An advantage of well-designed survey research is that, typically, it yields large volumes of quantitative and qualitative data. A key challenge researchers face is mining and reporting these data appropriately and promptly to inform research publications and presentations. When mixed methods are employed, and researchers attempt to master computer…

This account describes my research experiences as a doctoral student in education, seeking to understand what transition to Higher Education was like for undergraduate students. I was supported throughout the process by my colleague and supervisor Dr Jane Tobbell. I conducted ethnographic research and the case study provides an account of the…

Classrooms are complex environments. Ethnography can help researchers understand these complexities as they gather information by watching and talking with people, reading available reports and records and mapping out the environment. This case adds to existing literature on ethnography as we share our own experiences of what we refer to as…

This book provides a comprehensive introduction by an extraordinary range of experts to the recent and rapidly developing field of learning analytics. Some of the finest current thinkers about ways to interpret and benefit from the increasing amount of evidence from learners' experiences have taken time to explain their methods, describe examples,…

Identifying effective literacy interventions for teachers of very young children is important, but it is not easy. In this case study, we share our experiences implementing a quasi-experimental evaluation of an early literacy program. We describe the design and context of the study and discuss three key issues that we encountered with data…

Having made the move from a professional practice role to an educator position, I decided that it would be beneficial to improve my understanding and capability to support student learning in the higher education setting. As such, I made the choice to take up doctoral studies. While working with students and other instructors, the subject of…

From 2011 to 2013, I accidentally studied US and Canadian teacher perceptions of standardized testing and its effects in the classroom. I had intended to study the role of equity issues in teacher practice; however, in conversation with teachers during initial semi-structured interviews in the United States, it became clear that understanding the…

According to federal data, African American students are more than three times as likely as their white peers to be suspended or expelled. As a school leader, what do you do when your heart is in the right place, but your data show otherwise? In "Solving Disproportionality and Achieving Equity", Edward Fergus takes us on a journey into…

This report describes the methods used in an exploration of the challenges and issues faced by Teach First teachers in their first year of teaching in a culturally diverse school, and the strategies they employ to overcome them. Using a mixed-methods tactic, both qualitative and quantitative data are collected, focusing on the perspectives of the…

This case study describes the research carried out in partial fulfilment of the degree of doctor of education. The study was qualitative in nature with a phenomenological interpretive paradigm. My primary objective is to share my experience of combining life story and grounded theory research. My main objectives for undertaking the research were…

This case study presents an overview of the major challenges and tensions I encountered exploring the social-class experiences of university students from low-income backgrounds. The study presented here was a qualitative study using phenomenology and a critical theoretical lens to gain a depth of understanding of low-income university students'…

This case study provides an account of one practical aspect of a 3-year-long learning analytics project, allowing readers to see how a researcher spread the idea of using learner data to improve the scholarship of teaching and learning in the course of research. The case sheds light on the particular challenges in using existing data stored in…

This report provides a systematic review and empirical evidence related to the experiences of middle-income countries and economies participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2000 to 2015. PISA is a triennial survey that aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old…

This book provides an internationally comparable set of indicators on educational provision for students with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages (DDD). It highlights the number of students involved, where they are educated--special schools, special classes or regular classes--and in what phases of education--pre-primary,…