; the members of which appear to occupy different worlds, have different mindsets and express themselves in different discourses. The…

This field guide was used as a basis for documenting classroom events at five community school sites in Papua New Guinea, as part of the Indigenous Mathematics Project in its ongoing research into primary mathematics learning. Methodology for evaluating the appropriateness of curriculum form and content is described and specific sections focus on…

Though models of quality research in education have abounded in the past decade, educational technologists have consistently made the same mistakes in attempting to measure the effects of multimedia approaches to teaching: 1) using a treatment that is not a valid implmentation of theory; 2) inadequate observation; and 3) disguising weak findings…

This document presents an introduction to the aims, methods, and activities of the Educational Policy Research Center at Syracuse which was established in 1968 under Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The essential purpose of the Center is to contribute to the development of a capability for assessing educational policy…

Only as psychologists participate in all aspects of teacher-training programs can a laboratory be created to test how psychological ideas are translated into teaching actions. Psychologists have information, ways of thinking, and ways of attacking problems that will improve teaching, but that information has to be learned to be used by the…

Designed to describe and categorize the topics in a classroom or small-group discussion of literature, this instrument is a content analysis scheme. After segmenting into statements the typed transcript of an audio-recorded literature discussion, the researcher categorizes each statement into one of four categories--position, nature, stance, and…

Designed to assess teachers' attitudes toward writing and the teaching of writing, this questionnaire consists of two parts. The first section covers the personal, educational, and professional background of the informant, while the second section contains 55 statements eliciting the informant's opinion--with a range of five options--about…

Designed to measure specific dimensions of reading comprehension, the items for this test are based on a comprehension model which suggests that comprehension can be defined as six different skill areas: vocabulary, syntax, item recall, item sequence, interpretation, and evaluation. The test is divided into sections to correspond to each of the…

Designed to measure the acquisition of syntactic structures in kindergarten, first, and second graders, this test examines specific linguistic structures which appear to be acquired during the early elementary school years. Thirty-six sentences of equal length, consisting of words from a first-grade word list, are used to examine fifteen…

Identifying the strengths of visual processing in high school mathematics is considered. The development of an instrument to assess mathematical processing is described. Then the kinds of visual imagery found in children in England and Natal are presented, along with difficulties and benefits experienced by visualizers. (MNS)