Physics education researchers are interested in using the tools of machine learning and natural language processing to make quantitative claims from natural language and text data, such as open-ended responses to survey questions. The aspiration is that this form of machine coding may be more efficient and consistent than human coding, allowing…

As lines between research paradigms continue to blur with the ever-increasing popularity of mixed methods research, there are useful, and occasionally oxymoronic, opportunities for educational researchers to juxtapose tools from opposing methods. The gold standard is just not possible in so much of what we do with small-scale research, nor is it…

This article presents the concept of "identity education" (IdEd) referring to the "purposeful involvement of educators with students' identity-related processes or contents." We discuss why educators may consider identity important to the realization of educational goals and choose to target aspects of students' identity in their pedagogical…

The authors support role changes for educational practitioners who work with children and youth with disabilities as they make important transitions. Principles from critical pedagogy and disability studies are summarized to provide a new theoretical framework to support role changes. Rather than needs-based services that focus on helping those…

Student departure from postsecondary institutions has been one of the central topics of concern discussed widely by policymakers, institutional personnel, and educational researchers at various levels. However, many existing studies have failed to address issues related to the timing of student departure from college. This article discusses the…

This symposium paper looks at three paradigms for naturalistic research on visuals: the positivistic, the interpretive, and the critical approaches. Discussion centers on questions of epistemology, such as "What do you mean?" and "How do you know?" The place of naturalistic inquiry within this discussion is indicated, and…

An alternative research methodology is presented which focuses on the aims and values of education while attending to the learner as an elaborate, dynamic, everchanging total system. A summary covers the reactive, preactive, proactive, and spiralling learner systems, each of which meet the definitional system requirement of being dynamic, having a…

Presents the research model used in the Allan Hancock Joint Community College District, which operates through a part-time institutional researcher guided by an institutional research committee. Discusses the committee's role and the use of research results in policymaking and other areas. Provides examples of research. (DMM)

Describes the centralized research model used by Miami-Dade Community College. Explains that the district's central office assumes responsibility for conducting all phases of the institutional research program (e.g., determining the research agenda, carrying out projects, monitoring projects, and disseminating results). Highlights strengths and…

Presents an overview of the centralized research model employed at Rancho Santiago College, demonstrating that, although research is coordinated in a single office, the goal of broad-based staff involvement in research is enhanced through flexible staffing of the research office and integration of the research function into college governance.…

A new framework for designing qualitative studies is described to optimize the emergence, representation and presentation of insights. The framework, called Reflection Methodology, is presented as a "Conversational Paradigm" that includes four components--interviewer (researcher as participant); child, task situation, and observing…

A curriculum project is described which illustrates the use of collaborative inquiry, a cooperative effort between university researchers and educational practitioners. Four tenets of collaborative inquiry are outlined. (1) Researchers and school practitioners work together on all phases of the effort. (2) The effort is focused on real world as…

This paper proposes a model of a democratic paradigm for educational researchers and practitioners. It attempts to explore the kinds of thinking that would be required to create such a system, to determine what principles and curriculum theories are involved and how they would work. It seeks to relate this model to the new National Council for…