Research-supported guidelines to assist faculty with finding and evaluating online course tools and media that are accessible to learners taking online college courses in the United States are not generally available. The recent refresh to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794(d)) provides justification for…

Finding some information on most topics is easy. There are abundant sources of information readily available. However, completing a comprehensive literature review on a particular topic is often difficult, laborious, and time intensive; the project requires organization, persistence, and an understanding of the scholarly communication and…

Two significant problems attend principal preparation today: the quality and experience of candidates for preparation and the "y'all come" attitude of programs driven by demands for enrollments. These issues are abetted by a long history of non-selective practices in accepting candidates into preparation programs and the distinct lack of…

Examines the reviews of 421 drug education films prepared over the last decade by the Audiovisual Assessment Group of the Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario. Also outlines the criteria that good drug education films meet and mentions areas for which high quality drug education films have not yet been produced. (Author/JL)

Presents a general definition of a system; outlines a collection of properties identified through a review of the literature to be used as a criterion for determining whether an aggregation of objects is a system; and tests a computer-based system against the checklist to see how it measures up. (MBR)

Summarizes and integrates key findings from the most widely cited research studies which have investigated children's understanding of what is "real" on television. Discusses the developmental patterns in young viewers' use of various criteria for assessing the reality status of television programs. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of data quality examines five approaches to defining data in the literature; considers criteria of adequacy; proposes a modeling activity; discusses the most important dimensions of data quality, including accuracy, precision and reliability, currentness, completeness, and consistency; and suggests further research. (Contains 44…

A project was conducted at La Montana Regional College, a two-year institution in the central mountain region of Puerto Rico, to design a system by which solid, empirical evidence of institutional goal achievement could be collected. The project involved four components: a study of the literature on institutional goal achievement and the…

The popularity of the sample survey in educational research makes it necessary for consumers to tell a good study from a poor one. Several sources were identified that gave advice on how to evaluate a sample design. The sources are either limited or too extensive to use in a practical sense. The purpose of this paper is to recommend six important…

An effort was made to identify a taxonomy of critical teaching skills to be used in teacher education. A systematic search was undertaken involving a search of the pertinent literature, a categorical listing of skills, the development of criteria for the identification of critical skills, and listing the critical skills necessary for teacher…

A summary of research findings on the writing process reveals a number of distinct stages and the recognition that errors are a natural part of learning and often indicate progress rather than failure. Writing evaluation and inservice education programs are discussed. (Author/MLF)

A comprehensive theory is needed to explain the gifted/creative child's developing intelligence. Literature-based criteria are suggested for evaluating theories and for distinguishing theories from program applications, within four broad categories: nature of the gifted child, education and identification, framework of the theory, and criteria for…

Ethnographic qualitative assessment methods can be used to evaluate gifted programs. Noted are the use of multiple tools in fieldwork, allowing an extended time span, the research as the research instrument, ethnographics research cycle, and use of both macro and micro approaches to the evaluation product. (Author/CB)

Organizes, describes, and evaluates management information systems research from 1981 to 1985 to provide an understanding of what constitutes management information systems research and to indicate areas for future research. (210 references) (Author/CLB)

This review of the literature on agricultural information services in less developed countries covers the reasons for interest in such services, problems and issues with existing systems, and recommendations for solutions. Conclusions based on the literature are presented. (54 references) (CLB)