Given limited funding for school-based science education, non-school-based programs have been developed at colleges and universities to increase the number of students entering science- and health-related careers and address critical workforce needs. However, few evaluations of such programs have been conducted. We report the design and methods of…

In this article, the author describes the "Learning Disposition Questionnaire" (LDQ) a tool designed to address more of the "integrity and identity" of college students as learners. Rather than using students' documented skills as a lens by which to assume or interpret learning dispositions, a direct way to evaluate and assess…

New technologies often have the potential for disrupting existing established practices, but nowhere is this so pertinent as in education and training today. And yet, education has been glacially slow to adopt these changes in a large scale way, and innovations seem to be imposed mainly by students' and their changing social lifestyles than…

This article describes an ICT-based and capability-driven model for assessing ICT in education capabilities and maturity of schools. The proposed model, called ICTE-MM (ICT in School Education Maturity Model), has three elements supporting educational processes: information criteria, ICT resources, and leverage domains. Changing the traditional…

This review examines recent studies that have addressed outcomes of intergenerational service-learning courses in gerontology. The history of service-learning pedagogy in higher education and its place in today's colleges is also reviewed. Particular attention is given to evaluations of stakeholders: students, older adult participants, agencies…

This article examines the importance of context in evaluative inquiry. Following guidelines from real-world and utilization-focused evaluation frameworks, four projects are described to illustrate one foundation's pragmatic approach to evaluation that values collaboration, methodological appropriateness, and utilization. The authors contend that…

In this paper there is a critical overview of the role of analogies as tools for meaning making in science education, their advantages and disadvantages. Two empirical studies on the use of analogies in primary classrooms are discussed and analysed. In the first study, the "string circuit" analogy was used in the teaching of electric circuits with…

Researchers have been making use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and other study designs that sample feelings and behaviors in real time and in naturalistic settings to study temporal dynamics and contextual factors of a wide variety of psychological, physiological, and behavioral processes. As EMA designs become more widespread,…

As a necessary preliminary for this issue on Illinois' experience with school-university partnerships to provide teacher development opportunities, this article provides a review of the literature relevant to such programs. As the evaluation and assessment have changed over the years since the Eisenhower grants period, the author explains the…

Higher education institutions worldwide invest significant resources in their quality assurance systems. Little empirical evidence exists that demonstrates the effectiveness (or otherwise) of these systems. Methodological approaches for determining effectiveness are also underdeveloped. Self-study-with-peer-review is a widely used model for…

Books by education experts and speakers at national professional conferences have inspired many school leaders to initiate professional learning communities (PLCs). Sustaining them effectively to raise student achievement is another matter. How can one know whether a PLC is moving toward a desired outcome? Measuring effectiveness requires an…

"Participation"--defined as engagement in life situations, including leisure and recreational activities--is associated with the improvement of people with disabilities' quality of life. Several specific instruments assess leisure, but none of them has been adapted to the Spanish context. The goal of this study is to adapt and validate the Spanish…

This article describes the development of the Inquiry Institute, a collaboration of scientists from a science department and science educators from a school of education. The history of the institute and the benefits to students, faculty, and the institution are presented. The institute is responsible for the creation, maintenance, and ongoing…

Although advances in prevention science over the past two decades have produced a growing list of tested and effective programs and policies for preventing adolescent delinquency and drug use, widespread dissemination and high-quality implementation of effective programs and policies in communities has not been achieved. The Community Youth…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether different measures of oral reading fluency relate differentially to reading comprehension performance in two samples of second-grade students: (a) students who evidenced difficulties with nonsense-word oral reading fluency, real-word oral reading fluency, and oral reading fluency of…