A study examined individual student, institutional, and environmental factors influencing student non-completions and determined strategies that Western Australia's Central TAFE (technical and further education) might introduce to improve student retention. After completing a multivariate analysis of module completion rates, further data for a…

Two naturalistic research studies observed 45 eleventh grade students carrying out research paper assignments, and a third such study focused on 26 third grade students. The studies took place in Alberta (Canada) in 1993, Texas in 1996, and Washington state in 1999. From data analyzed in the interviews and written documents, the initial findings…

The new Science and Technology Curriculum Framework recently issued in Taiwan advocates the teaching of integrated science and technology with greater emphasis on basic skills. Science teachers are not used to teach in this way, they need different abilities and skills in order to do so. Using various effective professional development strategies,…

This paper describes two experiences in which traditional face-to-face and World Wide Web-based teaching methods were combined at the University of Barcelona (Spain) as part of a regular course in Environmental Education for student teachers. The first experience took place within the university when a Web-based module was delivered to a group of…

As theorized in Anderson's (1983, 1995) associative stage of skill acquisition, errors or obstacles become an important index of the learning process. However, learning obstacles have not been widely researched in the field of language learning strategies. This study explores the difficulties or barriers confronted by the EFL (English as a Foreign…

Motivation is a major socio-psychological factor to draw much attention of linguists and English Language Teaching (ELT) specialists in this decade. But most of the studies, conducted by ELT researchers at universities, basically deal with urban learners, which do not present sufficient findings in this field of research. This study primarily…

This article presents findings from a qualitative research project that explored health care students' activities related to seeking help within a masters program offered exclusively through a WebCT online environment. A constructivist theoretical perspective and an action research approach framed the study. Data sources included one question on a…

Given the current emphasis on the benefits of communication and information technologies (C&IT) for sustainable rural community development, effective evaluations of C&IT initiatives are increasingly important. This paper presents outcomes of a project that aimed to build capacities of people in two Australian rural communities to evaluate…

With respect to the innovative roles of technology within the educational realm, an important task of educational research is the investigation of how school children accommodate themselves to innovative computer-based learning environments. This paper describes the strategies and techniques employed and extended by above-average second- through…

This volume contains 10 papers on higher education theory and research. "Variation Among Academic Disciplines: Analytical Frameworks and Research" (John M. Braxton and Lowell L. Hargens) reviews work on disciplinary differences and proposed conceptual schemes for explaining these differences. "Public Policy and Public Trust: The Use…

The impact of government policy initiatives on public-sector further education (FE) and FE lecturers in the United Kingdom was examined through a case study of a small group of full-time creative arts lecturers at a large urban FE college. A qualitative research approach was used. Data were collected through the following methods: participant…

A four-phase longitudinal study was undertaken to examine the relationship between literacy education and employment. Phase 1 focused on trends in Canadian legislation and the labor market and student and teacher attitudes toward the legislative changes. In phase 2, an ethnographic approach was used to identify the educational and employment…

This paper discusses some of the health implications of data produced in the course of a research project that explored the usefulness of the concept of "social capital" in relation to the health and well-being of children. The research used qualitative methods to explore 12-15 year olds' subjective experiences of their neighbourhoods,…

A sad fact of teaching is that once the classroom door is closed, teachers are on their own under "normal" conditions. They are in charge of the teaching direction, the choice of materials, the pace of learning, the atmosphere created and the learning emphasis. Developing these skills requires expertise and experience and is aided by…

This study investigated teacher behaviors, lesson delivery and sequence of content and learning expectations used by K-5 teachers at one school in New Delhi, India. This research brings broader understanding of strategies for teaching English reading and writing to students whose first language is not English. The rationale for the study stems…