Rituals provide a latent structure for teachers that goes beyond the surface meaning of conformity and control to a deeper symbolic meaning for the participants. They are used as a way of defining what is to be taught and how it is to be taught, reflect the teacher's decisions about what is pedagogically sound, and are based on their personal…

Conducting observational research in a cross-cultural context invokes a unique set of difficulties. This paper describes sources of bias and threats to validity that are specific to cross-cultural research. It describes problems of cross-cultural research designs for descriptive studies, comparative research, and experimental research and outlines…

A study examined the reactions of organizational members to ownership change. Participant observation during a 2-week stay in each of two national corporations, American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Union Underwear, provided data in the study. Results showed different reactions to change illustrated through corporate differences in structure,…

Many colleges and universities have designed summer transition programs for students entering their schools. The goal of these programs is to ease the transitional processes students encounter, and to enable the student to feel more acclimated to campus life. Summer transitional programs have been particularly important because they operate at a…

This research, begun in Fall 1991, explored the learning-to-learn strategies of adult students taking computer conferencing courses for college credit. It investigated how these students define effective learning and how they direct their own learning and lifestyles to meet the unique demands of this medium. This research gathered data through…

Symbolic and cognitive organizational perspectives were used to analyze a case study of a complete academic bargaining cycle. The researcher, as participant-observer, had access to all bargaining sessions and to both union and administration caucuses. Although bargaining is often considered a rational process, this case illuminated the processes…

Using ethnographic research techniques, a study examined the nature of the process whereby a three-member collaborative writing group responded to literature and to each other through a local area network (LAN) and also generated a group composition. The three subjects--of varied educational backgrounds--discussed questions associated with a novel…

Summarizes the pilot stage of a project that investigated the child-school incorporation process in Great Britain by using action based methodology, and specifically examining four-year-old children in reception classrooms. States that children's adjustment to school is a dynamic process involving considerable stress and argues that policy and…

Describes study designed to investigate students' attitudes and strategies when writing with the aid of a computer. Interviews with four undergraduates enrolled in a computer-assisted section of advanced composition are discussed, and participant observation and document analysis are also used to examine the combined processes of composing and…

Explores the dilemmas of conducting research in a setting where one is employed. Uses concept of reciprocity to describe how trusting relationships with participants were built during a study of an off-campus doctoral program for school administrators. Presents strategies that emphasize affiliation with students. (Author/KH)

This paper identifies the building of community during an ethnographic study of an intergenerational art education program in Harlem, New York City. The study examined intergenerational interactions between seniors and teenagers during their participation in an afterschool art program. Seniors were chosen from a list of 100 persons registered for…

This study investigates what thinking skills are needed to be a good artist or art student, particularly in a secondary school art course. Following a review of the literature, a qualitative approach was used to identify, describe, and classify the thought processes that are seen by the participants as being conducive to success in visual art. The…

The learning goals that inform service learning as a whole can contribute to the computers and writing field significantly. This paper demonstrates how two lines of inquiry can be furthered, community-based writing and computers and writing, through new data and critical reflection on learning goals and communication tools. The paper presents a…

Engineering is the application of scientific and engineering principles to site-specific, real-world problems. However, engineering education tends to focus on abstract, decontextualized, generalizable knowledge and learning tasks. Research was done to find out the results of adding out-of-class, real-world courses to the conventional engineering…

Focuses on the qualitative methods used to examine a high school science teacher's instructional practice and his students' performance. Explains participation-observation, collection of field notes and documents, pre-post survey, interviews, and analysis of analytic memos; and discusses the teacher's goal of combining skills-based instruction…