This case study examines the physical aspects of a particular university classroom, and what affect specific changes to the classroom had on the perceptions of students, instructors and observers regarding the room as an effective learning space. We compare survey and focus group data collected from students taking courses in the classroom prior…

Presented with an opportunity to improve Wesleyan University's dated library home page, a team of librarians employed ethnographic techniques to explore how its users interacted with Wesleyan's current library home page and web pages in general. Based on the data that emerged, a group of library staff and members of the campus' information…

This paper examines undergraduate student perceptions of the learning utility of video podcasts. The perceived and actual effectiveness of the technology was assessed by written questionnaire, focus groups and assessment results. The podcasts were perceived as effective in supporting learning, largely by offering a flexible and visual learning…

Although there is a strong evidence base for effective substance abuse prevention programs for youths, there is a need to facilitate the implementation and evaluation of these programs in real-world settings. This study evaluates the effectiveness of adapted versions of an evidence-based prevention program, keepin' it REAL (kiR), with alternative…

School systems in Africa are short of skills that link well with rural communities, yet arguments to vocationalize curricula remain mixed and school agriculture lacks the supervised practical component. This study, conducted in eight primary (elementary) schools in Uganda, sought to compare the learning achievement of pupils taught using…

This article examines results from a consumer and caregiver-directed care pilot program for families with adults with developmental disabilities. Surveys were administered to 50 caregivers and three project coordinators, and focus groups were conducted with 44 individuals, including caregivers, consumers, and support coordinators. Significant pre-…

This study investigated the comprehension and effectiveness of teaching formal, probabilistic decision-making skills to middle school students. Two specific objectives were to determine (1) if middle school students can comprehend a probabilistic decision-making approach, and (2) if exposure to the modeling approaches improves middle school…

Advance is a flexible, school-based program that provides young people with the opportunity to volunteer or implement a project of benefit to their communities. An evaluation of this partnership between a state government office for youth, government secondary schools and community organisations found that a universal program such as Advance could…

Despite being one of the fastest growing segments of the HIV/AIDS caseload, persons age 50 and older have been largely neglected in terms of HIV/AIDS education. This study describes a project involving HIV-related health education for persons [greater than or equal] 50 in an urban area of Ohio. Data from 50 persons age [greater than or equal] 50…

This article discusses the development and implementation of a technology-supported student teacher performance assessment that supports integration with a larger electronic assessment system. The authors spearheaded a multidisciplinary team to develop a comprehensive performance assessment based on the Pathwise framework. The team collaborated…

An exploratory case study was undertaken to investigate the perspectives and experiences of six early intervention providers as they adopted and implemented a collaborative consultation approach to home visiting in urban neighborhoods. Survey, semistructured interview, and focus group methods were used over a 2-year period to obtain data about…

This study examined the retention of students who listened to podcasts of a primary source to the retention of students who read the source as text. We also assessed students' preferences and study habits. Quiz scores revealed that the podcast group performed more poorly than did students who read the text. Although students initially preferred…

This article presents a study exploring preservice teachers' experiences with multigenre writing in a secondary English methods course. In multigenre writing (Romano, 2000), students write about their research in a variety of genres as an alternative to the traditional research paper, presenting exposition in narrative forms. Preservice teachers…

Digital libraries continue to flourish. At the same time, the principles of user-centered design and the practice of usability testing have been growing in popularity, spreading their influence into the library sphere. This article explores the confluence of these two trends by surveying the current literature on usability studies of digital…

Evaluation is an important program component of RALLY and helps to document the gains that stem from this program. This article describes the quality of RALLY implementation and selected student outcomes of an exemplary RALLY program at an urban middle school. The findings showed effects on students' resiliency as well as academic success, as…