The Research Sprints program offers faculty partners the opportunity to collaborate intensively and exclusively for one week with a team of librarians to achieve significant progress on research or teaching projects. This longitudinal study extends previous immediate and short-term assessments by interviewing Research Sprints participants at two…

This article focuses on designing and conducting action research in diverse settings. Action research is a collaborative approach to problem solving. It involves consultative problem identification, reflects context, encourages reflexive examination, and ultimately encourages and empowers beneficiaries for desirable change. In that regard, it puts…

On a late Sunday afternoon in 1934, a park superintendent entered the cage of two black bears that he tended at the park's zoo. His intent was to retrieve a purse dropped by a zoo visitor. The superintendent knew the bears well, having acquired them as cubs and raised them, and he didn't expect any trouble. But trouble was imminent. "ENTERED…

Over the last twenty-five years, the Minnesota Historical Society, the University of Minnesota Libraries, and Minitex have developed a partnership centered on creating pathways to higher education by engaging local middle school and high school students in immersive programs at academic libraries. These activities vary in scope and content, but…

This report provides a non-technical overview of the guiding research questions and research design for the ACT-led core research program conducted on behalf of the GEAR UP College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC). The core research program is a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of 14 GEAR UP state grants on the academic…

A multi-year study investigated the impact of incorporating student-directed discovery projects into introductory statistics courses. Pilot instructors at institutions across the United States taught statistics implementing student-directed projects with the help of a common set of instructional materials designed to facilitate such projects.…

This article describes a public scholarship project in which two faculty members worked together to integrate service-learning and research into multiple courses to benefit a single community partner. The project linked undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty in a broad-based research endeavor that contributed to the survival and…

The authors tell about their heterogeneous 91 person research and evaluation unit at an operating foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. They focus on evaluation for program improvement, one of several purposes of studies they work on. The three authors write from their different manager positions within the unit. Included are the context of the…

A 1964 SUMMER CONFERENCE WAS HELD TO INFORM PROJECT DIRECTORS OF INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH CENTERS ABOUT INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS IN FIRST-GRADE READING INSTRUCTION. IT WAS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE AWARENESS OF THE PROJECTS, TO GAIN AGREEMENT AND UNIFORMITY IN RESEARCH EFFORTS, TO APPRAISE RESEARCH DESIGNS, AND TO EXPLORE FURTHER PARTICIPATION IN…

This document summarizes the first 3 years (June 1965-September 1968) of the Minnesota Research Coordination Unit's operation. Described are: (1) the factors which influenced the evolution of Unit objectives, (2) the organizational structure, personnel and facilities, (3) the Unit activities which were related to its objectives, (4) a subjective…

Twenty-six public interest research groups (PIRGs) were surveyed on aspects of their organizations. Key findings include: (1) most PIRGs concentrate primarily on public interest issues rather than campus-specific issues; (2) most have four or fewer full-time staff and annual budgets of less than $50,000; (3) most are supported by six or fewer…

This final report of the Minnesota Research Coordinating Unit (RCU) for Vocational Education summarizes the activities covered between March 1967 and August 31, 1969. Major topics considered are (1) background of the Unit, (2) methods, including organization, personnel, and facilities, (3) a listing of activities and how they meet the Unit's…

Minnesota Statute 120B.365 established an Assessment Advisory Committee to advise the commissioner on statewide assessment issues. The committee may consist of up to 11 members. The Committee will make recommendations to the commissioner and/or the legislature about issues involving statewide assessment. This report briefly provides a background…

Institutional Goals Inventory (IGI) data were collected from Macalester's trustees, alumni, administrators, faculty members, clerical staff, and students in the fall of 1973. Responses to the IGI were used to: (1) study congruence of current perceived goals and preferred goals among the various college subgroups; (2) determine the current…

An experimental demonstration research project to provide food for families of migrant children attending a summer school program in Minnesota was based on the assumptions (1) that the migrant children in summer school would show greater achievement if the entire migrant family were assured food for 3 meals a day and (2) that the child who has…