When conceived of as both a research strategy and mode to present findings, vignettes can be combined with various qualitative methodologies in higher education research. Rather than being a discipline unto itself, higher education research is best understood as a multi and cross-disciplinary field of study that, we contend, is made richer by its…

The body of research in the field of postsecondary education and disability is wide ranging and continues to evolve. Specifically, the literature corpus includes contributions from a range of professions and a considerable number of journals. This breadth of diversity in perspective presents significant advantages; however, it also presents…

Design-based research lends itself to educational research as the aim of this approach is to develop and refine the design of artefacts, tools and curriculum and to advance existing theory or develop new theories that can support and lead to a deepened understanding of learning. This paper provides an overview of the potential benefits of using a…

The Exploring Engagement Fund provides risk capital for arts nonprofits to experiment with innovative ideas about how to engage diverse Californians. In order to understand the variety of Californians engaged in arts experiences, this guide is intended to support current and future Fund grantees in collecting participant information. Exploring…

This report summarizes external research requests submitted to and reviewed by AISD staff during the 2008-2009 school year.

Over the past few years, the focus group method has assumed a very important role as a method for collecting qualitative data in social and behavioural science research. This article elucidates theoretical and practical problems and prospects associated with the use of focus groups as a qualitative research method in social and behavioural science…

The Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE) began in January 2003 with a grant from the National Science Foundation (ESI-0227558). Two NSF Directorates, Engineering and Education and Human Resources, oversee the Center's work. The Academic Pathways Study (APS) is part of the Scholarship on Learning Engineering element of the…

The extreme variability of the 50 projects under the NIE Program to Increase the Participation of Minorities and Women in Educational Research and Development necessitates an evaluation design that is flexible enough to accomodate significant differences in project characteristics, yet comprehensive enough to allow meaningful aggregation of…

Studies of emergent, previously unstudied groups in the context of a complex urban society (such as the Project on Working Women, a three-year study of women in nontraditional blue collar and working class jobs) present methodological problems related to sampling, interviewing, and methods of analysis. Crucial to a successful methodology are…

This paper examines how selected characteristics of a program and attributes of key actors affected a particular collaborative effort to increase the supply of secondary math and science teachers. A funded grant created the need for collaborative linkage between schools and a university which had no prior experience with joint efforts. Elements of…