In times of globalisation of higher education, alternative theoretical and methodological approaches were introduced in the field of comparative higher education research. To stimulate the debate on this issue, this paper firstly addresses them theoretically by combining the concept of institutional isomorphism and the 'glonacal' analytical…

Purpose: Higher education institutions (HEIs) face a number of challenges in effectively managing and reporting on sustainability information, such as siloes of data and a limited distribution of information. Business intelligence (BI) can assist in addressing the challenges faced by organisations. The purpose of this study was to propose a BI…

Although molecular-level details are part of the upper-secondary biology curriculum in most countries, many studies report that students fail to connect molecular knowledge to phenomena at the level of cells, organs and organisms. Recent studies suggest that students lack a framework to reason about complex systems to make this connection. In this…

Proactive preliminary minimum sample size determination can be useful for the early planning stages of a latent variable modeling study to set a realistic scope, long before the model and population are finalized. This study examined existing methods and proposed a new method for proactive preliminary minimum sample size determination.

The purpose of this study was to examine evidence of a hypothesized shift in the operative research paradigms in music education during the first quarter century of the publication of the "Journal of Research in Music Education," during the period 1953 to 1978. This shift was from humanities-oriented historical and philosophical studies…

The scientific study of creativity has proven a difficult undertaking. Researchers have employed a diversity of definitions and measurement methods. As a result, creativity research is underrepresented in the literature and the findings of different studies often prove difficult to draw into a coherent body of understanding. A heuristic framework…

This paper presents the development of a heuristic framework that integrates three aspects of context (perspective, content and level) from a number of established theoretical approaches. In this framework, context is viewed from different perspectives (subjective and objective), it comprises different contents (physical, social and formal) and it…

In this article, the author challenges the validity and usefulness of the concept of "paradigm," as this term has been used in the social sciences generally, and specifically in the debates over research methods. He emphasizes that in criticizing what he sees as the misuse of the paradigm concept, he is not arguing for dismissing or ignoring…

Education research rarely lends itself to large scale experimental research and true randomization, leaving the researcher to quasi-experimental designs. The problem with quasi-experimental research is that underlying factors may impact group selection and lead to potentially biased results. One way to minimize the impact of non-randomization is…

As a stage-based model of learning, the Instructional Hierarchy offers a useful heuristic for organizing research on effective instructional strategies at different levels of skill proficiency. In this paper, we summarize and highlight the unique contributions of each empirical study presented in the special issue. We describe common…

The purpose of this study is to explore how Lakatos' scientific research programmes might serve as a theoretical framework for representing and evaluating informal argumentation about socio-scientific issues. Seventy undergraduate science and non-science majors were asked to make written arguments about four socio-scientific issues. Our analysis…

This paper discusses some of the basic distinctions between the activities of inquiry and application and reviews the origins of the inquiry-application dichotomy. The parallel dependence model, designed to serve as a heuristic device, stresses the complementary potential of the inquiry and application functions. (LMO)

This paper considers the use of heuristic methodology as a research vehicle for new science investigations in education. The paper describes heuristic methodology and its use as a means of new science-based research in schools. It also describes how heuristic methodology was used in a 2002 study to explain educational practices through the…

Argues that structural functionalism as a method for conducting fieldwork and as a format for the analysis of ethnographic data remains a powerful model, one that is easily understood by professional educators. As a heuristic device, functionalist theory can help in the solution of a problem that is otherwise incapable of theoretical…

The heuristic value of Chilcott's essay lies less in its support for structural functionalism and more in its concern to reexamine theory in the work of earlier educational anthropologists for what earlier theories and practices can add to current research. (SLD)